Pomona Docks

Manchester Docks were a series of nine docks in Salford, Stretford

Stretford

Stretford is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Lying on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, it is to the southwest of Manchester city centre, south-southwest of Salford and northeast of Altrincham...

and Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

at the east end of the Manchester Ship Canal

Manchester Ship Canal

The Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...

in North West England

North West England

North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...

. They formed a key part of the Port of Manchester

Port of Manchester

The Port of Manchester in North West England was created as a customs port on 1 January 1894, four months before the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal. It extended along the whole length of the canal, from Eastham in the west to Manchester in the east, absorbing the Port of Runcorn, which...

from 1894 until their closure in 1982.

The docks marked the upper reaches of the ship canal

Manchester Ship Canal

and were a destination for both coastal and ocean-bound vessels carrying cargo and a limited number of passengers, often travelling to and from Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Manchester Docks were divided into two sections; the larger Salford Docks to the west of the Trafford Road swing bridge

Swing bridge

A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...

and Pomona Docks to the east. Each section consisted of four docks in total, the largest being to the west; Dock 5 at Pomona was never fully completed. Of the eight working docks only one, Dock 1 at Pomona, was within Manchester

Manchester

itself. In 1948, for one year, Manchester Docks were Britain's third busiest port, owing to damage suffered by the Port of Hull

Port of Hull

The Port of Hull is a trading port located at the confluence of the River Hull and the Humber Estuary in the city of Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Seaborne trade can be traced to at least the 13th century...

during the Hull Blitz

Hull blitz

The Hull Blitz was the Nazi German strategic bombing campaign targeted on the Northern English port city of Kingston upon Hull, almost invariably referred to as Hull, during the Second World War...

despite being situated 40 miles inland, and were a major contributing factor in the development of Trafford Park

Trafford Park

Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located opposite Salford Quays, on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, it is west-southwest of Manchester city centre, and north of Stretford. Until the late 19th century it was the...

.

During the 1970s the docks began a rapid decline, largely due to containerisation. The increasing size of freight-carrying ships meant they could no longer navigate the ship canal

Manchester Ship Canal

and this, combined with increased trading with Europe and the east, saw use of Manchester Docks decrease. In 1982 the remaining docks closed and the area became derelict.

Recognising the need to redevelop the area, Salford Docks were purchased by Salford City Council in 1984 using a derelict land grant

Grant (money)

Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...

. The Salford Quays
Salford Quays
Salford Quays is an area of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom following the closure of the dockyards in...

Development Plan was adopted in May 1985, which proposed complete reclamation and development of the area for commercial, residential and leisure use.

Salford Docks

Salford Docks are the western (downstream) block, made of four large docks running ENE from the canal, numbered 9,8,7 and 6, the latter three off a turning basin. They have now been redeveloped into Salford Quays

Salford Quays

Salford Quays is an area of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom following the closure of the dockyards in...

Dock 9 is the largest of the docks and was the site of the Manchester Liners
Manchester Liners
Manchester Liners was a cargo and passenger shipping company, founded in 1898, based in Manchester, England. The line pioneered the regular passage of ocean-going vessels along the Manchester Ship Canal. Its main sphere of operation was the transatlantic shipping trade, but the company also...

container service to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. Today the upper reaches contain cleaned water and have been cut off from their former connection to the ship canal
Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...

. This cleaned water is accessed from Dock 8 via a new canal through Pier 8, while the lower section remains open to ship canal
Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...

traffic. This dock was the last to be constructed, built on the former New Barnes site of Manchester Racecourse
Manchester Racecourse
Manchester Racecourse was a former racecourse in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. Manchester Racecourse moved several times but remained within Salford in the 19th and 20th centuries...

, and opened in the early years of the 20th Century.

Dock 8 remains largely intact, although its entrance to the ship canal has been made considerably narrower. It is now accessed through a lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...

beneath a pedestrian drawbridge
Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...

