 To help secure the canal's future, in 1987 the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society was formed. Despite the aforementioned problems, on 21 October 2005 British Waterways announced funding from European Objective Two Funding, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and Salford City Council for a restoration scheme at the newly named Middlewood Locks in Salford, which began in September 2006. Restoration was halted briefly by the discovery of what was initially thought to be a Second World War bomb but which proved to be a wartime American mortar with no explosive content. Pilings for the tunnel under the Manchester to Preston Line were completed in 2008. The missing Irwell towpath bridge, known as Bloody Bridge, which once crossed the canal's entrance, was replaced with an arched timber structure incorporating elements of the old lock 1. Much of the canal's existing masonry has been re-used and, where possible, the original washwalls were grouted and pointed. The original river locks 1 and 2 were replaced by a single deep lock.
