The Rochdale Canal, Manchester

The Rochdale Canal was a competitor to the Leeds-Liverpool, both aiming to connect cities either side of the Pennines. The Leeds-Liverpool was the first to start construction, but it was the Rochdale Canal that was completed first. And only a few years later, both were losing out to the railways.

Although I was setting out to look at the Rochdae Canal, I started at the Ashton Canal. This is just eight miles long, and connects the Rochdale Canal to the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal was another canal across the Pennines; less successful than the Rochdale as it was narrow!

This is the view from Great Ancoats Street looking west towards the junction with the Rochdale. As you can see the area has been heavily redeveloped, and now looks very attractive.


This is the view the other way, looking under the bridge, and you can see how narrow the lock is.


This view towards the second lock gives a better idea of how it would have looked a century ago. The huge building towards the right was Vulcan Works, and in fact a century ago would have been obscured by another iron works and a chemicals works in the land between it and the canal. Today, the tram goes through there, and New Islington tram stop would be a good starting point for this walk.


This is canal cottage, looking rather out of place and dwarfed by the modern buildings. 


The path to the right crosses a bridge over the Islington Branch of the canal, which today only goes about 100 m but at one time was... about 250 m long, so not that long anyway. The canals in the area seems to have been chopped around quite a lot...

A bit further along the Ashton is a second branch, and this seems to be a modern addition. It is again about 100 m long, but rather wider, and crossed by a lifting bridge, so accessible by boats.


In the distance you can see where it terminates. There is a road here, and the other side of the road is a branch of the Rochdale Canal - no way to connect them as they are different levels.

This, then, is the view from the branch of the Rochdale, looking back. The buildings you see are the ones on the right in the previous image.


This branch is about 300 m long, the first 100 m being original, the rest a modern addition. I have to say it looks very nice - despite it being a rather grey day when I visited


The area is called Cotton Field Park, which I think is a modern name. The area seems to have been full of timber and saw mills, so a little fanciful.

This brings us at last to the Rochdale Canal itself. At the junction there is a curious three-way footbridge, which is not that attractive, in my view, and just got in the way of photography.


Waulk Mill on the right and Murry Street Mill on the left were cotton mills. Here they are again, looking back up the canal, the footbridge mostly obscured by the trees on the right.


And further on, but again looking back at the mills. The one in the centre - and extreme left above - is Royal Mill.


The little footbridge is Kitty Bridge, and was built sometime before 1831. The high sides were to keep people out of building on the left side of the canal.

This is where great Ancoates Street crosses the canal, the same road I started from, but 400 m to the northwest. Note that I am not only person taking photos of canals in December!


This is the view looking back from the next lock. Compare to the earlier image to see the difference in the width to the Ashton Canal.


A bit further along, and a modern footbridge - Vantage Quay Bridge - takes us across the canal. This is the view looking ahead from the bridge. To the left you can see where the Ashton Canal joins. The Rochdale Canal continues through the lock to the right.


The view under the bridge where the Ashton Canal joins.


Behind us when we look through the bridge is a car park but at one time there was a basin and warehouses.

However, Dale Street Warehouse is still standing. This was built in 1806, and at one time had a waterwheel to operate the hoists. The arches at the bottom were originally over water, allowing barges to be brought inside the building.


It was not easy to get a decent photo...

To the left of the warehouse is the entrance to the area, and I guess some of that was built around the same time.


From the front.


The tow path becomes rather intermittent from here onwards - I guess buildings and roads have encroached.


Most notable of the streets is, of course, Canal Street.



And where there is a tow path, it is not the most welcoming.


It does get better as it approaches Deansgate. Here are a couple of images from a previous walk - taken on a rather more sunny day!




This is where the Rochdale Canal joins the Bridgewater Canal.


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