To show the extent to which the ship canal irreversibly changed the landscape here, I have managed to find two images taken roughly 140 years apart. The first image shows the old canal docks looking towards the Ethelfleda railway bridge in 1880. The second photograph below taken in 2021 shows the same vantage point looking toward the same bridge, but with the entire docks replaced by the much larger waterway. To the left of the Arklow vessel you can see a small docking complex - this was a small area that remained in use for docking at the east end of the boat yard which operated on the ship canal. Irwell lane leads directly to the water much as it once did to the Old Quay canal, but almost all of the buildings have been constructed long after the industry had died down.