Exploring the Forbidden Manchester Ship Canal
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- A hurried 18-mile round-trip walking tour of the Manchester Ship Canal from Runcorn to the remote Stanlow Island, not far from its final point at Eastham Locks. This stretch is extremely difficult to access on foot but features some unique views of the Mersey Estuary and the chemical plants and oil refineries of the area.
Stanlow Island has its own curious history, and is virtually inaccessible to the public. Having a nosy around the island was my aim, but would that be possible or has nature finally reclaimed it?
All credit for the song "Runcorn" to Andy Yates by the way. I saw it performed live years ago and ever since I can't hear the name of the town without hearing the song!
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![[Reupload]: A Decaying Viaduct High Above the Manchester Ship Canal](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jHr2umGhVLA/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Reupload]: A Decaying Viaduct High Above the Manchester Ship Canal](/img/tr.png)
Amazing to see Stanlow Island, my uncle was in the Ship Canal Police and lived on the Island with his family and brought up 3 daughters there.
My sister and I spent many summer holidays with them and I have incredible memories of the place. They lived in the left hand cottage of the left hand pair, they had a great big garden to the side with walls of the monastry tumbling all over it.
Its mad to see parts of the UK that have just been left to rot, just thinking about how busy they once were and the state they are in now. Everyone's all off living different lives now and nobody bothers to fix it up, but what a heritage! Not enough people care about this stuff
very true, Britain is quite neglected
Very true, but personally I reckon its mostly down to cost rather than people not being interested in preservation. And I suppose given how much Britain was once industrialised it would be impossible and impractical to save most of it. Have a great day all!!! 👍
Blame Peel Holdings who own it
@@neonskyline1
No it isn't.
True word.
It's a really fascinating documentary, well presented. Thank you. Your own music is a really nice touch too. Maybe you should write to some of the land owners, property managers and security firms (they could point you to the right people) to request access to explore the history of the area further. You'd be surprised how many doors will open if you just knock :) A great show and interesting comments too.
Sailed up that canal 2 times in 1980 bringing wood pulp from Norway to a paper mill up there, on a 1100 ton coaster.
That would have been Bowaters. Long gone now.
“Ham baker” was stamped on a bit of “machinery” in you video, they are still going and make Penstocks (mini sluice gates if you will) and I have used/fitted them at work. Just a bit of useless information for you! Ha
That's quite interesting actually thanks for sharing 😁
@@BeeHereNowuk "Ham Baker" was an old Black Country heavy steel manufactory in Oldbury (near Birmingham) when I was a kid. It was about 2 minutes walk from where I lived. I didn't know that they are still going! The Oldbury plant closed in the 70's I think.
Many years ago I was attending a class for a specific haulage qualification, held in the upstairs room of a pub in Manchester. My attention was distracted one day by a ship passing directly behind the houses on the other side of the road. I had no idea the canal was there and I thought I was hallucinating at first!
Just discovered your vlogs and very impressed. Have got here because of my interest in canals. Hope to learn more around Manchester and beyond. Your knowledge (or research) is amazing.
My friend and i were chased down the length of that in 1966 by 2 cops, we were on the run from approved school. They beat the crap out of us when they caught us. Sad to see it like that.
Bloomin heck - that could never happen today! 😳
Which school were you in Manchester?
Yo - dude, love to explore here in Florida, and found this very entertaining. Banging accent 5.9 🏅
Btw - its mating season for the geese/goose -
Great video. Nice to see old buildings left and not covered in spray paint. Brilliant engineering to control water.
Thanks, Ollie, this stuff is incredibly amazing! Like many others, I'm interested in how could you pass the fences, at the beginning and then at the Weaver Sluices?
