Manchester International Festival.

The plan for today was a visit to the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) and then watch the MIF street parade and then return to the MOSI as there is just so much to see.

Mounted Police in Manchester.

Well the first part of the plan went OK but we only managed to do 1 of the 5 buildings. This covered steam and gas powered machinery and of course the railways. The machinery ranged anything from small pumps to power generators and machines big enough to power a cotton mill. Again I will leave it to pictures rather than try and itemise everything.

One interesting display in the old Liverpool St Railway Station building which is a grade 1 listed building was one of the cotton mills of  Lancashire. An oral history of the industry had been recorded by people associated with it and  some of the facts that came out were that due to a shortage of skilled labour after WWII skilled Pakistani mill workers were bought to the UK with British passports to ease the situation. This was twenty odd years before the immigration scandal of the 1960’s.

Liverpool Street the worlds first railway station. A grade 1 listed building. The platform was at track height.

A Mll Manager who travelled to India to investigate the industry there gave this report. When he requested a visit to the mill he was refused, upon further discussion he was told by the sales manager who had worked there for many years that even he had not seen inside the mill. It transpired that working conditions were atrocious and if a worker was injured or sick they were merely replaced by one of the many others waiting at the factory gate virtually for “Dead mans Shoes”

The final straw that broke the camel back so to speak, was were other European countries only imported up to 10% of their cotton requirements, Britain imported 50% flooding the market with goods made by slave labour. No doubt the government of the time would have said it was to help our Commonwealth partners. This effectively killed off another British Industry.

After lunch in the MOSI cafe we walked up into town to find a good vantage point to watch the parade. We had been given a sneak preview because the parade was being marshalled in the street alongside the MOSI. There were 25 floats in total some of which didn’t mean a great deal to us but some of the best were “Lest we Forget” a parade of hearse’s starting with a horse drawn followed by an Austin 6 up to a modern day hearse. Each one carried a floral tribute of the name of a business, building or entertainer which are long since gone.

Remembering Manchester past. MIF 2009.

Look at the mane of the nearest horse.

  Rolls Royce hearse remembering 3 Shires, MIF parade 2009.

There was of course a 100 years of Stretford Rose Queens and the 2009 Carnival Queens, what self respecting parade would be seen without these beauties.  All the surrounding football clubs  had their mascots on parade to add some colour. Probably one of the best floats was celebrating “The Adoration Of The Chip” The world's first fish & chip shop at Tommyfield Market, Oldham circa 1860.

Rose Queens, Manchester International Festival. 2009

Any one for fish & chips? MIF 2009.

On the musical front the parade was lead by a Scout & Guide band. Stalybridge Brass band was there to represent the old tradition of miners and brass bands. The traditional Pipe band came from Bolton in the form of the Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Pipe Band, as the name suggests they were all of Indian ethnic origin. To finish off the parade came Steel Harmony, a Jamaican/West Indian steel band. They were certainly giving it their all and got the crowd rocking.

I bet you haven't seen a pipe band like this before. MIF 2009.

It took me back to my childhood watching the May and Christmas street parades in my old home town, Watford. It was lovely. As this had taken longer than expected we didn’t get to return to the MOSI so we will have to return there tomorrow.

While I have been doing this Dot is sitting on the edge of her seat watching the epic Mens Singles Final at Wimbledon.  Obviously no dinner until its finished.

Trafford Centre

Shopping under one roof, 400 outlets and 30 eating establishments.

The main entrance to the Trafford Centre Manchester.

The inscription reads “Hold Fast That Which Is Good”

Sight seeing in Manchester.

As the weather had improved on what we had yesterday we decided to do the open top tour bus around Manchester. We finished up going around the circuit 1½ times before we alighted at the War Memorial. We wandered back to the boat through different streets picking up on different aspects of the city.

Midland Hotel Manchester. The building is covered in Terracotta glazed tiles. This is the second of these hand built cars we have seen. Both of them were on wedding duties. Manchester city library with 25 miles of shelving to hold all the books. Yes, we know Rutherford was a Kiwi but he did his research in Manchester. Unfortunately strolls down Coronation street are no longer permitted.

