Welcome to Castlefield, the birthplace of Manchester where ‘it all started’[1]. In this ‘field of the castle’, a roman fort called Mamucium was established AD 79. Manchester as we know it today derived its name from this fort situated on a‘ breast-shaped hill’. Many years later the Roman fort was more like a grass-covered mound than a ruined castle when, from 1758, the Duke of Bridgewater employed James Brindley to construct the first canal in Britain, its purpose being to transport coal from the Duke's mines at Worsley to Manchester. The success of this venture prompted the construction of the Rochdale Canal and made Castlefield the hub of the canal network which subsequently developed. If you look around you will see that in Castlefield a large number of warehouses were also built to supply the needs of the rapidly growing population of Manchester (the fastest growing city in the world in the 19th century). When it became apparent that canals could not move goods quickly enough, the construction of railways commenced and the world's first railway station was opened on Liverpool Road (MOSI) in 1830.
Today, tourism and leisure are the ‘growth industries’ that have transformed Castlefield from a neglected corner of the city, with buried remains, to a thriving major attraction with frequent popular events.
With one of Castlefied’s most relaxed terraces in your back and facing the restored Merchants' Warehouse (build in 1827 and one of the oldest remaining warehouses in Castlefield), you see the Rochdale Canal entering the Basin, under the Castle Street Bridge that is on your left hand side. This is where the CastlefieldCache is hidden.
1. with thanks to this great wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlefield