Underground Manchester

Under Manchester is the defunct Manchester & Salford Junction Canal. This image shows one of two mysterious towers built on the canal basin bed. The function of these towers is unknown.
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/008-Tunnels-1.jpg[/IMG]
Shot in total darkness with the K20D, 16-45mm, 360 flash, 400 ISO. AF was accomplished by focusing on an area lit by my torch. Very impressive, very low light focusing from the camera. No problem whatsoever locking on....

The tower is interesting John, the rest of the picture not so much Any speculation as to the towers purpose? It looks almost like some kind of kiln. Is the top part broken off?

Was this some official tour? How do you gain access to the canal? I'm surprised it's not covered in graffiti

Is it right to assume the tower would have submerged then John? Do you know what vintage it might be?

The tunnels were used in WWII as air raid shelters, so they may have been constructed as goods lifts. In the past few decades they have been dry and abandoned, with some , but not much, signs of the occasional squatter. Most of the access points are firmly bricked up, but there is a relatively new stairway within the Great Northern Warehouse that allows controlled access.

A group of local enthusiasts arrange tours and we had an exclusive tour for the camera club as one of our members works for the people who arrange things.

IIRC the canal closed in the 1920s, never having been profitable due to its high maintenance costs. The rest of it lies underneath Granada TV Studios and they probably use it for filming.

The tour is generally available, Google will reveal all, and well worth the £10 it costs. Fantastic atmosphere down there and also easy access so most people will be able to get down there.

Just had a quick Google, apparently the towers may have housed the pumps which "back pumped water up the locks"?

Thanks John,

I did the same thing Tim, and the alternative suggestion was that the towers housed goods lifts to get cargo out of the barges on the canal, up to the warehouses on the surface...

Nobody really knows for sure, but one thing is certain. The canal used water from two other canals as well as getting it from rivers, so the other canal owners would be protecting their water supplies. Therfore pumping water back up the canal seems very logical, but very costly.

As soon as this short cut opened the other round-about route dropped its charges...so the Manchester & Salford Junction canal was doomed from the start from every angle.

It's just over a mile and a quarter long I think, and all in tunnels, connecting the Bridgewater and Rochdale canals.

One of the signs of human life:
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/009-Coke-Can.jpg[/IMG]

And death:
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/010-Underground-Skeleton.jpg[/IMG]

Clearly, it was the diet that did it!

The flash has coped well in lighting up such a dark space.

The tapering brickwork suggests that it went quite high.
The openings don't look big enough for loading bays, so it
possibly was for pumping. Strange that nothing to do with
pipework is visible?

I have to confess that I left everything in green mode, because I couldn't see a thing without the torch, so the situation was, shall we say, challenging?

Camera and flash sorted themselves out and I worried about the composition and making sure there was at least a spot of light for the AF to focus on.

The LED Lenser Police torch I was using was excellent, far brighter than all the hige torches that people brought.

It's really strange that these huge structures are there without anyone really knowing what they were for.

Amazing place. All hidden away with strange stories to tell.