Reflecting on our journey to Salford’s centenary

Sailing up the Manchester Ship Canal in 1992, and then performing our first show on board the theatre ship in the wasteland that was Salford Docks, nobody would have guessed that Walk the Plank would still be here, making art happen in the city in 2026, more than a third of a century later!   

Salford Quays was not much more than a twinkle in developers' eyes, and nobody had imagined the arrival of the BBC, ITV and the other tv production facilities of Media City. After squatting a portacabin next to the Salford Quays project office, and needing to moor the ship in different docks as development marched on, Walk the Plank occupied various meanwhile spaces before securing the investment - bank loan, Arts Council capital funds, and our own fundraising - to make Cobden Works in east Salford our forever home. 

The metamorphosis of the docks in the 1990's - which included the opening of the Lowry in 2000 - has undoubtedly driven regeneration across the city, and raised the ambitions, and employment opportunities, of children and young people.  But Salford remains a place that has had more than its fair share of poverty and related challenges –  not least chronic under-investment in the arts and cultural infrastructure compared to Manchester. In 2006, there were only two Art Council England NPO’s (National Portfolio organisations) in the city - the Lowry and Walk the Plank - compared to nineteen in Manchester. Today there are four NPO's in the city, and over £400k was invested in arts projects in Salford (compared to more than £3 million in Manchester) in 2024/5 so some progress. 

But most of our work has always taken place elsewhere... in other cities, in other countries, at festivals nationally and internationally. In places which have been able to invest in art in public space that freely reaches a wide demographic, creating a buzz, and reconnecting people to places undergoing rapid change and post-industrial transformation.  

Imagine, therefore, our delight when Salford City Council decided to invest in a cultural programme to celebrate its Centenary and chose to work with the dream team on their doorstep - ourselves and From the Other, who have built Sounds from the Other City into one of the most respected music festivals in the north.  

This attracted Arts Council investment which enables commissions to Walk the Plank for the Wagon Train and Birthday City, and From the Other for Salford Everywhere – with artist Mathew Rosier - and Songs of Salford. The chance to work in our chosen home this summer, and to make something magic happen for its residents – our neighbours - is a gift. 

Often, local artists get ignored in favour of bigger names when bigger money flows – and the irony that we have often been the “bigger name” that is brought in from the outside is not lost on me.  When that happens, we always try to work in partnership with local artists who hold relationships built on trust within their own communities, but the redistribution of resources is rarely enough, and always time-limited or one-off.  

I hope that our commitment to the slow embedded work that sustains meaningful engagement in diverse communities, led by our Salford Producer, Ben Turner, means that on this occasion we can be both the local artists that hold the relationships of trust with Salford’s groups, and the “bigger name” that brings our 33 years of long playing – which underpins our ambition, our wild ideas and our resourcefulness - to Salford in this special year.  

Do come and see the Wagon Train – our pop up mini festival, programmed differently in each neighbourhood – over the summer, or catch the Wagon Train finale in October. Listen out for the new Songs of Salford featuring six of the city’s contemporary music makers and song writers, and make time to witness Salford Everywhere in Peel Park on Saturday 10 October.

Details of these and other civic and community events across the city can be found on the Salford100 website www.salford100.org.uk