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Hi can anyone tell me how to get from Castlefield  basin from the Bridgewater  to the Rochdale canal. People mention lock 101 stating a handcuff lock is needed ( or key ) not sure. Can’t seem to find this exit or lock. Anyone no what I’m trying to say ?

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There are 9 wide locks in the flight, last time I did it you had to get them unlocked by waterways. Known as the Rochdale Nine. The Rochdale is facing you when you do the last one, don't turn right else you will be in the Ashton Canal. 

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As you enter Castlefield Basin from the Bridgewater the bottom gates of the lock to the Rochdale Canal are immediately in front of you. Often there will be water coming over the gates because there is no bywash. It's impossible to miss it. The lock is the first of the Rochdale Nine. They are hard work and you might need more than two crew. In normal times you can rely on helpful passers by.

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Someone is trying to confuse you I think.  The lock that leads into Castlefield Basin from the Rochdale Canal is lock number 92, Dukes Lock.

 

You do need handcuff / anti-vandal / water-preservation keys to do the Rochdale Canal.

 

They are available from https://shop.canalrivertrust.org.uk/shop or local chandleries - Stretford is probably your nearest to Castlefield.  Don't get the black painted aluminium type sold on eBay - they don't fit all the locks as they are very slightly the wrong shape.

 

Don't forget you'll need a CRT licence too if you are going on the Rochdale, as it isn't included in the free 7 days zone for Bridgewater Canal licence holders.

 

http://www.bridgewatercanal.co.uk/media/BoatingPDFs/2014_Cruising_limits_on_CRT_waterways.pdf

 

 

 

Edited by TheBiscuits
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There’s no lock 101. 
the first lock is 92, or Dukes Lock. 
You will need an anti vandal key

and you don’t need to contact any authorities to use them

 

as said above, 9 locks will get you through the city centre, then keep left for the rest of the flight


You may need help, depending how confident you are doing locks. 
The journey, regarding local activities, is a lot safer than it might feel. 

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Usual advice in that area is to do the transit early, before the scrotes get out of bed.  Unfortunately, on that particular  section, it normally means the pools of vomit around the lock gear (they honk over the wall onto the canal infrastructure from the street above) haven't had time to dry up, but with the pubs and clubs shut you ought to be spared that. With 2 metre distancing, you may also be spared from witnessing 'ungentlemanly activities' in the dark underparts!  Probably a good time to do that route actually. Enjoy! :D

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If you plan to go right up the Rochdale then getting out of Manchester can be a bugger, the Rochdale 9 is the easy bit. If you have not done it before then phone CRT and ask for a volunteer lock keeper (a few days notice may be required), they are really very good (and even post here from time to time).

 

..................Dave

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I think someone may be having a little joke with the OP regarding Lock 101.  Room 101   is a torture chamber  in the Ministry of love in George Orwell's 1984.   It's also more recently a television comedy series, but I think the original applies more to the Rochdale 9.

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2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

If you have a windlass belt sew another loop on to it to hang your AK47 off B)

I have heard the rumours about the Rochdale nine aka 'anal street.

However they may be expanded in the telling.

I went through solo one April at about midday and it was quite uneventful.There were lots of far eastern tourists photographing everything and they seemed a happy and chatty bunch.

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6 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

I have heard the rumours about the Rochdale nine aka 'anal street.

However they may be expanded in the telling.

I went through solo one April at about midday and it was quite uneventful.There were lots of far eastern tourists photographing everything and they seemed a happy and chatty bunch.

Yeah, I think most places get bad press just for the hell of it. I havnt done that bit for over 25 years to be fair so it will doubtless be much different now ?

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Last time we came down the Rochdale Nine was about midday.  On one of the pontoons attached to a bar was a group of young ladies in town for a Robbie Williams concert.  There were a few saucy remarks aimed at us, and one of the chaps on the other boat asked "are you going to throw your knickers at him?".  "We're not wearing any" came the reply.   Not quick enough to say "prove it" we carried on.  I dread to think what state they would be in by the evening ...

  • Happy 1
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Done it several times, usually in a morning, but not recently. I would imagine in the evening when all the gay bars are open it would be unpleasant.

Beware of bodies falling or floating in the canal, this is the Manchester Pusher's area by all accounts.

The bit with no towpath is a bit odd, having to climb over the wall is unusual on a canal.

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17 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

I have heard the rumours about the Rochdale nine aka 'anal street.

However they may be expanded in the telling.

I went through solo one April at about midday and it was quite uneventful.There were lots of far eastern tourists photographing everything and they seemed a happy and chatty bunch.

We've done the infamous underground lock several times, both boating and walking. Sometimes it is deserted, but most times these are people hanging about in the darker bits and stuff going on. These folk are usually wrapped up in their drug dealing/taking or engaging in public sex so probably won't be trouble, but its a place to take care.

 

...................Dave

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15 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Usual advice in that area is to do the transit early, before the scrotes get out of bed.  Unfortunately, on that particular  section, it normally means the pools of vomit around the lock gear (they honk over the wall onto the canal infrastructure from the street above) haven't had time to dry up, but with the pubs and clubs shut you ought to be spared that. With 2 metre distancing, you may also be spared from witnessing 'ungentlemanly activities' in the dark underparts!  Probably a good time to do that route actually. Enjoy! :D

New Islington up through Newton Heath is the hard day, a lot of locks to do to get to the next safe overnight stop, and lots of potential for prop fouls and other delays. Starting at or just before first light is a good idea. But, I was warned not to start too early or you meet the bad'uns from the night before who have not yet gone home to bed.?

