"Kids nowadays wouldn't know what a canal was" (E1)

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 memories of Salford’s canals, waterways, rivers and boats.Each week, we'll hear from a different selection of Salfordians telling their own stories. We'll hear about playing, working, falling in the canals, enjoying the peace and quiet of the canals, and for some people, seeing it disappear.This week, we start by looking at a topic that came up time and time again–the generational divide between people who can still remember the canal from when they were young, and people who were born long after the canal closed. And as you'll hear, they have some quite different perspectives.Then we're going to hear about another set of contrasting stories–from people who love a good walk along the canal, and people who have fallen in them.And finally we'll hear about a local Salford hero who became renowned for saving people from the waterways.This project was created by Walk the Plank and the Manchester Bury and Bolton Canal Society with Whose Art Whose Culture funding from Salford CVS and the GMCA.Recorded and produced by David McFarlane.Music by David McFarlane and Ugnė Makselytė.