It was 10 years ago we came down the Rochdale 9 locks through the centre of Manchester and our first time going up. It’s fascinating seeing all the old and new buildings nestled together.
I did wonder about this fire exit!
The towpath has been removed through the nightclub area and there are pontoons for the locking crew to get on & off the boat. There’s no walking between the locks here.
The 9th lock is under Piccadilly and is one of the most unpleasant locks we’ve ever done. However, it was much cleaner than 10 years ago. We were there quite early in the morning, nonetheless, there were chaps loitering! But the dreadful smell of human excrement wasn’t as noticeable, as it was all those years ago.
Immediately after the lock 9 we turn a sharp right onto the narrow Ashton Canal, no sharing locks here.
Just as we approached the first of the 18 locks on this stretch, the engine made a dreadful noise & stalled. It took John about 45 minutes to remove a tent from around the propeller!!
There were lots of Canada geese along this stretch.
The journey went smoothly until lock 9. A boat descending the flight passed us & the crew said the locks were really slow & wouldn’t empty very fast. It appears they hadn’t closed the top paddles before opening the bottom ones, thus draining all the pounds behind them!!
The CRT lads were on the scene & said it was unlikely we’d get up the final 9 locks that day. We had run aground as had the boat ahead of us.
So, I made a quick batch of apricot scones for us & our fellow boaters. John had his tea & scones sitting on the usually deep lock bi-weir.
True to their word, we had to moor up at 21.00 after lock 16 as it was getting dark. Our longest day ever, a 15-hour day. Although the afternoon we spent aground & weren’t actually cruising.
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