Manchester Ship Canal

The Manchester Ship Canal was opened on 21 May 1894 and stretches 36 miles from Manchester to Liverpool in the North West of England.

It is occasionally known as the “Big Ditch” and at the time of its completion, was the largest canal in the world.

The canal is the eigth longest ship canal in the world and is Britain’s third busiest port, even if it is 40 miles away from the sea. The ‘Big Ditch’ combines the Irwell and Mersey Rivers, made to navigate ships to the Irish Sea from the industrial Salford Docks in Greater Manchester to the Mersey Estuary. Manchester became a major sea port from an industrial city, transforming the cities.

The canal became a part of Peel Holdings in 1991 and fully owned, obtained and developed by Peel Ports. Today, the canal is still known as a major environmental and economic asset for the North West of England. So much so, in 2007, huge supermarket chain Tesco announced that it had begun to use the canal to transport wine between Liverpool and Irlam, saving 700,000 miles of road haulage per year.

To ensure James’ safety for the swim, the challenge has undergone rigorous checks and James himself will have numerous jabs to ensure the swim will be completely safe.