Though often seen as the smaller twin of Manchester, Salford - its
neighbour across the River Irwell - boasts a rich industrial heritage.
Cotton and silk spinning and weaving in local mills attracted an influx
of families and provided Salford with a strong economy. However, it was
the completion of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 that triggered the
town's development as a major inland port, and Salford expanded rapidly
from a small market town into a major industrial metropolis. The
population rose from 12,000 in 1812 to 70,244 within thirty years. By
the end of the nineteenth century it had increased to 220,000, mostly
housed in low-quality and overcrowded Victorian terraces, leading to
chronic social deprivation. Salford at Work explores the life of Salford
and its people, from pre-industrial beginnings through to the present
day. In a fascinating series of contemporary photographs and
illustrations, it takes us through the dramatic rise and fall of the
textile industry and the town's role as a major inland port, the trauma
of high unemployment between the wars, post-war industrial decline and
into the twenty-first century, showing how this 'Dirty Old Town' has
successfully transformed itself from one of the country's most deprived
areas into a thriving post-industrial city.
