Industry, environment and health through 200 years in Manchester
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Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235– 255
This article is also available online at:
www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon
SPECIAL SECTION: EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY AND
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
Industry, environment and health through 200 years in
Manchester
Ian Douglas *, Rob Hodgson, Nigel Lawson
School of Geography, Uni6ersity of Manchester, Mansfield Cooper Building, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Abstract
The Manchester urban area evolved rapidly in the early 19th century from a series of small towns to a major
industrial conurbation with huge material flows and worldwide trade connections. A combination of the availability
of nearby coalfields, canals, and free trade, which encouraged entrepreneurial enterprise, made Manchester into the
‘shock’ city of the industrial revolution. Rapid nucleated urban growth associated with industrialisation throughout
the 19th century involved an exponential growth in materials transfers and in waste flows. The 20th century suburban
dispersal of residential and industrial growth led to further increase in the impact of the urban metabolism, especially
in terms of mass: distance of materials movement. The current post-industrial phase in Greater Manchester has to
cope with the environmental and social legacies of its industrial past and with growing per capita materials
consumption and increases in number of households despite a nearly static population of around 2.5 million. Changes
in material flows, land usage and river morphology in Greater Manchester over the past 200 years have reflected
changing technologies, industry, economics, social expectations and environmental legislation. Manchester had the
first passenger railway, the first inter-basin domestic water transfer in the UK, the first urban smokeless zones and
was part of a pioneering land reclamation partnership in the 1970s. Even so, the environmental legacy of industrial
material flows constantly presents new challenges, from the cost of reclaiming contaminated brownfield sites to
finding destinations for today’s urban waste. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Manchester UK; Environmental history; Housing and health; River pollution; Air pollution
1. Introduction and the assimilation and transformation of natu-
ral resources. From the earliest urban markets to
1.1. The place of Manchester in urban the modern world cities, urban development is
en6ironmental history associated with the bringing of natural products
together, their re-distribution, re-combination,
Urban growth is about the occupation of land and their eventual disposal. Although urban envi-
ronments might be those furthest removed from
* Corresponding author. Fax: + 44-161-275-7878.
nature, urbanisation increases the dependence of
E-mail addresses: i.douglas@man.ac.uk (I. Douglas),
rob.hodgson@man.ac.uk (R. Hodgson), nigel.lawson@man. our culture on natural resources (Gulick, 1958).
ac.uk (N. Lawson). From the time of the European mediaeval cities
0921-8009/02/$ - see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 1 - 8 0 0 9 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 2 9 - 0236 I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 when great finance houses like the Fuggers and sation first converged to create the modern indus- Medicis had their agents everywhere from Milan trial city, Manchester was bound to attract to Antwerp, goods have been transferred from widespread attention. The British establishment distant sources to the warehouses and trading viewed Manchester as a kind of experiment, see- floors of urban centres (Jardine, 1996). This ing the city as both an indication of what eco- turnover of materials can be discussed as trade nomic progress really was, and as a warning on (Pirenne, 1925), conspicuous consumption (Jar- the environmental and social problems that went dine, 1996), urban metabolism (Wolman, 1965), with such progress. There was no escaping the urban ecosystem dynamics (Douglas, 1983) or paradox of this major experiment with capitalism: ecological footprints (Rees, 1992). In the nine- great economic wealth amid mounting social and teenth and twentieth centuries, the scale of this environmental problems (a paradox since repli- turnover increased enormously. Not only did both cated elsewhere many times over). De Tocqueville the world population and the total urban popula- (1958) succinctly characterised it in 1835 as a foul tion multiply many times, but conspicuous con- drain from which the greatest stream of industry sumption became the occupation of a huge new flows to fertilise the whole world. From this filthy city-dwelling middle class, transforming distant sewer pure gold flows’. All too often, responses to landscapes and creating new, more local demands problems were short-term expedients, such as for food, water, building materials, and waste some of the early efforts of private water supply disposal sites. The vision, flexibility and dy- companies. Even the great infrastructure works namism of local authorities, urban elites and re- on water supply dams, sewers, bridges and hospi- forming and campaigning individuals or groups tals between 1850 and 1900 could not last forever, often governed responses to these demands. and Greater Manchester has faced a massive re- Manchester and its surrounding towns joined investment in infrastructure renewal since 1975. this urban expansion in the second half of the With some 2.58 million people living in the 1287 18th century when technological innovation made km2 of Greater Manchester County in 2001, the factory production of textiles possible. It faced the heart of the urban core, made up of the inner problems associated with concentrated industry cities of Manchester and Salford and part of the earlier than most places and has subsequently Borough of Trafford, had approximately 0.5 mil- responded to a great series of issues at the heart lion inhabitants (Fig. 1). After nearly a century of of the relationship between society and environ- increasing industrial problems, especially those ment, particularly the unplanned consequences of associated with decline of textile trades— the re- materials flows. Manchester was an urban proto- sult of foreign competition and technological ob- type: the first of a new generation of huge indus- solescence—Greater Manchester is now trial cities created in the Western world in the two experiencing an economic regeneration and image centuries after 1750 (Rodgers, 1987). Manchester make-over in an attempt to recapture some of the pioneered many industrial activities, particularly extraordinary vitality and unique influence that through an unfettered, entrepreneurial, commer- made it the ‘shock city’ of the industrial revolu- cial sector, but also made early progress in health tion (Briggs, 1968). This paper tests the hypothe- and environmental improvements (Appendix A). sis that the human consequences of, and responses Political action and local campaigning spirit was to, urban environmental issues are not simple such that a strong social framework developed. cause, effect and technological fix situations, but Powerful voices of reform, particularly public the scene of constant adjustment, re-appraisal, health doctors such as Percival and Ferriar, led to response to changing attitudes and new technolo- the worst impacts of uncontrolled industrial waste gies. Solutions that were once deemed to be inad- discharges being modified and mollified from 1830 equate are re-examined as needs, ideas and onwards (Brockington, 1958). technologies change. Environmental expenditure As the place where the rapidly accelerating recurs as the chemicals causing pollution alter and processes of machine manufacturing and urbani- land use and land cover changes occur.
