given a trip between Patricroft railway station and Worsley Hall, on state barges. Large crowds had gathered to cheer the royal party, which apparently frightened the horses drawing the barge so much that they fell into the canal. The M602 motorway was opened throughout on 3 November 1971. The Borough Council had previously formed the Eccles Borough Council's General Purposes Committee, which from December 1962 began to purchase land for the route of the new road, while overseeing a powerful public relations scheme. A demolition programme commenced in January 1967, with some residents re-housed in newly built housing stock. The council also had to arrange for the purchase of land at the interchange with the present-day M60, and to re-route part of the Thirlmere Aqueduct. Construction began on 8 December 1969, along a route limited by the existence of housing estates, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the M62 junction at Worsley, and the Bridgewater Canal. Consideration was given to the route of the disused Eccles-Tyldesley-Wigan railway line; the height of the motorway was lowered to accommodate a new railway bridge in case the line was ever re-instated. The nearby bridge for the Clifton Junction branch railway was demolished with explosives. In addition to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the town is now served by the Eccles Line of the Metrolink light rail system which, along with regular bus services, terminates at Eccles Interchange. Work on the Metrolink branch to Eccles began in July 1997 and was completed by July 2000, with the official opening ceremony in January 2001; trams leave every twelve minutes. Education One of the early schools in Eccles was the 18th century day school in the parish of St. Mary's, south of the Irwell on the de Trafford estate. A Catholic Sunday school was opened in Eccles during the 19th century, in a building in Back Timothy Street (now the location of Eccles Library). Another day school was also opened in cottages on Barton Lane. The first substantial school in the area however was opened in 1851 along Church Street. A boys' school was opened in 1888. St Patrick's RC High School is currently the best-performing secondary school in Salford, with one of the highest scores in England. The Eccles area contains a number of primary and secondary schools, including (but not limited to) St. Mary's R.C. Primary School, Branwood Preparatory School, New Park High School and