Blackfriars Bridge, Salford

Blackfriars Bridge spanning the River Irwell 

Blackfriar Bridge connects the cities of Salford (on the right) and Manchester, and was opened to traffic on 1 August 1820 thanks to the efforts of Thomas Fleming [3].  It was designed by the Salford architect, Thomas Wright.

"The erection of this light and elegant bridge in a line with the principal street of Manchester and forming a spacious communication with Salford was a long desired improvement to the town The bed of the river Irwell which it crosses is here very narrow and liable to floods which rise suddenly and to a great height these sometimes made the former bridge impassable it was of wood and for foot passengers only [see below].  Our view of the present finely proportioned structure is taken from the old or Salford Bridge a little higher up on the same river The road is carried strait over three semicircular arches the two piers adorned with coupled Ionic columns and an entablature crowned with a handsome balustrade.
The tower of St Mary's church with its taper spire is seen over the houses a little below the bridge This church stands between the river Irwell and Dean's Gate in Manchester it was built in the year 1756 and is a rectory in the gift of the warden and fellows of the collegiate church
The river Irwell rises in the moors which divide Lancashire from Yorkshire and flows westward through Rosendale Forest below Haslingdon when it takes a southern course to Bury A little below that town it receives the Roche and reaching Manchester is incorporated with the rivers Irk and Medlock and afterwards joins the Mersey at Flixton seven miles south west from Manchester " [1]

Blackfriars wooden footbridge mentioned above  
Lithograph  based on the painting below [2]

Painting by John Ralston of Blackfriars footbridge
oil on canvas. Salford Museum & Art Gallery

 History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, 2 (1889)

The wooden footbridge was erected in 1761, the coronation year of James II. The bridge sloped downward from the Manchester side to the level of the Salford bank of the Irwell. It was demolished in 1817.  Of course, Ralston's pictorial record of the old bridge predates this event.

[1] The Landscape Album; or, Great Britain Illustrated: containing fifty-nine views by W. Westall, Esq. ARA. With descriptions of the scenery by Thomas Moule, Esq.  Second series. London: Charles Tilt, 1834.
[2] Lithograph by Agostino Aglio (1832) after John Ralston. "Views of the ancient buildings in Manchester",  drawn from nature by J. Ralston, and on stone by A. Aglio, D. Dighton, J. D. Harding, G. Harley and J. Ralston. Manchester: D. & P. Jackson, 1823-25.  (John Ralston had thirteen views of Manchester printed and published in book form in 1823-25. The main reason for the publication seems to have been the demolition of many buildings in Market Street, caused by the widening of the street.) 

John Ralston

(1789-1833) 
Although born in Scotland in 1789, John Ralston is nowadays a little known Manchester-based artist who was much celebrated in the early 1800s. Some of our best records of late 18th and early 19th century Manchester rely on drawings made by Ralston, including his many studies of Market Sted Lane (now Market Street), Dr White's house in King Street as well as views of Blackfriars Bridge.
Ralston also made an extensive record of the people of Manchester, offering a first hand insight into ladies and gentlemen's fashions of the period. Details of his life are very scant, other than a few records of his being the son of a calico printer's engraver, and that his family moved to live in Strines (near Marple) in Derbyshire.
At the age of 17 he became a student at Manchester School of Art, under various tutors including Parry and Rathbone. For much of his adult life he lived at number 26 Brazennose Street near Manchester Town Hall. Apart from the smarter buildings of Manchester, he was also attracted to make drawings of inner city dereliction and slum dwellings.
He was also an accomplished violinist and helped found the orchestra of the Manchester Gentlemen's Concert. A poor businessman, and much forgotten in later life, he died in poverty [in the workhouse], aged 44 in 1833. Obit.

John Ralston
Source: [2]

[3] See The Victorian Web for his statue in Manchester Cathedral.

This Blog:
The architect of the new Blackfriars Bridge, Thomas Wright, also designed Christ Church, Salford.

The Crescent, Salford

Salford, From the Crescent [1]
Drawing by William Westall
Engraved by Edward Finden 

The Crescent 1960s
Postcard: River Irwell. Lilywhite Ltd., Brighouse, Yorks. AHC.1710

Written by Thomas Moule
click on images to enlarge

The Crescent from Peel Park

[1] Great Britain Illustrated: a series of original views from drawings by William Westall, ARA, engraved by, and under the direction, of Edward Finden, with descriptions by Thomas Moule. London: C. Tilt, 1830: p.93+ plate.

Salford's Trophies of War

Crimean War

Peel Park, Salford

The photograph shows two 68-pound Russian guns captured at the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War.  The 68-pounders were naval ordnance, which were used as artillery on land after the Russians scuttled their ships of the Black Sea Fleet.  My father played on these guns as a child, but they were removed and melted down in 1940 in support of the war effort. [1]  They were surrounded by chevaux de frise, similar to the captured guns once displayed in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow. 

First World War

In 1919, Salford was presented with a British tank and two German field guns, which had been captured at the Battle of Loos.  They were given by the National War Savings Committee in recognition of the financial support provided by the citizens of Salford.

click on images to enlarge

British tank 214, flanked by the two field guns, on display at the corner of Oldfield Road and Chapel Street, next to the Lancashire Fusilier's South African War Memorial. Salford Royal Hospital is in the background. This display of weaponry was removed in 1927.  A local newspaper reported:

 “The decision in favour of cleaning away the tank … will be welcomed especially by members of the Labour Party and other suporters of the anti-militarist movement ... the Museum and Parks Committee will lay out a shrubbery turning what was described as an ‘eyesore’, and reminder of the horrors of war, into a pleasant spot."

[1] The park railings were removed too. See: Zieleniec, Andrzej Jan Leon (2002) Park spaces: leisure, culture and modernity - a Glasgow case study. pages 322-323.  While most British examples of Crimean War cannons were melted down, some in Ireland still survive.