I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 237
1.2. The growth of the greater Manchester area ideal for cotton manufacture. Local coal for the
before 1850 new steam-driven machinery was supplied by river
and, after 1764, by canal to hundreds of mills.
Until the second half of the 18th century, the Following the Bridgewater canal, Manchester en-
settlements of Manchester and Salford had terprise fostered the world’s first passenger rail-
strayed little from their medieval core at the way, to Liverpool in 1830. A labour force of
confluence of the Irk and Irwell (Fig. 1). The skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers was
beginnings of mechanisation of the long-estab- drawn from a steadily widening area. A complex,
lished wool and linen textile industry in the late ever-changing pattern of residential, industrial
18th century changed all that. International trade and commercial settlement had begun. The pace
dominated by cotton became the business of the of exploitation of the surrounding countryside for
city. Massive imports of cotton, imported mainly materials expanded.
from the southeastern USA, were spun and woven This industrial dynamism led to a remarkable
into cloth in the local region and then distributed growth of population: in Manchester township
to an ever expanding market at home and abroad. alone, from nearly 77 000 people in 1801 to over
By 1835, 90% of the British cotton industry was 316 000 in 1851. Only 45% of the 401 000 inhabi-
concentrated in and around Manchester and tants of Manchester– Salford at mid-century had
goods manufactured out of cotton amounted to been born locally, barely 1% came from abroad,
51% of all British exports. By 1853, the British with the remainder being drawn from other parts
cotton industry supplied 45% of the total world of the British Isles (Fig. 2a). Both business and
consumption of cotton cloth (Farnie, 1979). The employment opportunities attracted a wide vari-
humid climate and soft local river water were ety of migrants, from the Sephardi Jews from the
Fig. 1. Growth of the built-up areas of Greater Manchester. (Compiled by Graham Bowden, University of Manchester, from various
sources).238 I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 Fig. 2. Migrants in Manchester: (a) the places of origin of the population of Manchester – Salford in 1851, and the Irish-dominated settlement of Angel Meadow in Manchester showing (b) the crowding of houses between the river, the railway and factories, with (c) and (d) the fall of the ground towards the River Irk. (Sources: Census Returns 1851; Busteed and Hodgson, 1994). Middle East and the German industrialists who 1.3. Rapid growth and land use change after 1850 engaged in cotton broking, banking and manu- facturing, to the Irish who formed the largest Greater Manchester’s population rose to and most exotic element in the population and 2 149 000 by 1901. The built-up area expanded whose navvies built the canals and railways. greatly (Fig. 1) following the building of local This was paralleled in the mid-20th century by railways, such as the Bolton to Salford in 1838 the arrival of Commonwealth country immi- and the Manchester South Junction and Altrin- grants, from the African Asian entrepreneurs cham in 1849; introduction of horse buses from and Indian professionals to the Bangladeshi tex- 1850 and horse drawn trams after the passing of tile workers. the Tramways Act in 1870 (Gray, 1996). High
I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 239 densities were particularly prevalent in inner areas area but also of the impact of Manchester’s activ- surrounding an increasingly ‘dead heart’ of the city. ities and demands, both on the adjacent countryside After 1840, city centre houses were demol-ished to and on distant ecosystems that supplied food and make way for commercial properties, railway pas- raw materials and were themselves transformed by senger and goods stations and warehouse com- the machinery and other goods exported from plexes. By 1901 the resident population of central Manchester. Manchester was only 30 000, one-third that of 1851. However, salients of urban growth linked 1.4. 20th Century changes Manchester to a ring of agricultural and industrial villages, especially to the south and west, and to Population densities decreased with the outward often fiercely independent cotton-manufacturing movement of population, but the total number of towns to the north and east, such as Bolton, Bury, people in the conurbation changed little. Since 1961 Rochdale, Oldham, Ashton and Stockport. the Greater Manchester population has been virtu- Manchester diversified while continuing, through ally stable, with the low rate of natural increase its Royal Exchange, to be the commercial and being entirely offset by net out-migration. Gross financial nucleus of the cotton trade. Machinery of out-migration has been partly counterbalanced by all types was manufactured and exported, including in-migrants, the 1991 census showing that 11.9% of textile machinery, steam engines and locomotives, the City of Manchester population was born outside armaments, and machine tools. The dominance of UK, compared with 6.1% in Greater Manchester cotton in the trade from Manchester fell in the late as a whole. 19th century as the products of manufacturing and By the last third of the 20th century, Greater engineering grew in importance. Gradually the Manchester faced the decaying legacy of the preco- sourcing of raw materials and food supplies ex- cious growth of its urban fabric a century earlier. panded to all parts of the world. Apples from North Even though there had been extensive rebuilding of America came through Liverpool early in the 19th housing around 1900, further slum clearance had century (Scola, 1992), but by the end of the century to be carried out after 1955. Demolition of some food was coming from America, Africa, Asia and 90 000 dwellings between 1957 and 1976 in the City Australasia (Appendix B). of Manchester alone involved some 2.16 million m3 The commercial expansion was not a continuous of rubble. In addition to the huge expansion of boom. Both economic downturns and cotton suburbs in the 1930s (Fig. 1), smaller households famines affected the city, but at the end of the 19th created a demand for yet more housing units, which century, the local economy was given a great boost was met both by infill and greenfield site develop- by the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal in ment. Manchester City Council built 23 500 new 1894. The Canal not only dramatically reduced dwellings, including multi-storey flats on 22 over- transport costs, but also transformed Manchester spill sites, the largest of which were Langley (Mid- into the third port in the country by 1917, with a dleton) (4700 dwellings) and Hattersley (4150 throughput of 3.84 million tons (Farnie, 1980). dwellings on 1.94 km2). Alongside the docks, at Trafford Park, the first and Modern industrial location shows a contrast still the largest industrial estate in Britain was between the old surviving 19th century industries developed. Ultimately up to 75 000 people worked and the new early 21st century activities. The old in factories at Trafford Park. The construction of industries, including some chemical plants subject the 57 km long Ship Canal involved total materials to the EC Seveso directive on high risk chemical flows of the order of 82 Mt. The gravel for the installations, are in traditional locations alongside concrete used came from the southern end of canals and former railways, often surrounded by Walney Island, some 80 km up the coast from housing. The new activities are scattered over a Ellesmere Port, the seaward terminus of the canal wide range of industrial estates, some on (Sherlock, 1922). The 19th century thus witnessed brownfield sites, others in greenfield locations a vast expansion, not merely in the built-up urban close to motorways and other major traffic routes.
