 The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal is a disused canal in Greater Manchester , England , built to link Bolton and Bury with Manchester . The canal , when fully opened , was 15 miles 1 furlong ( 24 @.@ 3 km ) long . It was accessed via a junction with the River Irwell in Salford . Seventeen locks were required to climb to the summit as it passed through Pendleton , heading northwest to Prestolee before it split northwest to Bolton and northeast to Bury . Between Bolton and Bury the canal was level and required no locks . Six aqueducts were built to allow the canal to cross the rivers Irwell and Tonge and several minor roads . 
