England Guide
The Northwest
Salford Quays
After the Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, Salford docks played a pivotal role in turning Manchester into one of Britain's busiest seaports. By the 1970s, however, trade had well-nigh collapsed and the docks were forced to close in 1982, leaving a slew of post-industrial mess just a couple of miles to the west of the city centre. Since then, an extraordinarily ambitious redevelopment has transformed Salford Quays, as it was rebranded, into a hugely popular waterfront residential and leisure complex, with its own gleaming new apartment blocks, shopping mall and arts centre, The Lowry, amongst whose various delights are art galleries that feature the works of the centre's namesake, L.S. Lowry. Also on the quays is the much praised Imperial War Museum North, with its splendidly thoughtful displays on war in general and its effects on the individual in particular.