The Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal was built in the late 1700's as a link between the industrial towns of the Croal and Irwell valleys and the coal hungry city of Manchester. The canal consisted of three main arms. The first connecting to the river Irwell at Salford ran to Prestolee, where the canal split into two arms - one to Bolton and one to Bury (see map). The canal was built as a broad canal, as the original intention had been to link with the Leeds Liverpool canal, but this plan was abandoned when the route of the Leeds Liverpool canal was changed.

The canal went into decline with the construction of the railways and the Bolton arm fell into disuse as early as the 1920's. This was compounded by a breach in 1936 which cut off the Manchester arm from the rest of the canal. Engineers quicky constructed a dam at Ladyshore and the Bury arm continued in use until the 1960's. Very little remains of the canal at Bolton and today it is difficult to follow the route of the original "Cut" there. You can follow the towpath from Darcy Lever as far as the long demolished aqueduct at Fogg Lane, although the canal itself is infilled from Smithy Bridge. From the Fogg Lane area the canal disappears to beyond the site of the Hall Lane aqueduct (also demolished) but the towpath continues at Salt Wharf. Parts of the Boat Yard area are still visible although the impressive and locally famous "Blue Wall", which forms part of the retaining wall of this section, can no longer be seen due to obscuring trees.

Just prior to reaching the old Boat Yard , you can see one of the many areas where stop planks were used when sections of the waterway were to be drained for maintenance. There are many of these still visible along the in water sections of the canal. The locks at Prestolee are still viewable (at least in the winter when the undergrowth is less) and many of the bridges are still intact. The Prestolee Aqueduct and the Silver Hill bridge adjacent to the locks seem to be in good condition. The canal itself is in need of much work. In many places "The Cut" is overgrown with water plants, as at Mount Sion and trees, as near Ringley. Many sections of the canal are beyond restoration, such as the area obliterated by the St. Peters Way road. All of the aqueducts in the Bolton area were demolished in the Fifties and Sixties and the breached area has been dry for decades, though the wash walls seem to be intact (see photo) and insofar as modern engineering is concerned this area seems to be repairable.

There are few canal side buildings left, the best preserved being the old workshops at Nob End above the Prestolee locks. Here the canal boats were maintained and the remains of the old mooring posts can be seen. The top threeLocks at Nob End are seemingly in good order, although the lower flight have been demolished, some of the stone being used to repair locks on the Leeds Liverpool canal some time ago. Indeed, in early spring it is easy to see the top flight, with even the old hand rails being visible on the steps beside the locks (see photo) The Colliery at Ladyshore was open until 1951 and what were once stables can be seen from the canal just next to Ladyshore bridge, which was built as an access bridge to Lever Bank Bleach Works. Further down the canal stands the Steam Crane at Mount Sion which was used to unload coal boxes from barges to the yard below the canal. From this area the waterway can be followed to Radcliffe and beyond. From the Prestolee aqueduct, the towpath can be followed to Ringley where the remains of the locks that used to be there are just visible. The canal can be followed into Manchester from Ringley, but much of the old line of the Cut has disappeared. The Manchester, Bolton & Bury canal is due for restoration some time in the not too distant future and it will be interesting to see how it will look when it is once again navigated by narrowboats.