Port of Manchester Ship Canal, Salford

The Port of Manchester was a port in Salford, North West England, until its closure in 1982. It was created as a customs port on 1 January 1894, four months before the official opening of the Manchester Ship Canal. It extended along the whole 36-mile (58 km) length of the ship canal, from Eastham in the west to Manchester in the east, absorbing the Port of Runcorn, which had been created in 1862. The new port was only 3.74 miles (6.02 km) from the Port of Liverpool's boundary at Herculaneum Dock, and 2.4 miles (3.9 km) from the Port of Garston. The ship canal transformed Manchester from a landlocked city into a major sea port, at its height the third-busiest port in the United Kingdom. Once delivered to the port, goods could be transported to other parts of the country such as Leeds to the east, and up to 100 miles (160 km) south as far as Birmingham.