Trafford Park Docks.
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Trafford Park Docks played a key role in the rise of the shipping industry when the Manchester Ship Canal was opened by Queen Victoria in 1894.
The Trafford Park Docks where the last Dry Docks in the area to close after serving the region for going on nearly 100 years, the port facility could be drained to allow repair work to be carried out on ships hulls.
The Docks used to repair ocean going liners, dredgers and tugs in there hey day, the last ships of significence to have been worked on here was the replica of the Golden Hind and the Mersey ferry Mountwood.
In 1980 Manchester Dry Docks Ltd. Who owned the docks folded and 450 employees lost their jobs, but in 1987 some of the employees grouped together and resurrected the docks under the name Length Line ltd. Sadly though Length Line also folded a few years later in 2002.
During this hectic time a lot of the equipment from the docks was sold off or moved to Liverpool docks including the dock cranes that once proudly stood over the docks.
The site is now owned by the Big Ditch Company ltd. and the docks are back in full use, mainly by KD Marine who transport goods along the canal.
Although the docks are relativley small in comparison to others there is still plenty to see and there are still traces of its glorious past.
When we arrived we where unsure if we could actually access this place as docks tend to be usually well sealed to keep out prying eyes but as always if you look hard enough you always find a way in.
The first thing we came across was the Georgia D a former Humber Barge Dredger, slowly rotting away beside the dock, at one point it was being converted into a house boat but it appears that never happened.
Deeper into the docks we came across the Gina D from Liverpool, sadly she was all lit up and awaiting to depart so we didnt get chance to get onboard.
Not discouraged though we where able to board the Sandsend another Barge, this time from Whitley Bay as well as the Clifton a small Tug operated by KD Marine, the one thing that did surprise us was the cramped conditions in which the crew live in, it really is confined.
We did attempt to climb the dock cranes but the ladders had been cut off so we declined on the basis of safety, apart from that though it was and enjoyable evening of another famous landmark.
Date : June 2008 : Location : Trafford : Explorers : Havoc : Bungle 666 : Peanuts
