Worsley village and the Bridgewater Canal will be decorated with Christmas lights and lanterns this December with guided tours.

The light show kicks off on Saturday December 3 with tickets starting from £8.

Ticket buyers will have a chance to learn the history of the village and Bridgewater canal from tour guides.

Elizabeth Charnley, Bridgewater Canal tour guide, said: “It will be fun, entertaining, informative.

“As professional tour guides we like to think of ourselves comedic and entertaining tour guides. The tour is family oriented, we have made it so its enjoyable for everyone, we can learn a lot from history.

“In order to understand now, you need to understand where we came from and where we go in the future. If you understand your past you can understand your present.”

As well as seeing the historic sights, the guides will share tales from the 18th and 19th century.

She continued: “We have real stories to tell from the 18th century of the Duke Francis and tales of a nobleman who was the richest man in the city and nearly went bankrupt.

“People don’t realise what they have got here in Salford, we get forgotten about with Manchester, but there is a lot of stuff in Salford and a lot of history, we don’t need to be overseen by Manchester.”

Elizabeth trained to become a tour guide in 2019, just before the pandemic. She explained: “We started everything as lockdown started, we had big plans for new guides, we wanted to set up new tours and lockdowns got in the way of that.

“We tried it [the tours] for the first time last year and it was mildly successful, so we knew we wanted to do it again this year.

“We have been successful this year, we have nearly sold out on our first date with some tickets still available.

“Worsley is decorated for Christmas and the lights are really pretty, they start on the 2nd of December when Santa comes on a boat down the canal, it is great for kids and families, that starts at 6pm on Friday.”

Speaking on what inspired her to become a tour guide, Elizabeth said: “It was Bridgewater Canal itself, I love the history and I know a couple of people who are wonderful speakers.”

Tickets for the Worsley Village lantern tour are available to buy here.

The History of Bridgewater Canal:

Bridgewater canal is a historic landmark in Salford

The canal was established in 1761, it is one of the first manmade canals in Britain following the Industrial Revolution.

It was one of the first canals that did not follow the path of an existing river when it opened on 17th July 1761.

The historic landmark was named after its owner, Francis Egerton, the third Duke of Bridgewater and was originally used to transport coal from the Dukes mines.

The guided tour gives a chance for Salfordians to learn about the history of their city, as they walk the paths their ancestors once could have walked.