The geographical location of Manchester was in many ways ideal for it to take up its role as an in dustrial city except that it had no access to the sea.  The solution was to build a 36 mile long canal, affectionately known as "The Big Ditch" which incorporated elements of the Rivers Irwell and Mersey and provided acces to Manchester for ocean going ships.  The Manchester Ship Canal opened on May 21 of 1894.  The Manchester Ship Canal Company also built the docks at the end of the canal in Salford.  Spanning 120 acres of water and 1,000 acres of land the Salfod Docks were opened in 1894 by Queen Victoria.

The canal and the locks began to decline in the 1940s but soldiered on until the Salfod Dock finally closed in 1982 resulting in the loss of 3,000 jobs and leaving an huge area of derelict warves and warehouses.  In 1984 the Salford City Council bought the complex from the Manchester Ship Canal Company and renamed it The Salford Quays.

Since then it has become one of the premier residential communities with pretiege appartment blocks and hotels lining the docks.  It has also become a tourist venue encouraged by the building of the Lowry and the Imperial War Museum North and for the shoppers the Lowry Outlet Mall.  The Metrolink Trams connect the Quays to the Manchester City Centre.