Dániel, I went to the beginning of the route today and have figured out where the start is. Have a look on my channel for the details. I'm still worried about the Weaver Sluices, so I hope someone can advise. I might just go there and report back
Superb video bringing back lots of memories from 1960 when the Canal was full of great ships. I went on a school trip from Bolton. It was a Bolton Corporation bus to Salford Docks where we got the "Egremont" all the way down the Canal and across the Mersey to the Landing Stage. From there we walked to Exchange Station then catching a train back to Bolton which was pulled by a "Crab" class steam loco. I did take two rolls of film in my tiny Boots 35mm camera, sadly none of the photos survived the years but the memories are there.
The Egremont!! I recall a school trip from Manchester/Salford docks along the Ship Canal back in 1954, and it was on the Egremont.
Over a week later and I am still singing the Runcorn song......
Apparently "Loach" Cargo vessel was uilt in 1968 Still bobbing around Liverpool & Birkenhead.
Brill i did once attempt this but was met by dock police
Great video ........ this is a great example of natural and man made resources going to waste ...... these waterways could be a major tourist attraction for the north west and Runcorn in particular, especially if we get the old canal flight of locks reinstated that connects the Runcorn branch of the Bridgewater canal to the ship canal, if that ever happens it would be awesome for Runcorn ....... but I wouldn’t hold your breath as we all know if it doesn’t involve Widnes then it doesn’t happen .........
I couldn’t agree more,it makes me think of the wall at Holyhead.
Such a waste.And what do we get , a pig in a poke yuppie train.
@@edmundsveikutis1698 do you mean the Breakwater surrounding Holyhead Harbour ?
I learned to sail in Holyhead Harbour back in the 1960’s when I was a young lad of 13 years old .....
I was in the Sea Cadets in Manchester (T.S. Trafalgar on Grey Street) we used to have a week in the summer staying at the Sea Cadet base opposite the Coastguard Station ..... for a city boy like me it was heaven.
Memories of fishing for crabs off the old stone jetty and putting them into the chief petty officers bunk ....
The only downside was being on the safety boat duty when everyone else was sailing as it was a big old whaler that needed rowing (no outboard motor in those days) I think it had 4 sets of oars which meant 8 cadets rowing 1 coxswain and an officer in charge ..... after a day’s rowing you got big bloody blisters ..... happy days 😀
I agree, this is just a waste, this could be made into a major tourist attraction, clean it up, sign post it, regenerate some of the older buildings, advertise the history and people will visit!
@@jamesjohnmoss8130 exactly .... so much potential just begging for some investment and support ....
A historical river and an historical (ship) canal right next to each other ..... where else in the world can you find that !
I’ve been up and down the canal by ship in the late 70s. Some of our ships were built specifically for the ship canal and included removable top funnel sections. There use to be a funnel storage area, maybe at Runcorn where you would leave your section and pick it up on the way back.
So have I, Gerry. See my top-level comment. :-)
Amazing to hear that.
@@geoffbreen2386 if you Google Manchester ship canal some of the ship pictures show the telescopic masts as well.
Absolutely brilliant mate, I love this! Where do I start!?
Loved the google earth imagery.
The little hut with the fireplace in is brilliant, imagine a lock keeper in there many years ago having his egg and bacon waiting for ships to pass. Very often too!
There's an app called Swing Bridges which lets you see when there's ships passing through the stretch between Latchford and Salford.
That massive red ship is amazing, I love boats like that.
Stanlow, the cats and dogs escaped off ships! That's brilliant. Poor things haha.
I wanna go to Eastham Ferry, there's a radar at the locks I wanna see, might be a drone job though.
I have old aerial images off the canal from the 70's and there's literally about 100 boats or more on the canal between eastham and salford.
Thanks for taking the time to show us this stretch, glad you managed to conquer something you were after for a while!
We need a road trip in summer to Ellesmere Port Boat Museum, you'll love it.
There's a disused branch line somewhere round there too.
Cheers pal! You've put more effort into this nice comment than I did making the video I think!! Haha
Yes great info. I never thought I was into ships, boats and maritime history until very recently. Seeing that big red boat at Stanlow was very cool.
There's certainly loads of reasons to go back to the area
@@BeeHereNowuk check messenger too! 😂
Someone should restore all those buildings, I think.
