The opening of the Manchester Ship Canal turned Manchester into a seaport despite being 35 miles inland! It allowed the textile traders of Manchester and other parts of south Lancashire to import of raw cotton directly into Manchester. This enabled them to bypass Liverpool. It was extremely successful until the 1960s, when the decline of local industries reduced the canal's trade and the increasing size of ships meant that the waterway was too small for modern vessels. Horrockses of Preston had a warehouse in Manchester near to the canal and brought raw cotton to Manchester for carriage to Preston.