Ready for the Assault on the Summit.

6 Locks, 1 Mile. Now moored before Lock 33.

Walsden church and school. The latter being closed and boarded up.

After some discussion with John on Nb Epiphany it was decided to move up to lock 33 today instead of Sunday. The moorings at Walsden were OK but where we are now is a great improvement. While locking up out of Walsden at about 9.30am there was a cacophony of sirens passing through the town. We counted 5 Police cars, an ambulance and an ambulance rescue vehicle.  Shortly after this a Yorkshire Air Ambulance helicopter flew over.

Lock 31 Rochdale Canal. The lock is too close to the bridge for balance beam so they have fitted this ratchet arrangement.

Found in the backyard of a house in Walsden. Mint condition and still useable with a horse.

After we had arrived at lock 33 and had some lunch we decided to go for a walk. Out on the main road there was long queue of cars which we followed to see what the problem was. It transpired that it was a car accident to which all the sirens had been racing to this morning. This was now 3pm and they were only just moving the damaged cars. Talking to a local lady who was apparently first on the scene it appears that one car had been overtaking on a perfectly straight stretch of road at possibly double the legal speed limit, lost control hitting another car head on, wiping out a street light and wrapping the car around a tree. When she got to the car the driver was unconscious and being strangled by his seat belt. With the help of another bystander they managed to release the seat belt but it transpired that he had a punctured lung. The injured parties had been air lifted away quite some time earlier.

Toll house on the old Tormorden Turnpike road. The house is a listed building. The toll road is now closed due to subsidence caused by a fire in the railway tunnel in 1984.

What is this bridge's purpose?

Is it  castle, is it a fort?

1905 locks, 3791 miles, 70 tunnels, 127 swing bridges and 53 lift bridges since Nov 2006