240 I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 Economic activity close to the core-city has some Manchester Authorities (AGMA) to look at some stability with a broad range of service industries, planning and environmental concerns. Although, financial activities and three higher education in- the administrative structure is far less complex stitutions. The important service function of the than in 1888, there are still many difficulties in city centre has been developed and reinforced developing and carrying out environmental poli- since 1945. Just outside it, however, the inner city cies covering the whole conurbation. has become a severely deprived area, containing many disadvantaged and ethnically mixed com- munities with poor job and health prospects. 2. Housing, health and sanitary reform In 2001 the conurbation consists of a central city area, broadly defined as inner Manchester Despite expectations to the contrary, a sizeable and Salford, and an outer girdle of substantial proportion of the immigrant 19th century Greater towns such as Bolton and Altrincham plus numer- Manchester workforce often had only casual, low ous lesser towns and industrial villages. While paid work and lived in overcrowded, damp, patches of green separate parts of the area, the poorly lit and inadequately ventilated accommo- whole zone has virtually continuous development dation (most notoriously back-to-backs, court (Fig. 1), with greenfield sites still being infilled for dwellings and cellars) with little sanitation (privies new leisure, shopping and road developments. often shared by 20–30 families, sometimes many Ten local authorities now separately administer more), an inadequate water supply, and high rates their own sections of the conurbation (Fig. 3), of disease and mortality. Engels (1845) described coming together as the Association of Greater wretchedness of life in Little Ireland, a district of Fig. 3. Maps of local authority areas in 1888 and 1990 showing the complexity of 19th century local government. Manchester took over many adjacent local authorities, especially those that wished to be joined to the Longdendale water supply, while new urban authorities were created out of the rural districts (the white areas within the modern county boundary on the map). The 10 Metropolitan Districts and Greater Manchester County were created in 1974, but the County Council was abolished in 1986. (Compiled from 1888 Sanitary District Boundary Map and 1995 County Boundary Map).
I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 241
dense Irish settlement in the 1820s and 1830s, economic anxieties in the host population. Sani-
thus: tary reform was seen as a way both of maintain-
‘‘A horde of ragged women and children swarm ing the efficiency of the labour force and of
about here, as filthy as the swine that thrive upon quelling the ‘revolutionary’ activities or ‘rioting
the garbage heaps and in the puddles.’’ propensities’ of the working class people who
The worst conditions were in low-lying formed three-quarters of the population (Love,
dwellings surrounded by factories, mills, railway 1842).
lines and viaducts, and which were also liable to Lack of political will, finance, and understand-
flooding from polluted rivers. Although these ing of public health made efforts to improve the
archetypal, classic slums were not confined to household situation patchy in time and space.
Manchester, they were more widespread than in Even less was done about reducing industrial
most other industrialising British towns and cities emissions lest the economic growth of Manchester
of the time. For example, the streets and homes in be impaired. The diversity of small local authori-
the lower levels of the Irish-dominated district of ties (Freeman, 1959) obsessed with keeping local
Angel Meadow (Busteed and Hodgson, 1994) rates (council taxes) low and reluctant to co-oper-
built on sloping ground (Fig. 2b– d) suffered accu- ate with their neighbours (Fig. 3) made collabora-
mulations of effluent from the upper levels, and tion in reform on such key issues as water supply
flooding from the Irk, polluted by the dumping of and drainage difficult. Efforts concentrated on
personal and industrial waste. Hence, at a sitting improving housing, sanitary arrangements and
of the Court Leet on 14 April 1837, the owner of water supply, culminating in having taps and
a chemical factory in Angel Meadow was fined for water closets (WCs) in every dwelling. Progress
releasing naphtha into the river. was relatively slow and uneven. Manchester Bor-
‘‘By reason of which large quantities of obnox- ough Council was ahead of national legislation in
ious and unwholesome smell, stenches and efflu- passing local acts regulating housing conditions.
via did… issue from said River into and upon the Most cellar dwellings had gone by 1874 and
dwelling houses of divers of His Majesty’s liege nearly all the unhealthy, poorly ventilated, back-
subjects’’’ (Court Leet Records, Vol. 12, 1887). to-back houses had disappeared by 1915 (McK-
Despite inadequate understanding of the causes echnie, 1915).
and spread of disease, the association between Infant mortality in Manchester in 1798 may
ill-health and poor living conditions soon became have been as high as 300 per 1000 live births.
evident. The first local campaigning group in Smallpox was a major killer of young children
Britain for health improvements came about in until 1800. Percival introduced vaccination, and in
1796, when typhus among cotton-mill employees the 1820s and 1830s whooping cough became the
led public-spirited Manchester physicians to or- most serious cause of death of infants under 1
ganise an ad hoc health board (Porter, 1997). This year. Respiratory diseases amongst cotton work-
1796 report by The Manchester Board of Health ers were exacerbated by the dusty and damp
pointed out that cotton factories were a hot-bed conditions in the cotton mills and were the most
of epidemics and that the lives of children work- significant form of death in the 1850s by a fairly
ing in them were ruined by the contaminating substantial margin (Fig. 4) (Fleischman, 1985).
surroundings of their early years (Chapman, Not until the beginning of the 20th century was it
1904). The 1831–1832 pandemic of cholera realised that dust and particles of cotton, particu-
prompted actions such as those of Kay (1832), larly prevalent in card rooms, should be extracted
whose ideas were taken up by Chadwick (1842) in without first contaminating the atmosphere. The
recommending reform of housing, provision of injection of steam to facilitate weaving sized warp
clean water and efficient disposal of household threads made from short-staple cotton yarns was
rubbish and sewage. These sanitary reformers common, and maximum limits of humidity at
skilfully appealed not only to humanitarian con- given temperatures and the maximum proportion
siderations but also to other growing political and of carbon dioxide in humidified weaving sheds242 I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255
Fig. 4. Deaths from Bronchitis and Diarrhoea in Manchester 1891 – 1938.
