10 years ago today (October 26 2013) the historic Cargo Cranes in Salford Quays were dismantled.
The Salford City Council Mayor at the time, Ian Stewart, argued that the cranes would have cost an “unaffordable” £1m to make the rusting cranes safe.
The Mayor’s reasoning was heavily disputed by campaigners at the time who were desperate to save the historic symbol of Salford’s industrial heritage. However, plans to demolish the cranes still ploughed ahead.
Ian Stewart stated: “The cranes are a big part of our city’s past, but the current economic climate of Coalition cuts, means we just haven’t got the money to save them.”
Constructed in 1966, the cranes were originally built on the south dock 6 but were decommissioned and moved to their final position on Ontario Basin in Salford Quays, in 1988. The cranes served as a visual reminder that the now modernised Salford Quays used to be a working dock.
The Salford Docks opened in 1894 by Queen Victoria, and at their height, the Docks were the third busiest port in Britain.
The docks however declined in the 1970s and eventually closed down in 1982. This resulted in the unfortunate loss of around 3,000 jobs.
After the docks closure, the surrounding area became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom.
In 1983 Salford City Council obtained parts of the Salford docks from the Manchester Ship Canal Company and the area was rebranded as Salford Quays in 1985.
Private investments and public funding into the regeneration totalled around £280 million by the early 1990s.
Remembering Salford Quays’ industrial past is a key factor in appreciating the journey it took for MediaCity to become the thriving business hub it is today in 2023.
In the video above Andrew Alan Matthews recites a poem he wrote on the Salford Quays Cargo Cranes.
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