, which is used as a buffer to separate the cleaned water of Docks 7, 8 and 9 from the relatively untreated water of the ship canal
Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...

. This is the only route into the redeveloped basins of Docks 9 and 7. The lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...

and drawbridge
Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...

are mechanised and controlled from the Salford Quays Operations Tower.

Dock 7 has been cut off from the ship canal and divided into a series of small basins, linking Piers 6 and 7 by road and pedestrian footbridges. The basins provide a habitat for wildlife and the introduced fish stock. Access is again from Dock 8, at its north eastern end.

Dock 6 is retained in largely its original configuration.

The smaller basins into which the docks have been divided are all named after North American lakes, reflecting the area's strong trading links the docks had with North America.

Upstream of Dock 6 there is a triangular depression in the canal wall on a similar alignment to the other docks: this was originally a second navigable channel under a fixed road bridge. At the end of the 19th century the channel was infilled above the bridge and the remainder retained as a wharf. Later this arm was further truncated into the vestige seen today.

During the building of Dock 9 there were plans to construct a further dock (Dock 10) downstream of, and parallel to, Dock 9. Maps from 1921 still show the proposed dock, but it is omitted on later editions.

Pomona Docks was a set of 5 docks on the Manchester Ship Canal

Manchester Ship Canal

. Unlike the former docks in what is now Salford Quays

Salford Quays

, there has been little redevelopment.

Dock 5, Ordsall Dock, was a rectangular dock on the opposite bank to the other docks, and was situated directly opposite Docks 3-4. Docks 4-2 left the canal at an angle, running East from the canal, each around 600 feet (182.9 m) long, whilst Dock 1 (mostly in the City of Manchester) was somewhat longer at 700 feet (213.4 m), and ran almost parallel to the canal in a NE direction.

Dock 5 was infilled at the end of the 19th century, during the construction of Dock 9.
Dock 4 has now been entirely infilled, and almost no trace remains on the ground.
Dock 3 remains intact, having been later used as the point for Pomona Lock (which connects the Manchester Ship Canal to the Bridgewater Canal
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...

, replacing the redundant Hulme Lock
Hulme Locks Branch Canal
The Hulme Locks Branch Canal was a canal in the city of Manchester. It was 200m in length and was built to provide a direct waterway between the Mersey and Irwell Navigation and the Bridgewater Canal...

further upstream).
Dock 2 has been infilled along most of its length, although a short stump of the dock remains connected to the canal.
Dock 1 has been infilled, although a depression in the canal bank exists across the former dock mouth.

The official terminus of the canal is several hundred metres further up the canal, at a point where it is crossed by a footbridge. Between the four main docks and Pomona Docks was a swinging road bridge. In the 1960s its openings and closings were announced by a man blowing a hunting horn.

Pomona Docks were built on the site of the Pomona Gardens, which were named after the Roman goddess Pomona

Pomona

Pomona was a goddess of fruitful abundance in ancient Roman religion and myth. Her name comes from the Latin word pomum, "fruit," specifically orchard fruit. She was said to be a wood nymph and a part of the Numia, guardian spirits who watch over people, places, or homes...

. The swinging roadbridge that separates Salford Quays

Salford Quays

from Pomona Docks is now permanently closed and only small pleasure craft are able to pass under it into Pomona Docks. The Gardens gave their name to a public house at Cornbrook. The area is served by the Pomona station

Pomona Metrolink station

Pomona Metrolink station is a Manchester Metrolink station serving the Pomona Docks area which is to yet to be redeveloped. Pomona is Metrolink's only purpose built elevated tram stop, built with exposed concrete supports similar to much of the DLR....

on the Manchester Metrolink

Manchester Metrolink

Metrolink is a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. It consists of four lines which converge in Manchester city centre and terminate in Bury, Altrincham, Eccles and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated under contract by RATP Group...

Salford Docks

Pomona Docks

See also