Monton: #surprisingsalford #27

Monton is a bit of a Salford secret that is little known beyond the Salford boundaries.  Part of Eccles, Monton is a lovely part of Salford that is as chic as Didsbury but even prettier.  Monton has a village feel, a row of independent shops, smart cafes and a village green, the canal and an old railway line that is now a cycling and walking route.  On our last visit we arrived in Monton after walking along the canal and this only enhanced the sense of being in a small village rather than the city of Salford.  Certainly, if you didn’t know Salford well you would think you were in wealthier south Manchester.

Monton Green was part of the estate of the Earl of Ellesmere but in the late 19th century it was given to the public and is now maintained with grass and flower beds.  Next to the green is Monton Unitarian Church whose building was completed in 1875.  On the church is a blue plaque to John Henry Poynting FRS (1852 – 1914).  John Henry Poynting was a renowned physicist born in Monton and worked in Birmingham.  He developed the Poynting vector which describes the flow of energy in an electromagnetic field.  In the 1890s he grabbed the public’s attention for his work calculating the weight of the earth.

The land-locked lighthouse in the photograph below is many miles from the coast.  This 40-foot high modern folly was built as a weekend retreat by a local canal boat enthusiast and even has its own light for use on special occasions.

Author: Back on the Road Again Blog

I write two blogs, one about my travels in our campervan and living well and frugally and the second about the stories behind the people commemorated in memorial benches. View all posts by Back on the Road Again Blog