When is a Church Not a Church?

When its the John Rylands Library in Manchester of course, (well it really does look like a church, although it never was) but I digress here. Today started off with heavy rain right up until lunch time which was a shame as we were planning on going on the open top tour bus, that will now have to wait for a day or two.

After lunch the weather improved but we still had occasional showers which were not bad enough to stop a trip back into the city. We headed back to the Town Hall and the information centre as we were curious as to whether Granada studios still had anything open to the public. It transpires that there is nothing available these days.

As we were at the Town Hall and a sign at the door stated “Visitors Welcome” we wandered in for a look. Unfortunately with the current festival in full swing and a wedding booked for one of the function rooms only the entrance foyer and ground floor were open to the public but this was enough to give us a taste of what this building was all about. This Gothic style building is amazing just from the little that we did see.

As it was still relatively early we walked back to the John Rylands Library  which is now associated with the Manchester University (It became a Grade 1 Listed Building in 1994). This is another truly magnificent Gothic style building that came about through the generosity of John Rylands third wife as a memorial to the city which made John a wealthy man.

The original front entrance to the John Rylands Library building in Manchester.

The books in the various sections were probably well out of our league as many were in various languages but the interest to us was the building, stone staircases, marble pillars,stained glass windows, wrought iron fittings and arched ceilings. The rest was about the woodwork in wall panels, radiator surrounds and even the bookcases which rose majestically from floor to ceiling. Even the lowly toilets were still in their original Victorian condition which was like walking through a time warp. It is truly a monument to the craftsmen that built it over a ten year period in it’s era. The funny part of the whole story is that the architect only took a week to design it but much of the plan was changed during the building process due to various problems but the end result is still nothing less than stunning.

Is it a safe or a door? No it's 5 light switches in the John Rylands building in Manchester.

Rochdale Nine.

9 Locks, 1½ miles. Now moored at Grocers Warehouse, Castlefield. Manchester

It was just before 8am that we set off along with Richard and Pam aboard Nb Halcyon. We had teamed up as the Rochdale Nine locks are reputedly easier with 2 boats and crew. The first lock had its anti vandal locks in use but the rest of the flight were a bit hit and miss regarding this.

Lock 85 Rochdale Canal underneath the 18 storey Rodwell Tower building.

It was never a dull moment with some of the locks having restricted  space for the balance beam and a system of chains and pulleys to open and closed the gate using our windlass’s. At one lock the gate was very high and there was a step to gain access to the balance beam to walk across the lock. I had my windlass in hand and in trying to negotiate this obstacle course I dropped the windlass and it bounced around a bit before falling over the edge into the lock. I won’t tell you what I said because it would get censored. Luckily we have invested in a sea searcher magnet so I dropped it down where the windlass was seen to go and bingo, first time and up came the windlass. Well there’s a first time for everything.

Locking under ground? The balance beams are too short and are controlled by winch and chain which Derek & Pam are operating.

Back out in daylight but another subterranean chasm awaits.

A couple of the lock’s had no towpath leading up to them so you have to stay with the boat as there is no other access. The boat has to be nosed right up to the lock and the crew then have to jump from the bow onto the lock landing. Just as well we are still fit enough as it must be a devil of a job for somebody less agile.

The Rochdale Nine locks dive under buildings and roads.

At the bottom lock we were assisted by 2 BW staff who were on painting detail. They were very good in taking all our rubbish and quizzing us as to how we had found the flight and did we have any faults to report. They also wanted to know what the rubbish situation was. We told them that some of the top locks had lots of rubbish stopping us from open the gates fully so they said that they would fix it once the painting was finished. For all the bad press about these locks we found them no harder than some on the Fens or the K & A.that we have struck previously They just take a little longer than most.

Railway bridge over the Rochdale 9 locks.

After lunch we all met up again and went for a wander into the city. After a couple of hours we were all dying for a drink so we went into the Wellington pub which is a reconstructed 3 storey Tudor building. The beers and shandy’s were enjoyed immensely.

Lock keepers house at Dukes Lock 92. Beautiful stain glass windows with Dukes 92 and Lock keepers above the door.