Awesome, thanks for sharing your adventure! I really liked your general style with the additional information, feels like watching a documentary
Thanks very much
That was so interesting. Also really sad to see so much amazing engineering abandoned like those lock gates. Brilliant vid. Thanks !
I used to run on Cargo ships up to Eccles on the Canal in the Mid 80's.
Nice one mate 👍 very interesting I'm from runcorn.great to see places not accessible
Wow, what a lovely, epic walk. Some really interesting things to see on the way too. One of the last things shown looks like a WW2 Stanton Shelter, although it could just look similar from that angle. Good stuff! :)
Great video. Love walking down the ship canal but in the other direction from Wigg island. always wanted to go the other way.
Fascinating stuff. I almost wish you had brought a portable dingy and then you could just inflate it and sail back home instead of the long walk. I can only imagine you slept like a log.
Well done and thank you for satisfying my own long standing curiosity about that strip of land. A mixture of abandoned industry, weird landscapes and them infernal brambles. Had a feeling you might try it again after your last attempt.
As there are sheep on some of that land a farmer must get there somehow to tend them.
Thanks very much. Yes the farmer has their own boat and they let birdwatchers cross the canal every so often to survey the birds in the bay
Thank you for doing this. This is a breath of fresh air. I was sooo gutted after the last video. I appreciate this
Most entertaining, sir. Thank you.
Thank you
Chemicals being made on waterfront is a red flag to me. Environmental studies and people being paid off for looking the other way or such activities. Makes me wonder.
Cheers Ollie
That was engrossing stuff! I, like you love this kind of exploring, heavy industry, history, and nature claiming back the borrowed. Not watched one of your films for 3-4 months now, sorry mate had a major operation. Watching this reminded Me just how brilliant you, and your films are! Thanks again mate, outstanding.
Daron
Thanks Daron. Sorry to hear about your operation. Glad you liked the video. All the best 👍🏽
Pity they couldn’t make this more accessible, I’d love to be able to walk or cycle along it. From Manchester to Liverpool would be great.
Great vid
I went down to the swing bridge that leads to Wigg Island this morning as I was curious about the access to the gantry wall. The gate that you probably went through is now locked and has a new sign on it stating ‘Caution , No Pedestrians’. Great video , thank you for capturing it before the jobsworths stopped anybody else from sharing your adventure.
Brilliant. Grew up in E Port and was always frustrated at how inaccessible the river was. Did this trip on the cruise ship 10 years ago. It was Facinating.
Would love to do this walk.
Absolutely captivating. Having had many happy childhood memories , spent with my father, in his families business (Val’s Cafe), immediately below the Liverpool Warehouse in Trafford park. Wedged between the Manchester and Bridgewater canals. Passenger trips on the swing bridge, and happy smiling dock workers enjoying a snack .... not forgetting the terror of being lifted onto the footplate of a live steam shunting engine, outside the cafe doors !
Thanks x
I have to say I thought you a nut job at the start , but I have to say I enjoyed your video,thank you for taken the time and effort to make it. The lock gates and huts were cool. That's some work you did,hat off to you sir
I absolutely adore your videos, but they often make my stomach churn. I wouldn’t have the bottle to do that, especially alone! So keep up the brilliant work and I think I’ll stick to my transport videos. 😂
Christ Church is still accessible, with various permissions from various places. It's hard to get but do-able. It's just full of storage and old chairs etc now
Worth a video.
Thank you, Ollie! I've been intrigued by the MSC ever since I sailed it in 1976 as an apprentice with Dutch Shell Tankers. Once all the way to Barton and back, once to Stanlow where I changed ships. Dutch Shell Tankers had a class of three ships (Cinulia, Crania, nn) built to just fit the locks on the MSC. They had a dedicated accomodation for the canal pilot that would stay on board for the return trip. They would carry some halfway product for lubricating oil from the refinery in Willemstad (Curaçao) to these chemical works along the MSC, and sometimes make a little detour from that line service.
