Trafford is a place name familiar to much of the population of the North West, and probably the world, due to a famous football team and stadium and a very large shopping centre!
The Trafford Centre -opened in 1998 is the third largest shopping centre in the UK – 10% of the UK population live within a 45-minute drive of the centre and over 35 million people visit every year to shop, eat, bowl, play indoor golf (yes really!) and watch films. It has Europe’s largest food court (themed around a cruise ship) and the UK’s busiest cinema high up in the famous dome.
The Trafford Centre sits on land once owned by the Manchester Ship Canal, just five miles west of Manchester city centre and close to the heavily industrialised Trafford Park. The ship canal was constructed way back in 1887 and cost a staggering £15 million. We will follow the 36-mile-long Manchester Ship Canal for parts of this walk.
This walk will start in North Trafford and very briefly stray into nearby Eccles in the borough of Salford.
But don’t expect industry and some ‘grim up North’ features this walk is going to surprise you! We’ll travel across a ship canal and underneath a motorway and see some outstanding examples of engineering.
Look for wildlife in unexpected places and visit some of our favourite photo stops in Manchester – just don’t get distracted by the shops!
We begin our walk opposite the Trafford Centre – easily accessible by car or bus. Car parks are marked for customers only so choose where you park carefully. You will probably need to cross the very busy road to get to the other side so please take care and use all the crossings available. You need to make your way onto Trafford Boulevard, which is directly opposite the Debenhams entrance of the Trafford Centre. Make your way to the glass building, the Venus Building, with the sculptures outside it.
The Trafford Centre -opened in 1998 is the third largest shopping centre in the UK – 10% of the UK population live within a 45-minute drive of the centre and over 35 million people visit every year to shop, eat, bowl, play indoor golf (yes really!) and watch films. It has Europe’s largest food court (themed around a cruise ship) and the UK’s busiest cinema high up in the famous dome.
The Trafford Centre sits on land once owned by the Manchester Ship Canal, just five miles west of Manchester city centre and close to the heavily industrialised Trafford Park. The ship canal was constructed way back in 1887 and cost a staggering £15 million. We will follow the 36-mile-long Manchester Ship Canal for parts of this walk.
This walk will start in North Trafford and very briefly stray into nearby Eccles in the borough of Salford.
But don’t expect industry and some ‘grim up North’ features this walk is going to surprise you! We’ll travel across a ship canal and underneath a motorway and see some outstanding examples of engineering.
Look for wildlife in unexpected places and visit some of our favourite photo stops in Manchester – just don’t get distracted by the shops!
We begin our walk opposite the Trafford Centre – easily accessible by car or bus. Car parks are marked for customers only so choose where you park carefully. You will probably need to cross the very busy road to get to the other side so please take care and use all the crossings available. You need to make your way onto Trafford Boulevard, which is directly opposite the Debenhams entrance of the Trafford Centre. Make your way to the glass building, the Venus Building, with the sculptures outside it.
map and guide notes
Click on the map below to open up the interactive version to accompany our guide notes.
START/FINISH - the Venus Trinity is a 33-foot bronze sculpture of three naked ladies bursting out of a column of water. Designed by local artist Colin Spofforth to represent ‘vitality’ and ‘youth’ it is a beautiful piece of art surrounded by water offering reflection shots and contrast shots of the building and the sculpture. If only the buildings fence wasn’t in the way… it is worth trying to get a good shot of the sculpture, but it may prove a difficult task!
POINT 1 Make your way onto Trafford Way and continue walking on the left-hand pavement. This part of the walk will take you past several buildings including the striking Chill Factore, whose purpose is easy to guess from the shape of its building. As you walk past the building you may find that the sun is just in the right place to take some stunning shots of what an unusually shaped building is.
Continue walking to the roundabout then turn left. You will now be able to see two of the outstanding engineering features which led us to choose this route. The large motorway bridge (probably full of cars in a very long queue!) carries the M60 across the Manchester Ship Canal and beneath it is the brand-new road bridge across the canal leading to Barton. They will both offer a multitude of different shots for the next part of the walk.
Continue walking towards the new bridge shooting as you go! There is no end of possibilities for shots of one bridge or two together -black and white or colour and if the sun is in the right place you should be able to capture the sun rays falling on the motorway bridge. Look for unusual traffic – convoys of lorries, caravans – crossing the bridge and try to capture their journey across.
POINT 1 Make your way onto Trafford Way and continue walking on the left-hand pavement. This part of the walk will take you past several buildings including the striking Chill Factore, whose purpose is easy to guess from the shape of its building. As you walk past the building you may find that the sun is just in the right place to take some stunning shots of what an unusually shaped building is.
Continue walking to the roundabout then turn left. You will now be able to see two of the outstanding engineering features which led us to choose this route. The large motorway bridge (probably full of cars in a very long queue!) carries the M60 across the Manchester Ship Canal and beneath it is the brand-new road bridge across the canal leading to Barton. They will both offer a multitude of different shots for the next part of the walk.