were not imposed until the Cotton Cloth Facto- paigns and many individual small improvements,
ries Act of 1889. In 1890, the infantile death rate such as dustbins with lids to keep out flies, lead to
for the offspring of cotton workers and labourers a better urban environment. In Manchester, de-
in Blackburn was 252 per 1000 births compared spite reforms and public activity, the real reduc-
with 160 for the offspring of all other parents tions in mortality did not occur until the end of
(Cruickshank, 1981). the 19th century, with infant mortality falling
From the middle of the 19th century until the only after 1900 and diarrhoea as a cause of death
1910s diarrhoea, which reached its peak during declining significantly after 1916. Pooley and
hot, dry summers, was the greatest single cause of Pooley (1984) emphasised that the acute poverty
infant mortality, showing wide variations in its of many Victorian city dwellers inevitably led to
impact from year to year (Fig. 4) (Newsholme, malnutrition and inadequate accommodation that
1899). Milk purchased from street vendors progressively reduced resistance and increased ex-
quickly went sour and infants often died through posure to disease. This relationship between
lack of understanding of the causes of gastric health, poverty and living environment was re-
problems (Pooley and Pooley, 1984). The transfer echoed in the late 20th century in the 1980 Black
from breast-feeding to cows milk was reflected in Report, Inequalities in Health, that showed that in
a shift from a winter to summer peak in infant 1971 the death rate among adult males in social
deaths (Huck, 1997). In Manchester after 1851 a class V (unskilled workers) was nearly twice that
relatively small proportionate fall in infant mor- of adult men in social class I (professional work-
tality occurred (Fig. 5) but it rose again in the ers) (Porter, 1997). In 1950 a baby in social class
1890s, due to increased diarrhoea, perhaps be- IV or V was twice as likely to die before attaining
cause contaminated food, frequently blamed for the age of 12 months than a baby in social class I
infant deaths, was being replaced by equally con- (Carr-Saunders et al., 1958).
taminated tinned or fresh milk (Beaver, 1973; Vigorous Local Authority attempts to improve
Pooley and Pooley, 1984). sanitation were spatially discrete in their coverage.
General improvements of the urban environ- Nearly a third of the houses in the city lacked
ment in the 19th century made a major contribu- sanitation in 1868 (Pooley and Pooley, 1984).
tion to the decline in infant mortality (Fig. 5) Earth closets and privies increased the risks of
(Woods, 1991; Porter 1997), arguing that chang- cholera, typhoid and gastric tract diseases. Else-
ing public opinion, the efforts of medical officers where, untreated drainage running directly into
of health, better drinking water and sewerage, rivers from suburban WCs aggravated severe river
slum clearance, the success of cleanliness cam- pollution problems. In the 1870s cesspits inI. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 243
Manchester began to be replaced with night soil 1896. This expansion set up a new form of or-
collection from pail closets (ironically called Dolly ganic waste: sewage sludge. This was originally
Vardens after a nationally known perfume!). Only taken by barge down the Manchester Ship Canal
after 1890 did a waterborne system of sewage to be dumped in a defined area of the Irish Sea.
disposal and treatment come into operation in When this ceased in 1998, Greater Manchester’s
Manchester and start to reduce the incidence of people were producing about 77 500 tonnes of dry
typhoid. sewage per annum, of which 45 600 tonnes re-
Collection of night soil and horse manure from quired disposal. The sewage sludge is now dewa-
the city by scavengers in carts created a disposal tered at Davyhulme and piped as a cake
problem, and Manchester Corporation purchased containing approximately 27% dry solids to a new
large parts of the desolate wet area of Chat Moss, processing plant at Shell Green, Widnes. This
across which Stephenson had such difficulty plant copes with up to 240 000 tonnes of dry
building the Liverpool to Manchester Railway in sludge annually, including that from Merseyside
1829 (Burton, 1980). The drainage and reclama- and Warrington. Approximately, 50% of the dry
tion of such mosslands around Manchester matter is incinerated and 50% is disposed of on to
(Shimwell, 1985) were seen as providing rich soil arable land and in reclamation projects, being
for growing vegetables and potatoes to supply the mixed with colliery spoil for use in landscaping
city. The organic waste from the city helped to schemes (Belshaw, 2000). Now, once again,
improve the land (Kear, 1991). It was carried out Manchester’s organic wastes are being dumped on
of town along newly constructed turnpikes, canals farmland and helping to feed the city’s people.
