Construction of the Bridgewater Canal began in 1761 to transport coal from the Duke of Bridgewater's mines in Worsley, eventually spanning 39 miles to connect Runcorn to Leigh in Northwest England. The canal's establishment revolutionised commercial transport in the area and propelled Manchester to become one of the world's leading industrial cities. Among numerous aqueducts along the canal, the Cut Hole Aqueduct in Stretford holds great prominence, built by stone masons between 1765–1776 to carry the canal over Hawthorn Road on the west bank of the River Mersey.
Today, in place of bustling commerce, the surrounding landscape has been largely transformed into public recreational greenspaces. The area is imbued with an industrial and agricultural heritage intertwined with historic and ongoing efforts to control the nearby River Mersey. The Metrolink tramline runs parallel to the canal as leisure barges glide above the aqueduct, and a footpath meanders through its triple-span stone arches, adorned with contemporary graffiti alongside 247-year old mason markings engraved by hand. Downstream, Manchester’s Outer Ring Road crosses the canal. The River Mersey has been embanked in this area for centuries, but localised flooding challenges continue to arise in periods of heavy rainfall. The last major improvements to combat flooding and manage the watercourse occurred in the 1970s during the construction of the M60 motorway and the addition of a flyover across the A56.
A soundscape of a half-mile stretch of the Bridgewater Canal begins under the arches of the Cut Hole Aqueduct. A metronome of dripping water from an open drainage pipe is joined by the echoes of pedestrian foot traffic, sounds that are quickly subsumed by the noise of trams passing overhead. The audio journey continues to the surface of the canal as it follows a footpath running under Manchester’s Outer Ring Road.
The accompanying photoessay can be explored while listening to the soundscape.
