River Irk Aqueduct to Thomas Telford Basin, Ashton Canal

The plan was to set off at 8am, we left a few minutes late as we wanted to empty the yellow water tank before setting off. There was no point in upping the revs to try to catch up on time, this would only encourage items to attach themselves to our prop, necessitating a visit down the weed hatch.

As we headed towards our rendez vous location with Paul we could track his progress via Google, as he could us via Nebo.

Our first lock of the day Kay Lane Lock 64. The bywash was running healthily, hopefully this would mean we’d not be short of water further in towards Manchester. I walked on around what used to be an arm, lock gate recesses visible and what looked like a slipway at the other end.

Grimshaw Lane Lift Bridge isn’t your usual affair where the carriageway lifts up at an angle. This is more Thunderbirds, it rises staying horizontal, quite good fun and on a busy road during the morning rush hour! 30 vehicles were stopped, the highest number so far this year!

Pauls progress was good, he’d reached Failsworth Tram Stop, he’d headed to Lock 65, but then wandered back to the tram stop. Maybe he’d done his bit in opening the first lock and was now heading back home? We followed the new cut under the M60 surrounded by concrete and soon arrived at the awaiting open top gate. Paul soon appeared up the track, he’d forgotten to tap out at the tram so had returned to do so.

A ride onwards to Lock 66, a chance to stow Pauls bag inside. In his hand his phone checking map data as we cruised along. At Tannersfield Highest Lock 66 we both jumped off again, from here we’d be walking in to Manchester below Lock 81.

We soon got into a rythmn at the locks the person who arrived to set them would usually stay to close up once Oleanna had left, the other person after lifting a paddle would walk on ahead to set the next lock. Leap frogging unless two pairs of hands were needed anywhere.

During the restoration of the canal some pounds had to be dug out, having been filled in with concrete. A channel was cleared not the hole width of the cut, so it’s best to stick closer to the towpath. Mick prempted this a bit too soon and ended up getting grounded, but it didnt take too much to get moving again.

Five years ago we shared the locks into Manchester with Graeme and Clare on NB Mr Blue Sky, we’d also enlisted the assistance of a volunteer Lock Keeper Ian. He was full of interesting facts, such as you can tell the change of council along this stretch as the design of the lamp posts change.

At Newton Heath Lock I was the first to arrive, quickly realising my mistake. This lock only has one bottom paddle, this is on the offside, the side I’d be working. This in itself wasn’t a problem. The paddle itself is very high add to this the gearing which requires you to wind your windlass 132 times to raise it and another 132 times to lower it. At least I knew this before I started, so paced myself, giving my arms several breaks from going round and round. Paul waited at the lock to help open the bottom gates, the near side requiring a windlass to open it.

I had a quick look at the state of the gates, very much showing their age. We’d seen new pieces of oak sat outside the workshop at Stanley Ferry, Rochdale 69 marked on them. They still needed to be put together. Wonder if they’ll change the paddle gear when they put them in?

Along the towpath were distance markers. Far to far apart to be Covid markers. Were they for a park run? 10m, 100m, 1000m, they came and went along the next stretch.

Most bywashs were flowing fast, add to this the water we were bringing down with us, we shouldn’t have any problems with lack of water. Ten years ago it had been a very different case. we were heading uphill not down, robbing water ahead of us to fill the current pound we were in. Constantly running water down so that there was just enough to keep two boats afloat. By the end of the day we’d taken enough soft furnishings off the prop to decorate a house!

At one lock I remembered our friend Frank being asked by a kid if we had any guns onboard. Today there were few people on the towpath, the lock surrounded by areas burnt away, the nearest one to a gate must have been something electrical as I spotted what had once been a plug along with it’s fuse.

Time for a break. We were nearing halfway. Mick and I decided it would be at the next lock, this brought a smile to Pauls face. But at the next lock there was a chap sat drinking his can of beer. A chatty chap who in his 20 years of living by the canal had never seen a boat go through a lock. Well to save having to offer him any flapjack we treated him to watching Oleanna descend the lock, he also got to help with the gates.

Paul had headed to set the next lock. This would have required waders as the canal was overtopping the towpath in the short pound. Thankfully a walker wearing waterproof boots offered to lift a paddle, letting water down.

With no moving boats, we didn’t have a problem just stopping in a lock. The kettle was popped on and the tin of flapjack brought out. For our hard work so far and the remaining locks to come we allowed ourselves two pieces each. It was good, very good. If you missed the recipe yesterday here’s a link to it again.

Onwards, downhill. At Anthony’s Lock 77 Paul had seen a lady with a windlass in hand approach from below, the lock already two thirds full. We tried to peer down below the lock to see where her boat was so we wouldn’t wash it away, but the wide road bridge inhibited the view. We wound the paddles.

Apparently we were about three locks behind another boat going downhill, that would be the boat from Littleborough water point, would we ever catch them up?

All day long Paul had been meticulously checking his map data. New blue C&RT signs were checked. The three Coalpit locks on Pauls map had had a slight change of name, they were now Coal Pit.

From Coalpit Middle Lock 79 to Butler Street Lock 81 we had too much water again. Ian the volunteer last time had told us that the local council had built the bywashes here and they were far too small to cope with the amount of water coming from the locks above. Thankfully having had a flapjack break much of the water we were bringing down with us had had chance to flow on ahead.

As I lifted the paddles to fill Lock 81 a lady came over to chat. She was waiting to clean the library and had heard the clicking. ‘I watch a woman on Youtube’ she said. ‘Now what’s it called?’ The Narrowboat Pirate by any chance? ‘Yes, with Heidi’ We know Heidi our paths have crossed a few times. This lady knew her from when she was a DJ. I wondered if a ‘Friend of Heidi’ might have a similar meaning to a ‘Friend of Dorothy’ ?

The crew hopped back on board, the next stretch of canal we could have a little rest. Past New Islington where more building work of jaunty angled buildings is taking place. Above the next lock a long stretch of moored boats the last one familiar, the boat from Littleborough, we’d caught it up at last!

Paul and I worked the next two locks, one half underneath a bridge and the last lock of the day over looked by a stack of portacabins. Here a couple chatted to Paul and ended up helping with the gate. Hello to you if you are reading this and thank you for your help.

We pulled in a short distance on, just before Ducie Street Junction where the Rochdale Canal meets the Ashton Canal. A cuppa and more flapjack was required by the crew, both Paul and I most certainly having worked off the calories today.

Thank you so much Paul for coming along to help us, it made for a much easier day with good company.

Once we’d said farewell to Paul we decided to move on a touch, mostly to move away from smokers on the benchs. We turned left onto the Ashton, considered pulling in on the Picadilly Village moorings on line. We’d need to wind before carrying on down the 9 locks tomorrow, so turned into Thomas Telford Basin, turned and then tied up. A visit to a gluten free chinese restaurant had been on my radar in the Northern Quarter, but we were both too pooped to be bothered to walk there. The moorings in Thomas Telford Basin don’t have access to the outside world, this didn’t matter to us today. Instead of crispy aromatic duck we had cauliflower cheese with extras, yum.

20 locks, 7.3 miles, 1 lifting bridge, 30 held up, 5.63 miles walked, 13,721 steps, 3 flooded pounds, 0 guns, 0 round the prop, 1 very handy lock wheeler, 2/3rds of flapjack consumed, 3 pooped boaters, 1 sulking Tilly, 1 friend of Heidi, 9 hours including breaks.

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