and railways which had sidings into the newly A reliable pure water supply was critical for
drained mosslands, bringing the wastes out and public health and the WC system. Although
taking farm produce back to town, thus overcom- Manchester Corporation took direct control of
ing a sanitation and health problem. The disposal the city’s supply in 1851, and despite the comple-
of sewage became linked with transportation and tion of reservoir schemes in Longdendale in 1850s
food production for the people and livestock of and Thirlmere in 1890s, distribution of pure water
the 19th century city. remained very uneven throughout the 19th cen-
With the construction of bye-law housing in the tury. Despite exhortations from reformers, most
late 19th century, water-borne sewerage was in- central-city courts and terraces did not have their
stalled in all new housing areas. Each municipal- own in-house water supply but relied on stand-
ity had its own treatment works until the City of pipe in yard or end street for most of the 19th
Manchester built the large works at Davyhulme in century. Around 1900, it was not unusual to find
Fig. 5. Infant mortality in England and Wales and in Manchester 1843 – 1993.244 I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 Fig. 6. Location of mills, works and factories close to the River Irwell and its tributaries in 1869, showing the general occurrence of dyeworks and chemical factories adjacent to rivers, although cotton mills are more widely distributed across the landscape. (Source: Rivers Pollution Commission, 1870). one tap in a yard supplying 20 or 30 houses 3. River pollution (McKechnie, 1915). Standpipe supplies both in- creased the possibility of infection as water from For 200 years the rivers of Greater Manchester them stood around the house in containers for presented a sorry record of deterioration in qual- several hours, and encouraged the use of less pure ity. While the major rivers rise on the peat cov- alternative supplies obtainable closer to hand. De- ered moorlands of the plateau of the Pennines, spite relatively pure water being readily available local streams draining the plains around the core in middle-class suburban areas, most working- city are now almost buried beneath concrete and class districts were forced to endure inadequate brick. The most intractable pollution stories come supply. The increased use of water and the expan- from the Irwell and its tributaries, the Croal, Irk sion of the built up areas added to the existing and Medlock. materials flows to rivers and to water quality During the 19th century increasing industriali- problems. sation led to many mills, works and factories
I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 245 directly discharging many pollutants, including many dissolved substances and much solid waste ashes and cinders, into rivers (Fig. 6). Notable including ashes and cinders from houses and cases were the upper reaches of the Irwell where, factories. before 1870, half the capacity of the channel was The consequences of this are evocatively de- lost by dumped coal and furnace deposits and scribed by the 1870 Rivers Pollution Commission cinders from domestic fireplaces (Fig. 7). The silt Report, a direct response to local and national in the river below Salford built up so much that concerns about the foul rivers: whereas vessels of 1.5 m draught reached the ‘‘When taking samples at Throstlenest Weir, wharves in 1840, by 1860 vessels of 1 m draught below Manchester, at 05:00 h on July 21, 1869, we had difficulties, and at the lowest flows no vessels saw the whole water of the River Irwell, there 46 could pass (Gray, 1993). Around 1870, Salford yards wide, caked over with a thick scum of dirty township took upstream townships to court for froth, looking like a solid, sooty crusted surface. dumping ashes and debris in the river and causing Through this scum, here and there, at intervals of this problem. Serious flood problems, which be- six and eight yards, heavy bursts of bubbles were came increasingly damaging after 1850, led to continually breaking evidently rising from the many flood alleviation scheme proposals, includ- bottom; and wherever a yard or two of the scum ing one to build a tunnel from Adelphi, upstream was cleared away, the whole surface was seen of the City Centre, to the river near Weaste, simmering and sparkling with a continual effer- downstream of the city. vescence of smaller bubbles rising from various Drains were developed in phases: (i) culverting depths in the midst of the water, showing that the of water courses and street drains to 1820, (ii) whole river was fermenting and generating gas. local sewerage systems 1792– 1880 and (iii) inter- The air was filled with the stench of this gaseous cepting sewers in two stages 1886– 1898 (including emanation many yards away. The temperature of Davyhulme Treatment works with treated effluent the water was 76 F, and that of the air 54 F.’’ ultimately returned to the recently built Ship Even the Manchester Ship Canal became pol- Canal) and 1910– 1973 (to provide additional ca- luted virtually as soon as it was completed, both pacity with extension of the built-up area). During from the already heavily contaminated River Ir- the 19th century, the drainage system received well, the major source of water to the canal, and ever increasing amounts of varied, and uncon- from the 519 out-falls of sewage and industrial trolled, discharges; including liquids containing effluent which feed into it (Fan, 1996). As early as Fig. 7. Mid-19th century changes to river channels due to the dumping of cinders and other wastes, as described by the Royal Commission on Rivers, 1870. Note particularly how siltation of the Irk at Union Bridge had buried the outlet of the town sewer at least 1 m below a mass of debris. (Source: Rivers Pollution Commission, 1870).
246 I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 1896, complaints of pollution during summer 4. Air pollution droughts led to the creation of a Port Sanitary Authority (Farnie, 1980). While water-borne diseases were eased by the The Eighth Report of the Royal Commission sanitary reform measures of 19th century, pro- on Sewage Disposal (1912) defined the standards gress on those related to air pollution, especially for sewage works effluents as 20 mg l − 1 of BOD bronchitis and other respiratory ailments, was and 30 mg l − 1 suspended solids (Tebbutt, 1992). virtually non-existent before 1900. By the 1880s Limits were imposed on what factories and homes Manchester had acquired an unenviable reputa- could discharge; licensed discharges were estab- tion for dirt, smoke and gloom. Many reformist lished, and gradual regulation was imposed. By individuals and groups, such as the Manchester 1940, every local authority had its own sewage and Salford Noxious Vapours Abatement Associ- treatment plant on the banks of a river. ation (NVAA), warned of the dangers from chem- Reduction in industrial discharges (through a ical pollutants (from alkali works), and more gradual decline in number of sources) and the especially smoke from coal burning both at indus- move from steam to diesel and natural gas power trial sites and in domestic hearths. Nevertheless, helped lower pollutant loads, but these were coun- the prevailing and often dominant view was that tered by an expansion in number of residences smoke pollution was a necessary and harmless and in the per capita use of water and chemicals, corollary of ‘progress’. Total freedom from smoke such as detergents. Increased water discharges to pollution was still regarded by many an utopian sewers meant more overflows from combined sew- goal and those who pressed for abatement were ers during storm events. In addition, increasing often dismissed as irksome, interfering, do-good- farm effluent, especially from pig farms where ers: ‘amiable and unpractical faddists’. Reform effluent from one pig is equivalent to that from efforts were preoccupied with industrial pollu- five humans, led to many small streams being tants, but had limited impact. Some tightening of heavily polluted. In 1985 Manchester had 97 com- existing regulations was achieved by the NVAA, bined stormwater sewage overflows discharging for example, in the Alkali & Works Regulation into the Medlock, which means that even in small Act in 1881 (Mosley, 1996). However, these pio- rainfall events untreated sewerage entered the neering efforts paved the way for succeeding gen- river. Since 1985, the national urban pollution erations, which placed Manchester at the management programme in which North West forefront of air pollution abatement. Water, the local water and sewerage company, In the first decade of the 20th century, as part has taken the lead, has set out to intercept most of the great expansion of manufacturing in Traf- of these overflow sources and to create large new ford Park, a steelworks, further chemical indus- storm water storage tanks from which the effluent tries and electric power stations were built, during overflows is far less oxygen demanding beginning a period of concentrated point-source than from the original outfalls. emissions which did not end until the late 1980s River water quality management has involved and early 1990s with the closure of the last four major expense since 1974. Much of the 19th cen- power stations in the county. The other great SO2 tury sewage system has been rebuilt, treatment source was the railway whose network reached its plants have been upgraded, and most small greatest density by 1910. sewage treatment plants have been eliminated, With new ideas about housing and healthy with interceptor sewers taking wastes to major lifestyles, Manchester and Salford pioneered stations such as the Davyhulme treatment works. smoke control measures. The 1930s saw a cam- River water quality has improved considerably in paign for clean air and smokeless zones (led by the last decade of the 20th century (Fig. 8a) and Charles Gandy, a Manchester barrister and chair- local fishermen now take edible trout out of the man of the National Smoke Abatement Society, River Mersey on the south of the City of whose headquarters were in Manchester). At this Manchester. time suburban housing development occurred
