.."it all happened quite by chance

During the week that we spent in Manchester, we made the most of our time, visiting art galleries and museums as well as simply taking in the sights and sounds of the city. Ian found a Chinese restaurant above the Wing Yip supermarket and was determined to partake of their excellent Dim Sum. Of course, I would never disagree with my beloved husband so without too much persuasion, I joined him - not once but twice!

Gay Village - Manchester

All too soon it was time to set off again. With the closure of the Bridgewater canal near Castlefield in Manchester, we had a 95 mile detour to look forward to. This would take more then two weeks, so we thought we had better get started!

Much of the detour would be retracing our steps of the past few months and I didn't think that I would have a lot to write about, however it was certainly not uneventful, so much so that I hardly had time to write about it all. Well here goes ...

On Sunday afternoon we moved the boat from New Islington Marina on the Rochdale to Piccadilly Village on the Ashton Canal - a move of less than a mile with two locks - in order that we could get an early start up the Ashton flight. No sooner had we moored then Janice and Keith on narrowboat Bob moored behind us - they were on their way into Manchester. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening chatting to them and we were even joined on the towpath by one of the residents of the nearby apartments. Very sociable!

The Ashton canal is a short stretch of only six miles from Piccadilly Village to Portland Basin but this includes a flight of sixteen locks. On that first day (10th August) we were only going as far as Fairfield Junction and the Droylsden Marina. Contrary to most horror stories, the passage up the flight was uneventful but as we arrived in the marina shortly before noon, the heavens opened and dropped a deluge on top of us. We were soaked to the skin within a few minutes. Happy Boating.

We had the afternoon to look around and were pointed in the direction of the Fairfield Moravian Church, a congregational settlement that opened in 1785.
The settlement, built by its own people had all that a self-contained congregation would require. Besides the church there was a farm, a bakery, a shop, an inn, a laundry, a school, even a fire-engine, a physician, a night-watchman and much more. This sculpture is at the entrance to the settlement.
There was also a museum, but unfortunately it is only open on a Saturday, however we found the settlement intriguing enough.

Early morning mist on the Marple Aqueduct

Before we reached the Peak Forest Canal we had been warned that passage through lock 14 of the Marple flight was restricted (my heart sank, this is exactly the sort of news that we didn't want to hear) Fortunately, we found that the flight hadn't been shut. CRT were investigating a problem with lock 14 and were simply taking precautions. Nevertheless, we moored before the Marple Aqueduct so that we could get an early start up the flight the next morning.

And the day just got better as we ascended the flight. The picturesque setting was more impressive in the early morning light

At the top of the Marple Flight we left the Peak Forest Canal and turned onto the Macclesfield. Daniel, our grandson was going to spend time with us for the school holidays so we made arrangements to meet his parents, Tanya and David in Macclesfield on the weekend. this gave us a few days to spare so we moored in Macclesfield and made use of the extra time getting domestic chores (like laundry etc.) up to date.

Daniel was eager to do some boating (and fishing) so after a lovely Sunday lunch we said goodbye to Tanya and David as they made their way home to Chippenham and we set off down the canal heading for the top of Bosley locks. No sooner had we stopped for the evening, then Daniel set up his fishing stool. Sadly, no fish for dinner yet!

However, the following day, after working hard on the Bosley flight of 12 locks Daniel once again set up his fishing stool as soon as we moored up. it wasn't long before he successfully landed this beauty.

Les and Chris on narrowboat Eleventh Heaven had been similarly stopped in their tracks by the stoppage on the Bridgewater canal. As we negotiated the 95 mile (82 lock) detour, they were doing the same but from the opposite direction. We met at Porters Farm Bridge and aqueduct (on the Macclesfield canal) on Monday 17th August. Les and Chris had arranged to meet up with friends Doug and James on narrowboat Chance for the Manchester Pride celebrations on the August bank holiday so as they had quite a few miles and locks to put behind them they could only stop for that evening. The weather was good to us so we sat on the towpath enjoying the late afternoon calm. Predictably, after spending time with our friends, my cheeks ached from laughing and my jaws ached from talking. Not to mention, my head throbbed from consuming too much red wine!

In the morning, we left in different direction. Who knows when we will meet again! As it happened it was not to be very long, but I get ahead of myself!

Later that day we moored at Red Bull Aqueduct at the end of the Macclesfield canal. It had been an easy day and we stopped early so that we could do some shopping for provisions. It was here that we met Gary and Julie in narrowboat The Ellie Grace. Gary and Julie were going in the same direction as we were on the Trent & Mersey canal towards Anderton and on to the Bridgewater Canal at Preston Brook, so for the next week we travelled together sharing locks and swapping stories.

Daniel was an absolute star as he helped around the locks. Not only did he help me but he also helped other boats. In Middlewhich we were in a queue of nine boats all waiting to get through the locks and Daniel was helping alongside me as we got other boats through as quickly as possible. Poor chap was exhausted at the end of the day when we moored in Anderton!