1714 locks, 3549½ miles, 66 Tunnels, 52 swing bridges and 52 lift bridges since Nov 2006

It’s in the small print.

18 Locks, 6 Miles, 2 Swing bridges. Now moored at Piccadilly Village.

It was an early start today to get through the 18 locks between Dukinfield Junction (Portland basin) and Manchester. This area has got a reputation of being a trouble spot. These locks all have anti vandal locks fitted so it takes longer at each lock. Arriving at the Fairfield lock 18 we pulled onto the water point to fill up before heading off down the locks.

New marina at the top of the Fairfield Locks, Ashton Canal. A hotel complex is due to be built here.

What we actually found was that it was only lock 18 that had the anti vandal lock applied, at the rest of the locks we found that the anti vandal locks had not been applied leaving the whole system susceptible to vandalism. What’s the point of BW fitting these devices to help boaters if they are not going to use them. Who’s is going to be the first person to complain to BW when they find an empty pound?  We started to do up the Anti Vandal locks as we left each lock but after the first 4 locks we found that a convoy of 3 other boats were following us so we just left the rest.

Alongside the Ashton Canal is the City of Manchester Stadium site of the Commonwealth Games now home to Manchester City football club.

After completing the 18 locks it was time to look for a mooring. There are lots of little arms running off the side of the canal but how safe they are is debatable. As we approached the Store Street aqueduct we passed the Piccadilly Village which has its own little basin but this was full. Alongside this complex there are mooring rings on the non tow path side and a BW sign stating “Private Moorings” with a lot of small writing underneath which from mid channel is unreadable. We pulled in to read the “Small Print” and low and behold “Visiting craft welcome for a maximum stay of 24 hours on designated mooring rings only”. OK, there are 6 moorings rings here but there is nothing to say which one’s are “Designated” and which one’s are not so we moored up on the last three leaving room behind us for another boat.  We are secure here in a gated area which you need a code to get in and out of.  One of the locals said that they have had trouble on the towpath side with boats being let go.  All in all this is a great mooring overnight before setting off for the Rochadale Nine in the morning.

You can't read this from mid channel.

We have now been joined by two share boats Nb Rufford and Nb Halcyon alongside us. The latter is going to join us tomorrow to do the Rochdale 9 locks which are double locks and are easier with 2 boats as we head for the preferred moorings in Manchester at Castlefield.

We saw 3 police patrols on bicycles in about 4 hours.

Now there is another story to these other two boats as last night they both moored on the Peak Forest Canal roughly opposite the Portland Marina and at about 11pm last night they had their ropes cut and set free. After getting themselves moored up again the crew on Nb Rufford were disturbed at about 3am and caught the rat bags in the act of cutting their ropes again. I’m not sure what happened if they actually laid hands on these characters or just saw them off. For what good it will do the police have been notified.

1705 locks, 3548 miles, 66 Tunnels, 52 swing bridges and 52 lift bridges since Nov 2006

Portland Basin Museum.

Portland Basin Museum.

After yesterdays day of idleness in which time my back improved greatly, it was time to stretch our legs. Last time we passed through here we were on a very tight schedule and didn’t have time to stop and visit, so this time around we ensured that we would visit the Portland Basin Museum. Not that we had to go far as the entrance to the museum is only about 400 yards away.

As luck would have it a Primary School had arranged a visit at the same time as us, needless to say there was lots of noise about the place. In saying that I must admit the museum is set up very well with an educational bias so we shouldn’t complain. Even though the museum is in a restored canal warehouse, (it had been destroyed by fire) the theme wasn’t totally canal orientated but covered just about every aspect of life in Tameside in the 1800’s through to the 1900’s. Overall it was well worth the visit.

This chimney belongs to a private collector.

While here we have been befriended by Maisie,(she has an ID tag) a rather fat tabby cat who is obviously off one of the boats on the permanent moorings. She certainly knows her way around a boat as she came aboard this afternoon from the bow and had to come through the cratch on the canal side as the other side was closed. She is now curled up asleep on the seat opposite me. What a life.

Maisie the cat that befriended us at Portland Basin.