Continue walking towards the new bridge shooting as you go! There is no end of possibilities for shots of one bridge or two together -black and white or colour and if the sun is in the right place you should be able to capture the sun rays falling on the motorway bridge. Look for unusual traffic – convoys of lorries, caravans – crossing the bridge and try to capture their journey across.
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POINT 2 Continue to walk towards the bridge - opened in December 2017 - which we will cross on this walk. As you approach try a black and white shot of the stop signs and barriers used when the bridge must close. Shoot straight up the pillars supporting the bridge (all the time wondering how on earth they are keeping it up!). move around the bridge and try different shots of the four columns, maybe one or two, the view up the canal and the view towards the motorway bridge. This is another of those ‘photo stops’ where you can spend a really long time as there are so many different possibilities!
Once you feel you have exhausted your creativity continue to walk along the right hand pavement towards the motorway bridge. Cross at the lights and walk beneath the M60 bridge. POINT 3 This position also offers a multitude of different shots of the bridge and particularly the underneath of it. You will now have passed into Salford crossing the border to a second borough. In the distance you will see Salford City Stadium, home to Salford Rugby League team and Sale Sharks Rugby Union Club. You may choose at this point to carry on to the stadium which offers another wide range of photographic opportunity. Once you are underneath the M60, and have exhausted your creativity, retrace your route to the new canal bridge. As you approach the new bridge on the left-hand side of the road you will see steps down to a canal path along side the Manchester ship Canal. |
POINT 4 Take the steps down to the canal path. As you walk along the path you will be surprised at how tranquil and beautiful it is. Wildlife in abundance and all the time with the backdrop of the two bridges behind it. Sunny days will give you wonderful opportunities to take reflections in the water. Landscape shots with the bridges in the distance and the canal at the front are another good choice. Everyone loves a bit of sunshine, but stormy clouds behind the bridges are another spectacular shot.
Continue through the stile as you pass a small estate of houses. The pathway changes to a tree lined walk way still following the route of the canal.
POINT 5 Eventually you will reach the end of this path and at this point you will need to walk through the gates and onto the housing estate. Stay on the right-hand side of the roads and walk to the main road junction.
POINT 6 Turn right onto Redclyffe road and make your way across the Barton Swing Bridge -a grade II listed structure built in 1894. This bridge swings to allow cars and other vehicles to cross the canal.
POINT 7 Take care when crossing and inevitably attempting to photograph the other bridges in the distance and the aqueduct to your left. The pathway is very narrow, and the traffic is very busy. Be very aware of the traffic and take care. As you look to the left of the bridge you will see the Barton Swing Aqueduct. Both bridges were designed by Sir Edward Leader Williams – engineer to the Manchester Ship Canal - and opened in 1894. The aqueduct allows traffic on the Bridgewater Canal to cross the Manchester ship canal. Gates at each end of the bridge keep it full of water (over 800 tonnes) while it rotates 90 degrees to allow large ships to move along the Manchester ship canal.
Return on B521 and continue to walk on the right hand side path. You will pass an old convent containing the grave of Marshall Stevens who played a lead role in the development of Trafford Park.
Continue to the roundabout, turn right and then make your way safely back towards the Trafford Centre - where there’s hopefully time for to pop in for a drink and some food and if you want a bit more exercise walk the centre – a full round trip of both floors will add an extra 4.8km to your walk!
Continue through the stile as you pass a small estate of houses. The pathway changes to a tree lined walk way still following the route of the canal.
POINT 5 Eventually you will reach the end of this path and at this point you will need to walk through the gates and onto the housing estate. Stay on the right-hand side of the roads and walk to the main road junction.
POINT 6 Turn right onto Redclyffe road and make your way across the Barton Swing Bridge -a grade II listed structure built in 1894. This bridge swings to allow cars and other vehicles to cross the canal.
POINT 7 Take care when crossing and inevitably attempting to photograph the other bridges in the distance and the aqueduct to your left. The pathway is very narrow, and the traffic is very busy. Be very aware of the traffic and take care. As you look to the left of the bridge you will see the Barton Swing Aqueduct. Both bridges were designed by Sir Edward Leader Williams – engineer to the Manchester Ship Canal - and opened in 1894. The aqueduct allows traffic on the Bridgewater Canal to cross the Manchester ship canal. Gates at each end of the bridge keep it full of water (over 800 tonnes) while it rotates 90 degrees to allow large ships to move along the Manchester ship canal.
Return on B521 and continue to walk on the right hand side path. You will pass an old convent containing the grave of Marshall Stevens who played a lead role in the development of Trafford Park.
Continue to the roundabout, turn right and then make your way safely back towards the Trafford Centre - where there’s hopefully time for to pop in for a drink and some food and if you want a bit more exercise walk the centre – a full round trip of both floors will add an extra 4.8km to your walk!
Gallery
FIRST PUBLISHED 26th MAY 2019
