Manchester's long-lost canal to be restored

A long-lost stretch of canal in Manchester is set to be restored by property developers.

The southern end of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal will form the centrepiece of a £300m 'urban village', which has just received outline planning permission. Developers Valley & Vale plan to build restaurants, bars, and luxury ten-storey apartment blocks around a newly restored canal - echoing the successful canalside developments of London's Docklands, central Birmingham, and other parts of Manchester.

Amazingly, the area was proposed in the 1990s for a ski-ing fun park called SnoWorld. But the newly approved plans have more universal appeal, aiming to connect Salford and Manchester city centres with a restored boating, walking and cycling route. Locks will be restored and mooring basins excavated as part of the plans.

North of the proposed development, the currently derelict Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal continues to the towns of Bolton and Bury. Though the canal was progressively closed from the 1930s to the 1960s, much of interest survives, including two magnificent aqueducts, an unusual set of 'staircase' lock chambers, and canal cottages complete with their original cobbled towpath.

Navigation authority British Waterways says restoring the canal from Manchester to Bury is one of its top priorities, and hopes to complete the work later this decade. It has already bought land in Bury ready for future canalside developments.