At the Anderton Lift

The weather wasn't the best with a forecast of rain, rain and more rain so we decided to stay in Anderton for the weekend. We could then explore the Anderton Lift and museum with Daniel without being hampered too much by the rain.

Gary & Julie's family

And we were invited to share Sunday lunch with Gary and Julie's family at the Stanley Arms.








Our time with Daniel was coming to an end. His mum and dad thought that traveling on the bank holiday was ludicrous - and I must admit, I agree. Since his mum Tanya had to be in Birmingham for business, David decided to drive the extra hour and a half to collect Daniel. But that also left us with options. Les and Chris had previously asked us if we would like to join them in Manchester for the Pride parade, now we had the opportunity to accept the invitation.

The Bridgewater canal link was still closed so we couldn't get the boat into Castlefield Basin, we would have to leave her near Waters Meeting and take a tram, but besides that it was only Wednesday; we had time to kill before the weekend. We said goodbye to Gary and Julie as they continued onto the Leeds & Liverpool canal on their way to Salthouse Dock in Liverpool and we found a lovely mooring near Dunham Town Bridge. As it happened, Dunham Massey a deer park was within walking distance so we had loads to occupy our spare time - besides some odd jobs that always want doing.

We had only been on our new spot for an hour or so when we were astonished to see old friends wandering down the towpath. The narrowboat Aussies Bron and Bob on Celtic Maid, and Julia and Malcolm on Figment were moored just out of sight, around the corner. Naturally we all got together on Figment for 'Happy Hour'

The following day, the lads went off to 'play'. They found a brewery that was begging to be visited, and the girls went in the opposite directing, heading towards the deer park. I had left my camera on the boat but I was determined to get a photo of the deer using my mobile phone. I was so intent in 'sneaking up' on a lovely deer that I failed to see a large dry branch lying in my path. I stepped on the branch and the loud crack startled the deer. It was further surprised by an even louder roar of laughter from my companions who just loved my fail attempt at stealth. Needless to say, all I managed to capture on my phone camera was the rear end of the deer as it wandered off, nibbling on the grass between steps!

Friday morning, we all parted company again, heading in different directions.

First, Julia and Malcolm passed on narrowboat Figment...

...followed shortly by Bron and Bob on Celtic Maid. Ships that pass in the night (or rather, narrowboats that pass in the morning). That is the way of this nomadic life.


Still on the Bridgewater canal, we headed towards Waters Meeting. The Bridgewater link with Manchester was still closed and we didn't want to simply leave the boat on the outskirts of the city unattended so we put the boat into Stretford Marina (about 1/2 mile from Waters Meeting). here we would be able to use the metrolink tram into Castlefield where Les and Chris were moored.

Our detour was now complete. We had covered the 95 miles and 82 locks in a 20 days.

Narrowboat Eleventh Heaven (Les and Chris) had met up with James and Doug on narrowboat Chance as well as Andy and Rich on narrowboat Carpe Diem, so when we arrived in Castlefield on the Saturday to meet them all we had a lovely warm welcome celebrated with coffee and cake on board narrowboat Chance before we set off for the start of the parade.

Manchester Pride is an annual Pride festival and parade held over the August bank holiday weekend. It is one of the longest running in the country and attracts thousands of visitors to the city's gay village. Pride parades are events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) culture and pride.

In 1989 the Northwest Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Equality organised Manchester's first documented 'Celebration of Gay an Lesbian Diversity'. However, earlier than that (sometime in the mid-1980's) the event began as a jumble sale outside the Rembrandt Hotel. It's purpose was to raise funds for AIDS and HIV causes. In 1991 the event was expanded to include a full program of activities and was christened 'The Carnival of Fun Weekend' and on the Monday night the celebrations ended with a firework display funded by the North West Development Agency. Good-Luck telegrams were received from Diana princess of Wales as well as other high-profile people.

Over the following years the event grew and was known as Madi Gras but went through 'ebbs and tides' with regard to the success of fund raising. At the closing of the 2003 parade it was announced that the event would be known as Manchester Pride and in 2007 it became a charity in its own right.

We enjoyed our day at the parade, but more so we enjoyed our time with old friends and new and we were reluctant to leave. As luck would have it, the link on Bridgewater Canal re-opened to allow boats into Castlefield basin so on Monday morning, we moved our boat and moored near the other three, Eleventh Heaven, Chance and Carpe Diem. We were then able to join Les & Chris, Doug & James and Andy & Rich for the candlelight vigil and firework display that marked the end of the Manchester Pride celebrations on Monday evening.

And so it was that we crossed paths with Les & Chris on nb Eleventh Heaven, Julia & Malcolm on nb Figment and Bron & Bob on nb Celtic Maid. In addition we made new friends; Gary & Julie on nb The Ellie Grace, James & Doug on nb Chance and Andy & Rich on nb Carpe Diem. None of that may have happened if the Bridgewater Canal had not been closed and we were forced to make a long detour.

Life does take some strange but wonderful turns.