Pictures of Salford

About Salford

The City of Salford lies at the heart of the Metropolis known as Greater Manchester in an area where cotton was once king and its mill workers were portrayed for posterity by acclaimed 20th-century artist L.S.Lowry.

At the time Lowry(1887-1976)painted his famous pictures, it was little thought that places such as Salford would, in less than a century, become one of the north's premier tourist attractions. But this is now the case, the grim industrial architecture has all but disappeared to be replaced with attractive modern buildings, its quays regenerated to provide a vast entertainment centre in a place which was renowned throughout the north for its poverty and deprivation.

Salford's history lies deep in the mist of time, it is mentioned in the Doomsday Book, received its market charter in 1230, almost a century before Manchester who did not receive theirs until around 1310. This distant fact remains a matter of pride to the citizens of Salford. What is also interesting is that Salford is a Royal manor. The lands came into the possession of Henry Bolingbroke in 1399, he later ascended the throne of England as Henry IV, thus creating the Royal Manor of Salford with Henry as Lord of the Manor, a title held by Her Majesty the Queen to this day.

The City has a thriving University, giving it a youthful, multi-cultural population. Adjacent to the University is Peel Park which opened in 1846, this is quite possibly the oldest public park in the world. In recent times the park has been redeveloped to provide a pleasant place of escapement for University students, locals and visitors. Amongst its facilities the parks boasts lovely flower beds, a well equipped play area for children, football pitch and changing room, the Marie Curie Field of Hope, part of the Irwell Valley sculpture trail, and the flood obelisk. Nearby, visitors can find Salford Museum and Art Gallery.

The Manchester Ship Canal was opened by Queen Victoria in 1894, this new waterway ran from Eastham on the Mersey Estuary to Salford. Its inception gave a boost to Salford and made it an important part of the Industrial revolution, it also gave it enormous prosperity, but as so often this prosperity belonged to a favoured few and social and economic conditions for the mass population were often appalling.