You should explore the Sankey Canal. It's random when you walk the trail to see locks in the middle of nothing.
It's not random they were designed
Sankey canal is cool, cycled it in 2008 from Warrington to Newton le Willows as part of our Lands End to John O’Groats tour. The last part around the railway viaduct had a little standing water on the path that stung a little on the ankles.
I dont know why but industrial waterways scare the bejeezus out of me :-(
Understandable! Occasional ships aside, the Ship Canal is around 25m deep, tidal at 7mph, freezing & dumped in by the likes of Ineos. There is indeed much to be wary of.
I think my uncle used to work in that hut . I vaguely remember going to work with him one day when I was a kid . Remember getting into a little motor boat taking us across the canal. I always still think about it now and again how exciting it was when I was a kid . And playing around there whilst he was working. I left Runcorn when I was 21. Moved down south been here for 32 years . Wow that brought back a few memories. I also used to swim in the canal after school in the summer with me mates . Crazy days looking back the age we were . But I guess that was the norm back in them days . Cheers for the upload. 👍🏻
The Canadian goose are the intruders, up until 10yrs ago it would be just ducks but these Canadian geese have replaced them, everywhere you go now
10 years……. I didn’t know that….
Good day to you, Mike from County Durham, was drawn to clicking on your video. I was brought up in Latchford in the 60's
and remember doing walks and playing around the lock area, enjoying the ships. Dad operated the swing bridge at Latchford.
Thanks for sharing your walk, cheers, Mike.
my farther was with the military police in 1943 (after being wounded in Africa ) he was posted to the Eastham ferry to guard the lock gates, should the germans drop paras to blow up the lock gates thus knocking outthe canal and Manchester docks, the nissan hut and small detachment was in the green opposite the FERRY HOTEL in Eastham
That was really good! I'm from the midlands, don't know the area, but it was a great watch, keep up the good work!
Brilliant stuff! I worked down the Ship Canal a few times in the 70s in a Leeds Liverpool shortboat. We returned empty to Liverpool that way, to load grain for BOCM at Manchester. We had to do the trip back on the Bridgewater as the MSC co wouldn't let such old and tiny boats up the canal loaded! The bit between Hulme and the mill obviously didn't count!
I could have sworn there was a bridge between Runcorn and Stanlow, but obviously it was a ferry!
How did the sheep get there???
*I've been here and felt spooked out , had to leave. This is a bit of a ghostly area. Not sure at night.*
Your videos are always fascinating, Ollie. Keep them coming! I do wish there was not so much litter and graffiti about - but, I suppose you can't have everything!
Been up the Manchester ship canal. Many times ,MV Hunter Cambridge, to ,.
Berry Wiggins oil terminal don't know if it is still there,, used to load in lake maricibo Craccas...
Crossed the bridge on the Bridgewater canal to Barton at the weekend.. only swing aqueduct in the world apparently! Nobody even bats an eyelid at all the incredible stuff on their doorstep - strange really!
After the sluice gates, a bit further past the bunker you found, as the land opens up there is an Alan Williams gun turret with a tree growing through it. It was part of the WW2 air defence to protect the Frodsham railway viaduct that delivered amunition to the Royal Ordnance Factory, Dunham-on-the-Hill Bulk Explosives Storage. There is a second one at Elton and two anti aircraft gun emplacements either side of Frodsham. The explosive storage bunkers are visible from the M56 just after the Hapsford junction.
Did you have any trouble getting access from Wigg Island or by- passing the fences at the sluice gates?
Yes in my excitement I completely forgot about that turret. Head slap. Just one of those things.
Not really any trouble, but I got very lucky a couple of times!!
Great Video! In the 80's I worked at the now demolished Ince B power station and we had a dock on the MS Canal where the oil was delivered, spent lots of time hanging out (hard working!) down there. I'm from Ellesmere Port originally, there was always a rumour of a tunnel from the monastery to Ellesmere Port .and a family friend always swore they had a friendly monk spirit who lived in their house. As kids we'd hang around at Eastham locks waiting for the big ships to go through!
