Civic Pride or lack of it.

5 locks, 7 Miles, 1 Swing bridge, 1 Tunnel. Now moored at Slattocks

As  it was going to be an easy sort of a day we didn’t leave Littleborough until after 10am. Again another fine day but a lot of high cloud as we set off on the first leg of the journey which was a 3½ mile cruise with only the swing bridge before we reached the first lock.

This was a lock prior to the M62 cutting off the canal. Deviation tunnel under the M62, Rochdale Canal. Reduced to single file with the floating towpath.

The canal through Rochdale unfortunately tends to still be used by some of the locals as the rubbish dump. We had to remove some rubbish to be able to get the gates to open on locks 49 & 50. Talking to some locals while waiting for the locks to fill we got the impression that the local council don’t care about the canal saying it’s BW’s problem. When are these councillors going to wake up to the fact the canal’s are a multi million £ tourism industry and they could be bringing some of that money into their own community by encouraging boaters to visit not stay away. WAKE UP ROCHDALE. Enough said!

The new lock 53 Rochdale Canal and Trub bridge, wouldn’t it be great if more looked like this?

Once through Rochdale the scenery improved and the rubbish abated. Between locks 52 & 53 we were on the new deviation which came about due to the M62 motorway cutting off the canal. There was an old lock chamber below lock 52 and the motorway tunnel now has a floating pontoon towpath through it reducing it to one way traffic. Just after lock 53 the course of the original canal can be seen still in water up to the motorway but blocked to boaters by a floating island across the entrance.

Floating island blocking the old course of the Rochdale Canal below lock 53. Castleton Branch library building. Rochdale Canal.

The moorings at Slattocks tend to be a bit on the shallow side so we have breasted up to a BW work boat moored here, well he is on what is supposed to be visitor moorings and the canal is plenty wide enough.

1926 locks, 3801½ miles, 71 tunnels, 129 swing bridges and 53 lift bridges since Nov 2006