Life in Salford 27 • November 2019 8
£5.5 million Bridgewater Canal facelift complete Worsley Delph was the birthplace of Britain’s first canal and a catalyst for the Industrial Revolution. Work is now complete to improve the appearance of the site, to make it easier for visitors to access and help residents and visitors fully appreciate its role in history. It is the culmination of a £5.5 million physical regeneration of the Salford stretch of the Bridgewater Canal funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Salford City Council, Bridgewater Canal Company and other partners. A new multi-level viewing platform has been installed to improve access to the site and offer panoramic views across the Delph island. Specially-made features help tell the story of the Delph’s past as a gateway to an extensive network of underground coal mines and the starting point for Britain’s first ‘true’ canal in 1761. This includes a sculptural representation of the primitive crane that towered over the island during the Delph’s early life as a quarry. One of the sluice gates between the Delph and an entrance to the underground mines has been restored and the site itself is now strikingly lit up from dusk.
There are also new artworks, including a replica mine cart full of coal and a copy of the original Act of Parliament from 1759 that set the canal system in motion. In Nailmaker’s Basin, across Worsley Road Bridge, new seating and interpretive paving has been installed. Alphabet Bridge, the Bridgewater Canal’s smallest bridge has also been restored. The bridge’s 26 planks have been used by generations of school children to help learn their alphabet as they crossed it to reach nearby St Mark’s school. Councillor David Lancaster, lead member for environment and community safety, said the work would help new generations to fully appreciate the canal’s rich history.
Our garden is growing fast
See developments by following @rhsbridgewater or see www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/bridgewater
Work is now speeding up at the RHS Garden Bridgewater which is scheduled to open next year. Supported by Salford City Council and Peel Land and Property, the garden has already created jobs, apprenticeships, training and volunteering opportunities for local people. It is Europe’s biggest gardening project: • 35,000 cubic metres of soil moved for landscaping • 200 flower beds in the walled garden • Over 100,000 plants will be planted on site – over 27,000 of them and 1,000 different species just in the Paradise garden • 500 new trees including 31 beehive shaped beech trees • The new lake at 4,700 square metres, is the size of an Olympic athletics track
