Bomb squad experts were called to a canal over fears magnet fishers caught a 160 year-old grenade. The puzzling find was made by members of a magnet fishing group on the Bridgewater Canal in Sale, Trafford, at the weekend, sparking a police alert.
Enthusiast Alastair Rogers - part of a regional magnet fishing group - pulled the object up from the water then wrapped it up in a towel and placed it behind a tree.
It was photographed and the images were sent to a military historian, who said he believed the metal lump could have been part of a Ketchum hand grenade, which were predominantly used in the American civil war and first patented there in 1861.
Police were alerted and the towpath area around Raglan Road, near Trafford Rowing Club, was cordoned off at around 4.30pm on Sunday.
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