Manchester dry docks.

There are three dry docks on the canal and these are located just on the upper side of Mode Wheel Locks. The largest of  the drydocks is some 535 feet long, the others being 430 and 450 feet long, all of them have a width of 65 feet.

There used to be a floating drydock here also but this is now long gone.

The dry dock were opened in 1894 by the Manchester Ship Canal Pontoons and Dry Dock Co. - later to become the Manchester Drydock Co. Ltd.

In line with the general decline in traffic on the upper reaches of the canal the drydocks were to close in 1979  but were subsequently reopened by their present owners, Lengthline Ltd.

The drydocks offer shipbuilding expertise  as well as a repair and maintenance facility, and orders for four trawlers, two for export, have been received within the last couple of  years.

The facility is a busy one and it is unusual not to see several ships being worked on at any time.

A distant view of the drydocks can be obtained from the new Lowry bridge, and obstructed views can be obtained from Trafford Wharf Road in Trafford Park  and from Broadway in Salford.