Canal Boat — February 2018

canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat February 2018 37

SALFORD QUAYS

September, and is limited to the area

above the Lowry footbridge (beyond that,

you’d need the full paperwork); you

should have a suitable anchor and line;

and anyone wanting to take a hire boat to

Salford Quays must provide written

permission from the hire company.

Some planning is required, as the

Bridgewater Canal Company needs at

least 72 hours notice that you want to use

Pomona Lock, which is the link between

the Bridgewater Canal and the Ship Canal.

In theory, lockings can take place at 8am

and 4pm Monday to Thursday, and 8am

and 2pm on a Friday. However, when we

came to book we were told that only 8am

lockings were possible – it all depends on

the availability of staff from the

Engineering Department. That means you

may need to be flexible with your plans.

There is a cost involved – not for the

Quays or that part of the Ship Canal, but

you do have to pay to use Pomona Lock.

The charge is currently £27.50 each way.

The trip itself is only a few miles, but it’s

full of interest. Pomona Lock is around

fifteen minutes boating away from

Castlefield basin in the centre of

Manchester, so that makes a good stop the

night before if you’re due at Pomona at

8am. The lock itself looks rather daunting.

It’s not the size as it’s no bigger than a

normal wide lock, it’s more the

surroundings which perhaps put people

off. The area is covered in graffiti, a bridge

carrying the tram crosses by the top of the

lock while the other end is under a road

bridge. It’s also fairly deep at twelve feet.

Two men from the Engineering

Department were waiting for us when we

arrived. They work the gates and paddles,

which are normally padlocked to prevent

passage. Once down, you find yourself in

the former Pomona Docks, which would

once have been busy with ships and

dockers, but are now largely overgrown or

being redeveloped for housing.

At the end of the dock you turn left for

Salford Quays, but we decided to turn right

to take in some of the upper reaches of the

River Irwell. In this direction there are

Modern liftbridge links to the Lowry

The visitor mooring for Salford Quays

Descending Pomona Lock

Old waterside factory and crane

Striking new Imperial War Museum building