I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 247 Fig. 8. Reductions in air and water pollution: (a) Improvement in the oxygen content of rivers, both upstream of the city at Hyde and downstream of Great Manchester at Warrington since 1960; (b) falls in SO2 and smoke in the air at Manchester Town Hall, deaths from bronchitis; lead in the air at the side of the M56 in Wythenshawe; the recent record of annual average NO2 in the air in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester City Centre. (Compiled from data supplied by North West Water, The Medical Officer of Healthand Manchester City Council). rapidly (Fig. 1), linked to centres of employment houses without the basic amenities, which had by motor buses. Both private and local govern- become standard in modern private and Corpora- ment public housing in ‘garden city style’ estates tion homes since 1919. This ‘healthier’ housing covered many km2 of south Lancashire and still relied on coal for heating, but the chimney north-east Cheshire farmland around the city. density was less than in the older inner city areas. One of the most enterprising ventures was Permission to establish the first smokeless zones Wythenshawe, Manchester’s own ‘garden town’, in the City Centre was obtained just as World described as ‘‘perhaps the most ambitious pro- War II started in 1939. After the war in 1946, gramme of civic restructuring that any British city Manchester became the first UK local authority has ever undertaken’’ (Kidd, 1993). Nevertheless, to obtain powers (under Manchester Corporation in 1959 Manchester still had 68 000 ‘grossly unfit’ Act) to establish ‘smokeless zones’. Salford and
248 I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 Bolton obtained similar powers soon after, and Furthermore, other new and expanding tech- the first smokeless zone came into effect in Sal- nologies brought new air pollution problems to ford in 1949. Well before the 1956 National Clean Greater Manchester. In the 1960s, high octane Air Act, the local governments of the Greater ‘anti-knock’ petrol was hailed as a revolution in Manchester area had effectively set the pace by motor car engine efficiency. A decade later, con- dealing with a local problem which was in reality cern was raised about the impacts of lead emis- a national menace, as the great London smog of sions on health, especially that of children in December 1952 showed to every politician in the schools close to traffic routes. Once again, public Houses of Parliament at Westminster. Over the 25 campaigning led to political pressure which saw years after 1955 the pollution due to smoke and the introduction of lead-free petrol in 1986 and, SO2 declined markedly. From the early 1960s later, a differential tax on leaded and lead-free onwards the reduced levels of smoke and SO2 are petrol. The technical adoption of catalytic con- clearly reflected in the reduction in deaths from verters was a further step in reducing motor vehi- bronchitis (Fig. 8b). Between 1945 and 1969, win- cle emissions. The data for St. Thomas School, ter sunshine increased by about 50% in the city near the M56 motorway in Wythenshawe, show a centre (Wood et al., 1974) with a further 20% dramatic decline from the high levels prevalent in improvement between 1969 and 1975 (Tout, 1986 (Fig. 8b). In the city centre increased traffic 1979). caused a gradual increase in lead in airborne dust For Greater Manchester as a whole, the process that peaked in 1989. Traffic emissions, as indi- was virtually completed by 1990, save for a few cated by lead in roadside soils and vegetation, mining communities where the traditional right of tend to be higher where vehicles stand at traffic miners to receive free coal supplies remained so- lights than elsewhere along major roads. In- cially important. This achievement of cleaner air creased congestion in the future could again lead was greatly helped by the decline of heavy manu- to more pollution, even though emissions from facturing industry and the substitution of electric- individual vehicles are being reduced. ity, gas and oil for coal burning and steam power. In 1999, the greatest concern about air pollu- For the whole of Britain it was fortunate that tion in Greater Manchester is over suspended natural gas from the North Sea basin became particulate matter (SPM) and oxides of nitrogen available at the time of implementation of the (NOx ). Particulates are associated with diesel clean air legislation. powered vehicles, NOx with both diesel and petrol The improvements locally were assisted, not vehicles. They are of particular concern because only by industrial change, but also by the policy of their ability to intensify asthmatic conditions requiring new plants to install tall chimneys to among those already susceptible to asthma. expel whatever emissions occurred high into the Severe episodes of high particulate concentration atmosphere. The chimney built at the Shell (now can occur locally under still, calm, anticyclonic Montell) petrochemical works in the 1970s at weather conditions. The annual average NO2 con- Carrington in the western part of Greater centration in the city centre has varied little since Manchester is a good example of the planning measurements began in 1987 (Fig. 8b), but they authority insisting upon a higher chimney than exceed the EC Directive’s recommended annual originally proposed (Wood, 1976). Yet these mean of 21 ppb. However, the more serious an- chimneys only shifted the emission problem else- nual 98th percentile of hourly means has re- where. Ejected into the prevailing westerly mained below the Directive’s compulsory limit of airstream, the emissions were carried over the 105 ppb save in 1992 and 1994 when cold, anticy- already abnormally acidic Pennine moors of the clonic conditions caused NO2 levels to exceed the centre of northern England, across Yorkshire and guidelines during two 48 h periods. the North Sea to Scandinavia where they con- Thus air pollution problems have changed over tributed to the acidification of lake waters that time. Public pressure and the determination of caused such concern in the 1970s. key individuals helped to propel the change, but
I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 249
technological changes and resource substitution after they last ran there. The modern trams have
also played their part. Now local authorities are cut out some 2.5 million car journeys a year. The
recognising the need to reduce the use of motor innovation characteristic of Manchester for the
vehicles. The re-introduction of trams to the city last 200 years is seen in many of its environmental
centre and their replacement of trains on two solutions, from the technology used to keep the
suburban rail routes have taken 2.5 million car waters of the redeveloped former docks at Salford
journeys a year off the city streets. Proposals to Quays clean, to the efforts being made to ensure
operate road charging trials and to charge for the widespread use of low-floor, easy access,
workplace parking are actively being discussed by cleaner emission buses throughout the city. The
some councils. The tramway is being extended rejuvenation of the city centre has seen former
with new fixed rail lines, but not as rapidly as warehouses converted to apartments, student resi-
many advocates wish. Provision of bicycle lanes dences and office blocks, thus avoiding some of
and bicycle parking facilities is proceeding, but the materials flows of bricks and concrete for new
cyclists find the separation of bicycles and traffic buildings. Elsewhere in the county, much
totally inadequate. brownfield, old industrial land has been re-used,
The battle against air pollution in Manchester but, in 1999, 3217 ha remain to be tackled. Many
has thus seen a combination of campaigning by of these brownfield sites still contain the legacy of
individuals and pressure groups, some grassroots, their industrial use, for example, coal gas purifica-
but others combining medical, business and legal tion plants which produced gas that substituted
expertise. Conscious of the mistaken perceptions the burning of coal and made a major contributed
of some people, both in southern England and to the reduction in atmospheric SO2. Most of
beyond, that Manchester is a grimy unattractive these plants closed down as soon as natural gas
city, the Manchester and District Chamber of from the North Sea became available in the 1970s
Commerce and the wider North West Business after being operative for anything up to 100 years
leadership have established environment or sus- or more. Some of the chemical time bombs of
tainability teams and have projected ideas of a hydrocarbon and heavy metal contaminated land
‘Green and Pleasant Region’. Yet, at the same from these plants are still requiring remediation.
