This milestone was erected in 2008 on the Manchester Bolton & Bury canal during canal restoration work carried out as part of the Salford Middlewood Locks regeneration project. Sadly it is has now disappeared, probably thrown into the canal.
The Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal was opened in 1797. It runs from Salford up the Irwell valley, crossing the River Irwell twice to reach Nob End. Here it climbs the spectacular Prestolee Locks and at its summit splits into two arms, one leading west to Bolton and one leading east to Bury.
The canal was built to serve numerous collieries and to transport heavy materials; passenger (‘fly’) boats covered the length from Bolton to Manchester in three hours, while transport by road was slower. The canal was finally closed in 1961.
The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society was formed in 1987 to restore the canal to join the national waterways network. See the society’s web ste for more details www.mbbcs.org.uk.