Staircase Locks

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Now used as a car park under the former Manchester Central Station, the Manchester & Salford Junction Canal would have passed through here at the low level.  Covered by the passenger and adjacent goods station the canal descended through two locks as it came towards the camera, the opposite way to the road approach today.

These were locks 3 and 4 which were staircase locks.  The canal was so busy that there were two parallel sets of staircase locks making an unusual, perhaps unique, arrangement.  This must have made an impressive sight with two parallel sets of two lock staircases on a broad canal, although I wonder how well they would have been seen under the railway.

Waterway and Kilometerage	MASJ 00.655.02
OS Grid Reference	SJ 83597 97802
Date and Time	160201 123516
Copyright ©	Paul Balmer