The site of the original Roman fort and arguably one of the most historically important sites in the world.  Many historians measure the start of the industrial revolution from the time in the early 1760's when the Duke of Bridgewater's canal was built from his mines at Worsley to this point, thus enabling the price of coal to halve and allowing manufacturers to increase productivity.  Within a few years the Rochdale and Ashton canals joined it, as 'canal mania' spread throughout England.  It was here that cheap mass transportation of goods began.  Before long there was a thriving concentration of warehouses and factories and so, when the first railways were planned, this was the obvious place to build the terminous.   Within a few minutes walk of here and still in existance (now part of the Museum of Science & Industry) is Liverpool Road Railway Station, the world's first passenger station, built in 1830 and opened by the Duke of Wellington.  The world's press attended the opening and spread the idea of the railways around the world - the railway age had begun.  So, although the actual inventions that made the industrial revolution possible were made elsewhere, it was here that events coincided which triggered rapid industrialisation on a grand scale.  This was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.