A Salford sound walk created as part of a European residency.
Hidden Canal
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When Salford born musician Ewan Maccoll wrote "Dirty Old Town" he included the line "Dream a dream by the old canal". This project rediscovers Salford's hidden gem of a canal enabling it to wake from its slumber and be a source of recreation, play, heritage and community.
Hidden Canal: Oral histories project
Thanks to funding from the Whose Art Whose Culture Salford CVS programme, we’ve teamed up with Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal Society to capture oral histories, memories and recollections about the canals, most of which are hidden in Salford, and raise the profile of the canal, our Hidden Canal sound walk and Middlewood Locks Fest which will take place on Saturday 4 July, 2026.
As part of the project, we took our Speaking and Listening Pod near to the hidden canal. Sound artist David McFarlane recorded people's voices and produced a podcast which we will share at events throughout Salford centenary year.
Thanks to Pendleton library and Gateway, Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Salford Shopping Centre, Salford Local History Society and 3rd Pendlebury (St John's) Scouts for hosting sessions as part of the project.
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The Canal Beneath Our Feet Podcast
Underneath the city of Salford lies a canal, buried since 1961. Some of Salford's residents remember it vividly. Some of them have no idea it's there. And some of them want to unearth it and put boats back on it.
In this oral history podcast, we’re going to hear from 100 Salford residents speaking in their own words about their own memories of Salford’s canals, waterways, rivers and boats.
Work with Greater Manchester Primary Schools
Amazing Humans
Created and recorded by sound artist Caro C and pupils from St Philip's Primary school, Salford as part of Middlewood Locks Fest 2025.
Redeveloping and re-imagining the Canal
Created and recorded by sound artist Caro C and year 5 pupils from All Saints Primary school, Farnworth, Bolton with funding from Culture Bolton 2026.
Hidden Canal
Inspired by the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal we paired Salford / Greater Manchester artists with European artists to create a Sound Walk along the route of the old canal. The canal begins at the River Irwell at Middlewood Locks and then disappears from sight until near Agecroft Cemetery.
5 artists from Greater Manchester and 5 artists from Europe worked on the Sound Walk and it started at the end of February 2024 with an international residency at Cobden Works. The artists involved were:
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Download the Echoes App and head off around Salford to experience the Hidden Canal for yourself
- Anne Louise Kershaw
- Caro C
- David McFarlane
- Fionnuala Dorrity
- Tom Kitching
- Mauro Amaral (Faro, Portugal)
- Robert Klapcic (Rijeka, Croatia)
- Selma Ebbans (Leeuwarden, the Netherlands)
- Ugnė Makselytė (Kaunas, Lithuania)
- Wytse Dijkstra (Leeuwarden, the Netherlands)
More information on the artists here
Developed as part of the Creative Embassies Network www.creativeembassies.com
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More Information
If you can't make it to Salford you can listen to all of the Pieces on our Mixcloud
The Hidden Canal project culminated in two days of sound walks on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May 2024 with the audio played from a mobile stage and a canal side neighbourhood festival at Middlewood Locks. For more information on the canal please visit https://www.mbbcs.org.uk/
It’s now available online, both via this webpage or the Echoes app
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