Islington Branch
The Islington Branch of the Ashton Canal, in the heart of Ancoats, Manchester, was one of the most heavily industrialised sections of the Ashton Canal. With a length of 18 chains, it was the shortest of the branches of the Ashton Canal and it left the main line between locks 1 and 2 at a distance of 29 chains from the start of the Ashton Canal at Rochdale Canal Junction, Ducie Street, Piccadilly.
To illustrate the number of firms occupying the wharfs of the Islington Branch, the table below is an extract from the Distance Tables of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company, dated September 1888. This railway company then owned the Ashton Canal.
Key:
(C.W.) = Company Wharf.
1 chain = 22 yards.
| Detail | Distance |
|---|---|
| (Chains) | |
| Distance from Main Line of Ashton Canal at Ancoats. | ------- |
| Side Bridge over Branch. | 1 |
| E. Cotton & Co's Spindle Works. | 2 |
| John Mycroft's Wharf. | 3 |
| Astley and Tyldesley Coal and Salt Co's Wharf. (C.W.) | 5 |
| Mill Street Bridge. | 6 |
| W. O. Cunliffe's Scrap Iron Wharf. (C.W.) | 7 |
| John Sidebottom's Sun Mill. (C.W.) | 7 |
| Hall's Coal Wharf. | 8 |
| Hill's Sand Wharf. | 9 |
| 10 | |
| Cronshaw's Wharf. | 10 |
| Johnson, Clapham & Morris' Wire Works. | 10 |
| Jas. Dean's Wharf. | 11 |
| T. Crabtree's Dye Works. | 14 |
| John Port's Bedstead and Safe Works. | 15 |
| Hancock's Wharf. | 16 |
| Molineux, Webb & Co's Glassworks. | 18 |
On the map below, the four black circles represent glass cones of Molineux, Webb & Co's Glassworks (also spelt Molineaux) situated at the head of the Islington Branch, known as Glassworks Basin. These brick-built cones, which could be up to 100-feet high, enclosed a furnace around which the glassmakers worked. By means of underground tunnels, air was drawn into the furnace to ensure that the high temperatures needed for glass making were achieved.
 |
| The side bridge on the main line of the Ashton Canal that accesses the Islington Branch, 1960s. |
 |
| View looking over the side bridge, 1960s. |
 |
| View looking along the Islington Branch
towards the side bridge, 1960s. This view is from Mill Street Bridge. |
Tentative World Heritage Site
On the 21
June 1999, Manchester and Salford (Ancoats, Castlefield and Worsley) were added
to the Tentative Site List as a potential World Heritage Site.