 

.................Dave

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38 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

I have heard the rumours about the Rochdale nine aka 'anal street.

However they may be expanded in the telling.

I went through solo one April at about midday and it was quite uneventful.There were lots of far eastern tourists photographing everything and they seemed a happy and chatty bunch.

It generally is an uneventful journey.
People love to tell a tale. 
 

After a friend travelled with me this March, I’ve changed my tune a little about coming through Manchester. He did all the locks while I could laze and have a descent look at all the interesting canal architecture.
It can be a really good experience, it’s fascinating. 


I wish there were more facilities for boaters. 
 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Done it several times, usually in a morning, but not recently. I would imagine in the evening when all the gay bars are open it would be unpleasant.

 

On the contrary,  I would think it would be the most entertaining time to travel that stretch.  Under normal circumstances obviously.

 

Never had trouble on the so-called 'dodgy' sections.  I would be more wary of the Ashton Flight, and do that coming down either early morning or after 10am on a weekday when the community coppers are around.

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2 minutes ago, dor said:

Never had trouble on the so-called 'dodgy' sections.

 

Our most memorable trip down the Rochdale 9 was sharing with two disabled pensioners who were being lockwheeled by a drag queen with a black eye.

 

They were all very grateful we caught up with them and shared the rest of the way down, and we still talk to them years later.

 

 

 

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Have travelled the Rochdale 9 (and the Ashton) in both directions several times over many years, and never had any bandit problems -- but some of the locks can be very hard work, especially if it's raining (which it often seems to be). Also no issues the time we went from there up the Rochdale a couple of years ago, there were bridge trolls enveloped in clouds of sweet-smelling smoke but they were all friendly ?

  • Greenie 1
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2 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Done it several times, usually in a morning, but not recently. I would imagine in the evening when all the gay bars are open it would be unpleasant.

Beware of bodies falling or floating in the canal, this is the Manchester Pusher's area by all accounts.

The bit with no towpath is a bit odd, having to climb over the wall is unusual on a canal.

If I remember rightly there is one lock that can only be accessed from the canal, so if you lock crew are walking they could get caught out.

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51 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

If I remember rightly there is one lock that can only be accessed from the canal, so if you lock crew are walking they could get caught out.

I think that’s around lock 86?85?

There is definitely a sign prior to the lock on the way up advising crew to stay on the boat. I can’t remember seeing one on the way down. 
 

it’s the lock in the centre of Gay Village. 
 

Edited by Goliath
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13 minutes ago, Goliath said:

I think that’s around lock 86?85?

There is definitely a sign prior to the lock on the way up advising crew to stay on the boat. I can’t remember seeing one on the way down. 
 

it’s the lock in the centre of Gay Village. 
 

Don't know if they've finished yet but last year there were building works around the locks down towards the bottom of the Nine which meant you couldn't walk from one lock to the next. Two of our crew set off to walk ahead and set the next lock but never got there, we met them several locks later...

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18 minutes ago, Goliath said:

I think that’s around lock 86?85?

There is definitely a sign prior to the lock on the way up advising crew to stay on the boat. I can’t remember seeing one on the way down. 
 

it’s the lock in the centre of Gay Village. 
 

We had trouble there, the pound below was very low (I believe it often is) but you can't get to the lock to let water down (without significant wall climbing).

 

I walked up the road to the next but one lock up (the dodgy underground one) and let a load of water down so as to fill the pound to the top to then overflow into the empty pound. Completely flooded the towpath in the tunnel, lots of drug dealers with wet feet ? 

 

..............Dave

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34 minutes ago, dmr said:

We had trouble there, the pound below was very low (I believe it often is) but you can't get to the lock to let water down (without significant wall climbing).

 

I walked up the road to the next but one lock up (the dodgy underground one) and let a load of water down so as to fill the pound to the top to then overflow into the empty pound. Completely flooded the towpath in the tunnel, lots of drug dealers with wet feet ? 

 

..............Dave

We flooded out the dodgy tunnel too. 
I think it’s Deansgate Tunnel. I made a note of it’s name, I’ll have to check. 
 

I had to go down the weed hatch a few times this year. A horrible thing to do along there. I’ve seen the amount of needles that get scooped out. They usually count in over a hundred each time amongst the bottles and litter. 
 

Can you get arm length gloves of strong rubber that won’t puncture? 
 

 
 

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22 minutes ago, Goliath said:

We flooded out the dodgy tunnel too. 
I think it’s Deansgate Tunnel. I made a note of it’s name, I’ll have to check. 
 

I had to go down the weed hatch a few times this year. A horrible thing to do along there. I’ve seen the amount of needles that get scooped out. They usually count in over a hundred each time amongst the bottles and litter. 
 

Can you get arm length gloves of strong rubber that won’t puncture? 
 

 
 

I think I've got a pair of them, somebody gave them to me during the Gosty Hill incident, you can have them next time we meet, trouble is they are so thick and clumsy you can't do a thing when you've got them on.

 

.............Dave

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