£5.5m unearths a forgotten historical gem in Worsley

Now a tranquil beautiful spot it was arguably the cradle of the Industrial Revolution.  Worsley Delph , an old sandstone quarry, was the birthplace of the Bridgewater Canal.  The waterway was built because of the Duke of Bridgewater's coal mines.  His land agent, John Gilbert, recognised that it was possible to connect the canal to the mines directly via an underground canal.  The tunnel was built at The Delph in the 1750s and at the height of the operation a million tons of coal a year passed through it.  Eventually 47 miles of subterranean tunnels were constructed with specially designed boats being loaded at the coal face to take transport their cargo to Manchester.  The network was the first industrial canal system in the UK and heralded the age of industrialisation throughout the country.  Now, three years late, a £5.5m restoration of the canal which highlights the heritage of The Delph has been finished.   The work to transform an overgrown and forgotten part of history has taken 14 months and was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Salford council, and Bridgewater Canal Company.  It was originally scheduled to be completed in 2016 but was hit by delays.   Striking new art works have been created to trace the history of The Delph.  A towering steel structure stands on an island. It is a reworking of a what was described in 1770 as ' a crane of curious construction, used for heaving the stones out of the quarry into barges'.  Its colour is a nod to the famous orange colouring of the Bridgewater Canal.  Bronze sculptures include a reproduction of the Act of Parliament of 1759 that launched the canal system.  Another is a map of the underground canal system. A pick axe and shovel recall tools used in the miners' heyday. There is also a Davy lamp.   A replica of the Farnworth and Worsley Journal from July 18th 1968 carries a headline about the closure of the Worsley mines.   Councillor David Lancaster, Salford council 's lead member for environment and community safety, said: " A new multi-level viewing platform has been installed to improve access and offer panoramic views across to the island.  "New features now tell the story of the Delph’s past as both a gateway to an extensive network of underground coal mines and the starting point for Britain’s first ‘true’ canal in 1761.   "These included a sculptural representation of the primitive crane that towered over the island during the Delph’s early life as a quarry,” he said.   The construction work uncovered several historic finds.  During de-silting, a partially submerged mining boat near the site’s western cliff face was lifted and moved just to the south of the Delph island to be more visible from the viewing platform.  Another 1940s mine maintenance boat was discovered buried in silt in the south-western basin. Archaeologists have advised it remains buried because it is so fragile.    Construction work to create a new viewing platform revealed two previously unrecor

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