Talk:Manchester Ship Canal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Was Sir John Aird associated with the Ship Canal as a shareholder or member of the board of directors? The association in the article seems to arise from a text dump (I found the same text in a piece in the Bucks Free Press) about a house in Beaconsfield. Aird was a Victoria, London-based contractor and, while his firm would undoubtedly have had the capacity to work on the Ship Canal, my research suggests most of the work was undertaken by contractor Thomas Walker. However, Walker died before the project finished, and it is possible that Aird's firm may have stepped in to complete the scheme. Can anyone confirm whether Aird's firm was involved, and if Aird himself joined the Ship Canal Company's board of directors? Paul W 14:40, 1 August 2005 (UTC)
A bit of progress, but still not sure if he was a board member. I now believe Aird's firm completed the Ship Canal after Walker died.Paul W 13:35, 4 August 2005 (UTC)
Question: My mother was born in Ellesmere Port in 1917 and remembers a hill called Manistey's Mount that was reputedly made of the spoil from digging out the canal. Does anyone know if this is true? If so then why 'Manistey's'? (I may have the spelling wrong).
See http://www.canalarchive.org.uk/Tpages/html/T1572.html. This says Mount Manisty (note spelling) was "a mound of earth created from extracted soil from the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal. Its name came from the contractor's agent on the Eastham section, Mr Manisty, who was well liked by the navvies due to the entertainments he and his wife provided for the workers." Paul W 13:07, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Big ship sails on the alley alley oh
- The children's song "The Big ship sails on the alley alley oh" is said to come from the opening of the MSC[1]
- -- I removed this, since the website is not a source for this assertion, just the lyrics. Its probably a bit of folk etymology. --mervyn 13:11, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
THE BIG SHIP SAILS ON THE ALLEY-ALLEY-OH
The big ship sails on the alley-alley-oh, the alley-alley-oh, the alley-alley-oh, Oh, the big ship sails on the alley-alley-oh, on the last day of September.
The captain said it will never, never do, never, never do, never, never do, The captain said it will never, never do, on the last day of September.
The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea, the bottom of the sea, the bottom of the sea, The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea, on the last day of September.
We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea, the deep blue sea, the deep blue sea, We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea, on the last day of September
I can remember this as a child. My dad was a fireman on the Ship Canal railway. I think the song has many versions through out the UK. Ozdaren 16:17, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