Really enjoyed this video thank you. John Rooney st Anne's Lancashire uk former moss side lad 69yrs
Trafford Park industrial estate Manchester which the Manchester Ship canal passed through had its own railway net work with 200 miles of track at one time.
I absolutely loved this! Thank you so much for sharing your adventure, I love going on these little explorations with a mix of natural and old industrial... take care and thanks again. John
This is a picture on British working councils attitude out of sight no interest imagine if one person on the board had a small vision other than just getting a weekly wage and going home early shame shame they need sacked bring in professional attitudes from Australia with real vision on environment and future ideas take a look at melb old dock lands and see how clear intelligence transformed waste land into spectacular place to visit Southbank Victoria
I've been wanting to get over there for years only living a 5 min walk to the Boat Museum by where you ended in Ellesmere port.
A cooling tower “ that’s quite cool”!
During the war my dad was in the Royal Signals, one of the jobs he worked on was setting up attempts to confuse German night time bombers about the location of the Manchester Ship Canal - did the same sort of thing at Donnington too.
Cheers keep up the good work.
John
Cheers thank you!
That's an old fashioned bread oven on the left of the fireplace in I assume the lock keepers cottage
Taking us to locations we never thought we’d see. Just fascinating and a true spirit of adventure. Thank you!
hear hear
That Runcorn song is going to be stuck in my head forever now 😂 🎶
Great video, interesting stuff..well done!👍
Absolutely love what you're doing and the wonderful effort in which you do it. Really appreciate the information. Thank you..✌
What a fascinating video. I lived for a short while in Warrington as a youngster
and remember large ships sailing along the canal dwarfing the terrace houses.
This brought back some good memories for me.
SO JEALOUS!! i used to live in the village of Elton, always took my dogs down to the marshes and always wanted to gain access to the strip of land you walked...well done
Really enjoyed this video. Not sure how I came across your channel but you've earned a new subscriber. Thank you for going to the effort of walking all that way and showing us bits of the canal and surrounds we normally don't get to see.
I would recommend a good quality inflatable canoe for these kind of adventures especially in summer. This summer I made it through the longest canal tunnel in the world with an inflatable canoe. It's 7km long and called Rove Tunnel and it's near Marseille in France. It was abandoned in 1963 after a roof collapse but you can still make it through with a canoe
I think it would be more sensible to wear a serious life jacket in that area around such seriously deep water, if you fall in there with all that heavy clothing on you've had it!
Yeah Mark, I'm a Rescue Diver and I was having anxiety over parts of the trip!,
particularly the slippery slopey green parts as they remind me of myself and a friend nearly drowning after he slipped in and i went in after him even though I knew that usually just ends up with two bodies, not one,
we eventually got out, but were 45 minutes in freezing water, scrabbling at slippery, barnacled rocks, with the tide trying to pluck us off...not a pleasant memory(the rest of the journey was lovely though!(although the weir/lock part got me worked up again as that water would have plucked Ollie up and out into the Mersey in seconds.
All in all a great video though!
I want to clean all that mess up👍
So is it actually 'forbidden' to walk it, or is the route just difficult to access and negotiate..?
I think technically it is forbidden but it's not signposted so...
@@BeeHereNowuk Ah, gotcha, hence the old mantra: better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission..!
Another fascinating video, I love the fact that you happily admit you don't know something and present what you are seeing without overinterpretation. Thanks.
Great to finally see what the "bits of wall" were....the lockgates! Can see them from the roof of the incinerator plant
I used to live in Widnes, a long time ago, I cycled along there must have been in the 80's, it was a lot easier to pass then. Surprising how its changed so much since then. I even went up the river wearer arm, along to the swing bridge, just as you get into Frodsham, next to the boneyard.
Oh, was that the boneyard where they made glue, and it used to really smell so bad?!
Sad to see it turned into a trash heap.."
