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Video: Bridgewater Canal 250th - Part 8 - Trafford Park
by Tony Flynn
Video by Tom Rodgers In this eighth episode of our epic journey looking at the history of the Bridgewater Canal we leave Barton behind us and pass into Trafford Park, once the world's largest industrial estate. The first place we come to is the former site of the Barton Power Station. Built in 1923, it provided power for homes and businesses across Manchester. Until the industrial development of Trafford Park began in the 19th century, much of the area was known as "a beautifully timbered deer park" which comprised of 1,183 acres of flat meadows and grasslands. It was the ancestral estate of of the De Trafford family who aquired the land around 1200 AD, when Richard De Trafford was given the Lordship of Stretford by Hamon De Massey, the 4th Baron of Dunham. Some time between 1672 and 1720 the De Trafford family moved to what then was called Whittleswick Hall which they rename, Trafford Hall, this was situated a little to the east of where Tenax Circle is now. In 1761 with the coming of the Bridgewater Canal along with the River Irwell, this gave Trafford park its present day 'island-like' quality. However this tranquil landscape would soon to be changed for ever with the passing of the Manchester Ship Canal Act in 1885, despite Sir Humprey De Trafford's vehement opposition, he complained that "the polluted water was to close to his residence and would interfere with his drainage, thus making Trafford Hall unhabitable and forcing me to give up my home and leave the place." Sir Humprey De Trafford was to die in 1886 leaving his estate to his son, Sir Humphrey Francis De Trafford who then put the estate up for sale in May 1896, but it failed to reach its reported reserve price of £300,000 or £25.7 million in todays terms. There was talk of Manchester Corporation purchasing the estate, however Ernest Terah Hooley a financier paid a staggering £360,000 for the land in June of that year. Initially Mr Tooley had grandiose ideas for the estate which included building 500 grand villas, a racecourse, a cycling track plus an industrial fronge on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, things were to change when he met Marshall Stevens who at that time was General Manager of the Manchester Ship Canal (M.S.C.)Company, he had other ideas for the estate. Mr Hooley formed Trafford Park Estates in August 1896 and engaged Marshall Stevens to become General Manager of Trafford Park Estates and between them Trafford Park would change beyond recognition. Industry was to flock to Trafford Park with the success of the M.S.C. and amongst the first to arrive were the Manchester Patent Fuel Company in 1898, soon followed by the Trafford Brick Company, Southern and Co Timber Merchants, James Gresham, Engineers, Glovers Electrical Cables who also built a power station on the banks of the Bridgewater Canal. The first American company to arrive was Westinghouse Electric in 1889 who purchased 130 acres on two sites and by1902 were 6,000 workers, in 1919 Westinghouse was sold to to the Vickers Company and renamed Metropolitan Vickers or better known as Metro-Vick's. This would be followed by the CWS Society who bought land at Trafford Wharf and set up a large food packing factory and flour mill, this was followed by Kilverts Lard Company, The Liverpool Warehouse Company and in later years Brooke Bond, Carborundum Abrasives and Kellogs. The second American company to move to Trafford Park was the Ford Motor Company in 1911 before moving to Dagenham, Essex in 1n 1931, however they were to return to Trafford Park temporarily in WW2 and under licence from AVRO built the engines for for the AVRO Manchester and AVRO Lancaster bombers. A.V. Roe, whose company was known as AVRO, was a British aircraft pioneer who was himself born in Patricroft. Trafford Park was to suffer during the Xmas Blitz of 1940 with Metro-Vick's being badly damaged, also the new Ford factory was bombed in May 1941 also Trafford Hall was hit and badly damaged causing it to be demolished shortly afterwards. At the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939 there was an estimated 50,000 people employed in Trafford Park and by the end of the war had risen to 75,000 which was probably the peak size of the Trafford Park workforce, Merto Vickers alone employed 26,000 people. In the 1960's employment in Trafford Park began to decline as companies closed their premises in favour of newer and more efficient plants. By 1967 employment had fallen to 50,000 followed by further decline in the 1970's, this was exacerbated by the decreasing use of the M.S.C. which was unable to accomodate the newer, larger container ships which were entering service and by 1976 the workforce had fallen to 15,000 and by the 1980's had virtually disappeared. In 1987, The Trafford Park Development Corporation was formed with the intention of regenerating the Trafford Park area and between 1987 and 1998 they attracted more than 1,000 companies to the site which generated 28,000 new jobs. Trafford Park is now once again a major centre of employment and as off 2010 there were 1,400 companies operating, employing an estimated 35,000 people. No story about Trafford Park would be complete without mentioning The Trafford Centre. The site was owned by the M.S.C. until 1986 when the company was aquired by John Whittaker of Peel Holdings. It opened in September 1998 with construction taking twenty seven months and costing £600 million or in todays money an eye watering £750 million and employs 8,000 people and attracts more than 35 million visitors a year. No mention of Trafford Park can be complete without mentioning it's unique railway system, Trafford Park was linked to the canal's docks by the standard gauge Manchester Ship Canal Railway. It was built to service freight to and from the canal's docks and nearby industrial estates, and connected to the various railway companies that had track near the canal. Unlike most other railway companies in the UK it was not nationalised in 1948, and grew to become the largest private railway system in the country; at its peak it had 790 employees, 75 locomotives, 2,700 wagons and more than 200 miles (320 km) of track. Sadly very little is is left to show, the last operational section of the MSC Railway, at Trafford Park, was closed on 30 April 2009, there are still some lengths of track running alongside the M.S.C. and in some Trafford Park but nothing like the 200 miles of track that it could once boast of. Other industries in the Trafford Park area included Ciba Geigy, Guinness, Massey Ferguson, Mather and Platt, Aerowater and numerous small companies, too many to mention, but sadly all gone. This video could not have been made without the kind permission of the following people to use their wonderful images: Joseph McGarrgaghy Alan Worsley Andrew Roberts Pete/LG99 Ian Robinson To see the full story in order, watch Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9.
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