time, new foci for traffic movements, such as Yet, innovative initiatives are now starting to
major sporting facilities and shopping centres tackle the regeneration of derelict land and some
(like Bolton’s Reebok Stadium and the Trafford of the old urban landfills in a manner which will
Centre), have opened on the fringes of the major enable them to become a part of urban greenspace
nuclei of population within Greater Manchester. corridors. Within the urbanised areas of Greater
Despite pollution reduction measures, everything Manchester and Liverpool there are some 1060 ha
that encourages extra vehicle movements adds to of derelict and neglected closed landfill sites
atmospheric emissions. (Roome et al., 1999). Initially, these older landfill
sites were located at the edge of the cities and
towns, but with urban growth many of these sites
5. Discussion and conclusions which were once on the urban fringe have now
closed and are surrounded by settlements. Within
Every effort to make the city more prosperous, Greater Manchester alone, there are over 900
healthier and more attractive to residents leads to closed landfill sites and many have the potential
new environmental pressures. Some materials for re-development as community woodland, but
flows have gone almost full circle. In addition to the availability of soils and soil making materials
the return to disposal of organic wastes to the is crucial in advancing their regeneration (Rawlin-
land, there is the use of methane gas from landfills son et al., 1999). Trials are now taking place on
to generate electricity for the local grid and, in the suitability as landfill cover of the 120 000–
particular, the highly successful re-introduction in 150 000 tonnes per annum of soil-making material
1992 of trams to the city centre streets 43 years which can be produced from domestic and com-250 I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 mercial waste by the Greater Manchester Waste of aircraft flying into Manchester each add to the Authority. Thus, an initiative able to close a greenhouse gases. material’s flow circle is starting to evolve— waste The aircraft emissions may be seen, along with which would have increased land dereliction is the sewage sludge disposal and the emissions from being transformed in to a product which poten- tall chimneys, as Greater Manchester imposing its tially will enhance land regeneration, environmen- wastes from materials flows on other environ- tal regulations permitting. ments, thereby extending its ecological footprint. Containerisation and changing trading patterns Even the major part of the solid waste flows goes led to the closure of the Port of Manchester in to sites outside the county boundary. Of arisings 1977. Since 1984 this whole area has been in the of 7.7 Mtonnes per year, some 1.5 Mtonnes are process of being redeveloped as a desirable water- sent to landfills within Greater Manchester, a side location for modern offices, housing units small part is incinerated and the remainder, after and leisure pursuits. Following a rigorous risk pulverisation and compaction, goes to sites out- assessment, the water quality is also being im- side the county (Bell, 1997), 600 tonnes per day proved to a level compatible with these new uses. being sent by rail to old iron ore mines 110 km The dock areas cut off from the river flow away in Lincolnshire. contain 3–4 m of contaminated sediments, a These examples show that Manchester has had chemical time bomb from 80 years of environ- to cope with the failures of its past systems and mental neglect. These sediments are heavily con- renew the successes. Managing materials flows in taminated and removal would be both costly and a city like Manchester is not simply a question of unsafe. The solution is the isolation of the docks putting in infrastructure and systems and allowing from the flowing water in the canal and treatment them to run forever. The message is not just one of the largely anoxic water by permanent aeration of adopting an ecological risk-control strategy and by bio-manipulation. (Cantlon and Koenig, 1999), but also one of Sediments in the semi-closed turning area and constant renewal and change. Most of in the upper reaches of the canal also contain high Manchester’s Victorian sewers, bridges, dams and levels of heavy metals and over 75% organic hospitals have been renewed, refurbished or re- material which has a BOD value of up to 3000 placed. The engineering costs involved illustrate mg/l, and was classified by the NRA (now the how sustainable management of materials flows Environment Agency) as ‘bad’ (Fan, 1996). Oxy- requires both infrastructure investment and politi- gen injection equipment designed to improve the cal and economic commitment to long-term care water quality to ‘good’ by an improvement in and maintenance. Often changes are prompted by BOD of 75% over the next 20– 25 years came on a crisis, made possible by the availability of new stream in 2001. It is estimated that the quality of technology, encouraged by subsidies, stimulated the water will have returned to ‘poor’ by 2005 and by entrepreneurship or professional and commu- to ‘fair’ by 2010. nity pressure groups, and made possible because Innovation in Manchester continues to evoke there is some political will. The example of in- new materials flows and environmental impacts. frastructure renewal confirms the hypothesis that The highly successful international airport has responses to urban environmental issues are not built a second runway involving the excavation simple cause, effect and technological fix situa- and deposition or disposal on site of 2.36 million tions, but the scene of constant adjustment, re-ap- m3 of material, the import, by a temporary rail- praisal, response to changing attitudes and new way, of 1.3 Mtonnes of stone and a total materi- technologies. Removal of small inefficient waste als shift of the order of 6.3 Mtonnes water treatment plants and the development of (AMEC-Tarmac Joint Venture, 1999). The impact tertiary treatment at the remaining large plants, of this was felt not only in the stone quarries of together with new ways of managing storm sewer the Peak District, but will also affect the global overflow, illustrate technological adaptation to atmosphere, as the contrails of the larger number new public values and perceptions of the benefits
