Salford Quays is one of Greater Manchester's most unusual places to visit. Where else in the region can you find watersports, striking modern architecture, TV studios and an island full of gnomes? It is also home to a beach – of sorts – as a morning spent exploring quickly revealed.
The visit began with a trip to Quayside Shopping Mall, where a quick stop to use the facilities made it obvious why the centre is often called a 'ghost' mall. Walking past vacant shop after vacant shop, the place felt barren and, frankly, slightly creepy. Formerly The Lowry Outlet Mall, it was rebranded as Quayside in 2020. Some big brands remain, including M&S Outlet, and the food court is going strong. Recent additions include the Oxygen play centre and Kargo MKT, a popular spot for those heading to a gig at Victoria Warehouse.
The future looks very different for Quayside, with a £16m overhaul planned. A Hollywood Bowl bowling alley has recently been given the green light and is estimated to open in 2028, joined by a 'cutting edge' electric GoKarting track from international firm Hyperdrive Karting. But for now the mall still feels empty, and leaving it behind with a sense of relief, the exploration of Salford Quays proper began.
From ship canal to showpiece waterfront
Heading towards the 'beach' mentioned earlier, the walk goes past the Lowry, a striking steel building designed to look like a ship in the docks – a reminder of how much the area has been reborn. Today, with expensive flats and tree-lined promenades, it is hard to picture Salford Quays as it once was: the third busiest port in Britain. The Manchester Ship Canal linked the city to Liverpool, allowing ocean-bound cargo vessels to travel to and from Manchester, often to Canada.
Made up of nine docks in Salford, Stretford and Manchester, the Port of Manchester operated from 1894 until its closure in 1982, after rapid decline in the 1970s, largely due to containerisation. Regeneration began when Salford City Council acquired parts of the docks in 1983, launching the Salford Quays Development Plan two years later. The docks were modified to create roads, bridges and landscaped waterfronts, and watersports facilities, moorings, houses and offices soon followed.
A landscape with a Disneyland feel
Walking beside the water now, it is impossible to ignore the area's surreal, manufactured quality. It has a kind of Disneyland feeling – as if it has been designed rather than evolving naturally. Even the place names have a North American ring: Harbour City, Ontario Basin, Clippers Quay. That is deliberate, with many basins named after places in Canada to reflect the old shipping routes.
This purposeful design gives Salford Quays a sense of fun too, particularly its footbridges. The Detroit Bridge is instantly recognisable with its red, white and blue steel framing, while a small pale blue bridge on the route could easily fit into a theme park. It was here that the walk passed Salford Watersports Centre and Agecroft Rowing Club. It was too early in the day for activities to be in full swing, but the centre offers kayaking, open water swimming and paddle boarding – all of which have been tried before at this very spot, with paddle boarding proving brilliant.
A beach (of sorts) and an island full of gnomes
Eventually, after passing an unsettling number of geese, the 'beach' came into view. It is a sandy embankment nestled beside Clippers Quay, completely inaccessible to the public and very popular with waterfowl. It has drawn attention on TikTok; at the right angle, ignoring the washed-up detritus, it is reminiscent of a small beach and great for bird spotters.
Further along sit trendy bar Bee Orchid and the Cult & Coffee Listening Cafe, with picnic benches that attract office workers at lunchtime. Crossing the Trafford Road Swing Bridge means stepping into another borough entirely, and from the Wharfside Metrolink stop there is a perfect view of Gnome Island. The island has been a feature since 2017, when the first gnome appeared on a derelict concrete island in the docks. No one knows who is responsible, but it puts a smile on the faces of passers-by and passengers on the Salford Quays River Cruise.
Imperial War Museum North
The next stop was Imperial War Museum North, housed in a magnificent but unsettling building of three 'shards'. Designed by Berlin-based architect Daniel Libeskind – born in Poland in 1946, with many relatives murdered in the Holocaust – the structure feels imposing. Despite its huge size, the entrance is a small door hidden on the side away from the water, giving the sense of entering a darker world.
The museum is free, open daily from 10am to 5pm except December 24-26, and spans 20th and 21st century warfare from the First World War to 9/11. The current exhibition, Spies, Lies and Deception, looks at espionage through stories and artefacts such as matchboxes used to communicate secret messages and moulds designed to disguise footprints. In the main hall, a huge Harrier aircraft is suspended from the ceiling – a sight that takes your breath away, whether you are an aviation fan or worried about the structural support. The space is split into 'silos' covering technology, communication and women at war, and visitors can explore at their own pace, coming close to a vast array of artefacts. Other large exhibits include a British nuclear bomb, wreckage from the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre, and an East German Trabant. A display on nuclear war shows a depressing map of the fallout range of a bomb dropped on Manchester – spoiler: it is not good.
A memorable lunch at Mattina Coffee
Back out in the sunshine, lunch was calling. A bridge crossing led to Media City, with a fleeting glance at ITV Studios and the hidden Coronation Street set, before arriving at Mattina Coffee on Blue Road. This Italian deli-turned-coffee shop specialises in focaccia sandwiches, lasagne, fresh pastries and generously filled cannoli. At lunchtime it was full of Media City employees wearing lanyards of various colours, but a table was still found.
Feeling hungry, the order was a mozzarella, mortadella and pesto focaccia sandwich (£7.50), lemon and olive oil cake (£4), pistachio amaretti biscuit (£3) and an Americano (£3). A £9 lunch deal – sandwich, crisps or mini cannolo, and a soft drink – looked popular with the office crowd. Sitting down, it became clear that the eyes were greedier than the stomach. The sandwich was massive, easily enough for two, though sharing would be difficult because it was so delicious. The focaccia was crisp outside with a sprinkling of salt and soft and springy within. The fillings were generous but a little messy, with the ham sliding around; the flavours were fresh and worked well together, and there was regret at not finishing it.
The lemon and olive oil cake was moist and citrusy with an excellent frosting-to-cake ratio, though the edges were slightly overdone and dry. The coffee was beautiful and full-bodied, complementing the sweet cake perfectly. The amaretti, saved for later, had a delicate nutty flavour and crumbly texture, topped with pistachio cream; not too sweet, it would be a great morning coffee or afternoon pick-me-up.
Mattina Coffee proved an ideal way to round off the visit. As the meal ended, a few diners were demolishing lasagne, and despite feeling stuffed, it was hard not to look longingly at their plates. A return trip seems very likely.
