The Manchester, Salford Junction Canal was opened in 1839 as a way of allowing coal traffic from the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal access to the canal network via the Rochdale Canal. The canal with its long tunnel under Manchester's street was built to avoid carting goods across Manchester to the Rochdale Canal. Later a link canal was opened at Hulme and the remarkable MSJc canal became a white elephant.
PHOTO: The Great Northern Railway Goods Warehouses built an underground dock to the old canal. The photo shows how the engineers of the warehouse straddled the canal by placing the steel girders on either side of the tunnel course. KH