I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255 251
of clean rivers and the reduction of health risks. 1804 Rochdale Canal completed through cen-
So often, Manchester has led other cities— as the tral Manchester
first industrial city, the pioneer of free trade, the 1807 Gas first supplied to the City
owner of the first Major British inter-basin trans- 1809 Manchester and Salford Waterworks
fer urban water supply and the initiator of smoke- Company founded
less zones. These responses to needs and crises 1814 Manchester Institution for Curing of
have not been driven by market forces alone, but Diseases of the Eye founded
have been driven by ideas of social and environ- 1817 Manchester Gas Works established
mental improvement, by the recognition that 1825 Manchester Medical School founded by
there must be a better way of doing things. Thomas Turner
Manchester now recognises the need to think 1828 Ancoats Hospital opened as Ardwick
globally, but act locally, to create a high quality and Ancoats Dispensary
living and working environment with as small an 1829 General Dispensary for Children estab-
ecological footprint on other ecosystems as possi- lished in Back King Street
ble. This is not easy, as consumer demands lead to 1830 Liverpool and Manchester Railway
the supply of food, goods, and materials from opened-the world’s first passenger
ever widening, more distant sources, and many railway
recycling and reuse options for waste and old 1832 Major cholera outbreak
industrial materials are constrained by legislation 1833 Manchester Statistical Association
and perceptions aimed at reducing health hazards founded District Provident Society
and environmental contamination. One way for- providing relief in cases of sickness and
ward, which contains broad-brush estimates for convalescence established in Manchester
materials flows for Greater Manchester, has been 1834 New Poor Law Act
set out by Ravetz (2000). This goal of greater 1838 Incorporation of the City of Manchester
sustainability is far from being achieved, but Bolton to Salford Railway opened
awareness and appreciation of materials flows and 1842 Manchester and Birmingham Railway
their impacts will help to get closer to it. opened
1843 Royal Commission on the Health of
Towns Gas Undertaking became
Appendix A. List of key events in the evolution Manchester Corporation Gas Works
of modern Manchester 1844 Metropolitan Health of Towns Associa-
tion established Manchester Police Reg-
1752 Royal Infirmary established ulation Act (included powers related to
1761 Bridgewater Canal, the first industrial sanitation)
canal in the UK, opened as far as 1846 Common Lodging Houses Act
Stretford First two parks, Philip’s Park and
1789 Construction of first steam engine used Queen’s Park presented to the City
in manufacture of cotton 1847 City Corporation obtained Act to ac-
1790 Power looms introduced into quire the works of the Manchester and
Manchester Salford Waterworks Corporation and to
1791 House rented near Salford Bridge for a develop Longdendale reservoirs
lying-in hospital 1848 British Public Health Act (required set-
1796 Board of Health established in ting up of local Boards of Health re-
Manchester by Percival and Ferriar (a sponsible for sanitary supervision,
result of a typhus epidemic: the first lo- drainage and water supply among other
cal health pressure group in England matters)
and Wales) and House of Recovery set 1849 Manchester South Junction and Altrin-
up. cham Railway opened252 I. Douglas et al. / Ecological Economics 41 (2002) 235–255
1850 Manchester Clinical Hospital established 1893 Electricity first supplied to the City
1851 First UK inter-basin water supply trans- centre
fer from Longdendale to the city 1894 Water supply from Thirlmere in-
1852 Manchester and Salford Sanitary Associ- augurated Manchester Ship Canal
ation founded opened
1854 Withington hospital built as Withington 1904 Manchester Southern and Maternity
Workhouse (Chorlton Union) Hospital for Women merged with St.
1856 The lying-in hospital, after several tem- Mary’s Hospital
porary locations, moved to Quay Street 1911 Town Planning Committee appointed by
as ‘St. Mary’s Hospital and Dispensary Manchester City Council Ford opened
for the diseases of Women and also for factory in Trafford Park to make
the diseases of children under 6 years of Model-T cars
age’ 1915 Booth Hall Children’s Hospital opened
1858 Local Government Act (permitted com- in north Manchester
pulsory purchase for sanitary purposes) 1912 Air Pollution Advisory Board estab-
1863 River Medlock Improvement Committee lished by Manchester City Council
appointed by City Council 1920 Royal Manchester Eye Hospital moved
1866 Sanitary Act (gave local authorities to Oxford Road
powers to provide clean water supplies 1925 Manchester Committee on Cancer
and regulate tenements) formed
1867 Vaccination Act (increased penalties for 1926 Manchester and District Regional
failure to vaccinate infants) Manchester Smoke Abatement Committee formed
Southern and Maternity Hospital for 1929 Barton Aerodrome opened-the first mu-
Women opened in Chorlton-on-Medlock nicipal airport in the UK
Diseases of the Eye Institution became 1938 Ringway Airport (now Manchester In-
Manchester Royal Eye Hospital ternational Airport) opened, replacing
1868 First medical officer of health for the Barton Aerodrome
City of Manchester appointed 1949 First smokeless zone in UK comes into
1870 Tramways Act effect in Salford
1871 Alkali &c Regulated Works Act 1956 UK Clean Air Act
1873 Children’s Hospital at Pendlebury 1971 New buildings for St, Mary’s hospital
opened opened on Hathersage Road
1875 Public Health Act (required appointment 1990 Greater Manchester smokeless zone des-
of a medical office of health to every ignations virtually completed
sanitary district in England and Wales) 1995 Upgrading of water quality in River
1876 Manchester and Salford NVAA founded Mersey permits return of fishYou can also read