NEW SUBCRIBER! Mersey brings back the memory of a song. Best to you from near Fort Worth, Texas. Eaglegards...
This is so exciting to watch for me, this is where I grew up! 😂 There's some superb stuff just inland from where you started this video!
Keep up the good work!
Cheers thanks! I've definitely developed a soft spot for Runcorn after this
I've had that Runcorn song stuck in my head since watching this a week ago..
Hi Olly thanks again for going the extra mile...literally! Great work mate and thankyou for the image at 3:16....it's the exact spot I want my ashes scattered! Best wishes and take care mate
Cheers thank you once again! 👍🏼
Really enjoyed this exploration, thank you for showing us :)
My Wife just showed me this video via our TV. Wow this is amazing thank you. Have subscribed now. Steve - Runcorn.
A very enjoyable video. The effort of the walk was obvious and more enjoyable as you were were obviously loving the explore.
Thanks for the effort
Cracking trip! You might want to consider packing a pair of secateurs for any future adventures. Very handy for brambles!
Absolutely brilliant thanks for taking the time to do this. You should be on the TV with more stuff like This. Extremely informative and interesting, thanks again good watch.
Brilliant piece mate. Something I've also wanted to achieve for many years too..you've fulfilled my dream of having a mooch around over that side of the canal 😁
OMG I had so much fun taking this walk with you. Thank you so much!
I really enjoyed this video Ollie, thanks for going to such great efforts to show that side of the Canal. The MSC has always fascinated me, more because I grew up near one of the Swing Bridges in Warrington and often saw the ships passing. It’s easy to see and understand the navigation of the Canal eastbound from Runcorn through WarrIngton and Salford before ending in Manchester, however I like many have never seen much of it west of Runcorn through to Eastham. I’m fascinated that there was a small community on that side of the Canal where land did permit. Such a shame there’s a lot of stuff rotting, but good it hasn’t been removed. Keep up the good work!
Cheers thanks glad you liked it! I love the MSC
map states partington steel works thats a bit weird ,,,,COZ IT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CANAL , IN IRLAM AND CADISHEAD , hence IRLAM steel works , great footage rrr kidd
I’m planning to run this. Please advise how you get over the Weaver Sluice. I’m a bit worried about that! Great video and well done defeating the jungle!
@@ratatat9790 Yes I've no idea how you do this. I'll have a run up to the sluice at some point and have a look. Will have to wait for the jungle to die back a bit, so one for later in the year or early next year
How did you get on?
@@BeeHereNowuk Not done it yet, but on my list for this year. Might just go to the sluice on the first visit
Yeah good idea. I can't give you any hints unfortunately without getting myself into trouble but all I'll say is that I was very lucky when i got to the sluices. Be very careful!
It's really sad to see such a fantastic piece of national infrastructure in such a derelict state.What has happened to the new Port of Warrington and all it's potential traffic?
Do not believe anything Peel say, until you see it. Which will be a loooong time. Peel is a _land_ company.
Won’t be long before you see housing and flats going up in these abandoned areas, similar to Deck Apartments on Mersey Road. No chance of UK’s golden age of shipping will ever return, sadly.
53.18580712662168, -4.49100619742297 The church might be the only one in England on an uninhabited island but theres one off Anglesea at the grid ref given thats way older :) But thanks for these vlogs they are fabulous and so interesting to watch! :)
Get this man on BBC4!
Whatever Peel owns, always ends up being littered with industrial waste and junk. This very rich company rarely clears anything up. An appalling irresponsible company.
Good stuff mate. See Michelle Gibson on UA-cam. This is part of world wide infrastructure. She explains why they are called Moors. Good luck. Peace
How do they get the sheep there, and why is there a dock on the Island side opposite the refinery?
I'd surreptitiously renovate that wee lockmasters cabin - what a cracking gaff! BTW - biggest hazards on this walk: rusty metal through your too flimsy boots, and falling in the water. Both manageable risks with the right gear. Which you did not have.
Just discovered this channel. Love it! I live on the Wirral.