Wednesday 18th May
We have made it in to Castlefield in Manchester and it has been a very interesting day one way and another. We couldn’t get water at Worsley as the tap had been vandalised (thanks very much you morons!) so our journey took less time than we thought. It was raining most of the way here (no change there then) and we arrived, having left Boothstown about 8am, at 11-30am. We could only find one free mooring long enough to get the boat in so B and B had to breast up to us. We have to be on the bank because of our decrepit old dog.
During the mooring process I nearly slipped over on the wet paving slabs, which were like glass! Later on Ken did slip over, he hit his head (good job it wasn’t a vital organ) and got covered in mud! After a reviving cup of tea we all went for a walk up the Rochdale 9 to see what we are up against tomorrow and where we have to moor up before we do the next 19 locks which I have booked for Friday. B and B did the 9 last year before going down the Ashton Canal and Barbara has been regaling us with horror stories about – a) how hard the locks are to work and – b) the kinds of low lives to be encountered in the dark corners where the locks go under the roads! Incidentally, when they were here last year there was also a pornographic film being made on the steps just yards from where we are moored up now! Fortunately I think it may be a bit too chilly this evening for a repeat performance!
At Deansgate Lock we discovered that BW had drained the pound in order to remove the huge collection of rubbish which had accumulated in there (see photos). It’s amazing what people will throw in the canal (thanks again, morons!) to get rid of it. They adopt an ‘out of sight out of mind’ policy and once whatever it is has disappeared beneath the water they forget about it. We, however, rediscover these delights on a regular basis, either scraping the bottom of the boat or wrapped round the prop!
While I was taking my photos two young chaps with a film camera appeared and before we knew it Barbara and I were giving interviews for a BBC film! Ken and Barry meanwhile had gone on ahead and getting fed up with waiting for us, snuck into the nearest pub. This turned out to be a gay bar but I don’t think they had anything to worry about! After our interviews Barbara and I joined them for one. It was quite a nice bar and they have drag acts on Wednesday evenings. I said Barry could borrow one of my dresses if he wanted to go but he said he thought it might be too big for him, damned cheek! Just before we left the bar manager came down stairs with his Westie, who headed straight for our table – and did a wee up the leg of it. Barry just moved his own leg in time or he would have got a shower!
We continued our walk up the locks and in places it was absolutely disgusting. There is a lot of poo about, not all of it canine and the smell of urine is quite overpowering. You don’t want to look too closely at what is in the dark corners. There is one place in particular, where the canal goes under the road, that is really dark and the drug dealers were hanging about there. God knows what it’s like at night!
After finding somewhere to moor tomorrow when we finish the 9 we saw a Go Outdoors store and spent some time in there looking at various things we didn’t know we wanted until we saw them, you know what I mean! I did get a pair of walking boots for locking and generally traipsing round in the rain as my feet have been soaked in my trainers for the last 3 days. Of course now I have them it will not rain again for months! Barry is going back tomorrow for a fishing rod, Barbara is going back for a coat and, rather excitingly, I am going back for some Elsan Blue.
Then we went to another pub (not gay this time) before walking back down the locks. It was worse than it had been on the way up and tomorrow we have got to do it all again only this time we have to do the locks as well, deep joy!
