The archive of the Manchester Ship Canal Company is an invaluable resource relating to one of the companies which changed the face of the North West of England. The company kept comprehensive photographic records of its activities, which complement the enormous written archive. The result is a photographic archive which contains over 20,000 images.

The photographs date right back to the construction of the canal in the 1880s and 1890s. The archive is particularly rich on this subject, recording the way in which the Ship Canal transformed the landscape of the area. Indeed, the visual record fills in some of the gaps in the written one. There are almost no written archives relating to the thousands of people who actually built the canal. These labourers, some of whom were very young, would have been hired on a casual basis, and their names went largely unrecorded. The photographic record, however, gives at least a glimpse into their working lives, and clearly depicts the backbreaking physical labour which was necessary in order to bring this extraordinary project to fruition.

The Ship Canal turned Manchester, a city over 30 miles inland, into Britain’s fourth largest port, and the photographs reflect this development. There are scores of photographs showing the huge variety of goods which were traded along the canal from all over the world, including cotton, coal, vehicles, timber, grain, wool, tea and fruit.

Construction worker, c.1890s	Constructiing Irlam Locks c 1890s	Construction of the Manchester Ship Canal, boring on a barge near Millbank c.1890s	Construction of the Manchester Ship Canal, Gang of platelayers at Salt Eye c.1890s	Construction of the Manchester Ship Canal. Navvies aand the Iron Horse at Acton Grange, Warrington c 1890s	Manchester Ship Canal gang of navvies eating meal c 1890s	Coffee seller at Salford c.1890s
Young workers, c.1890s	Navvies' huts, at Acton Grange where entire families lived during construction c.1890s	Floating hotel at Norton	Clothing salesmen, who travelled around work sites selling clothing to workers c.1890s	Hunslet locomotive, "Sale" used during the construction of the canal c1880s	300,000 volt transformer being loaded on to M.V. "Aberthaw Fisher" for Aberthaw Power Station. June 1967	Drinks man and girl at Mode Wheel during construction of the canal. c.1890s
Group of workers with steam navvy during construction, c.1890s	One-handed labourer laying stones during construction of canal. c.1890s. He had lost his hand in an accident but was kept on in his employment	Construction of the Manchester Ship Canal, c.1890s	Board of Trade inspection of teh Irwell viaduct. Load of 10 locomotives =750 tons. 1893	South No. 6 Dock, Manchester - Transpo 73 Exhibition. 1973	A.E.I. Generator being loaded on to a Fisher vessel. June 1967	New Dock Offices, Trafford Road, Salford. 1927
Train crossing Trafford Railway swing bridge, early 1900s	Opening of the Manchester Ship Canal by the yacht "Norseman". Owner Mr Platt, with the Company Directors on board. 1894	Discharging cotton at Manchester Docks. June 1935	The "City of Bath" discharging 30,000 bales of Indian Cotton. 28 March 1938	Discharging ex SS "Villaviciosa" to Transit Sheds, port of Manchester, 1951	CWS Grain Silo at Trafford Wharf. July 1935	No.2 Grain Elevator from North wall, c.1920
Loading on to barge from No.2 Elevator at Manchester Docks, c.1930	Unloading grain from ship at Manchester Docks. 1961	Discharging meat at Manchester Docks, c.1920s	Truck loads of Canadian Pine discharged direct from ship to rail transport, March 1940	Direct discharge of timber to road and rail, taken on the north side of No.9 dock, March 1949	Storage grounds to the north of No.9 dock, formerly part of the old Manchester Racecourse. July 1953	Chief timber dispersal area which lies on north side of No.9 Dock. This is one of the many examples of post-war developments. Note roadways, lighting equipment and rubble drains parallel with rail metals. After 1945