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Ashton Canal- highly recommended


Leemc

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Just done the Portland Basin to Manchester and I have to say was pleasantly surprised. Really interesting journey, 18 locks so took all day. Loads to see and all locks working well with plenty of water. Great mooring at the end ( on rings) in Piccadilly Village, not sure how long we can stay here but very nice.

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11 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

It's generally oK. I've done it many times by boat and bicycle. 

 

The grim bit is next, under Piccadilly station. 

The canal doesn't go under the station,though  the trams & a couple of streets do. I do agree that the under ground bit  of canal is not very pleasant, best to ignore any  of the harmless lurkers there. Boating  through there earlier this year I was pleased  to see it was clean and tidy with most of the lighting in working order. One top gate on the lock (towpath side?) was out of use,stuck closed.

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2 hours ago, Leemc said:

How easy is it to find a mooring in the castlefied area? Loathe to move from Piccadilly Village but not sure how long we are allowed to stay. We are the only boat here😎

There are usually spaces on the VMs (48h?) in the "tuning fork" arms north of the main basin under the railway bridge.

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10 minutes ago, IanD said:

There are usually spaces on the VMs (48h?) in the "tuning fork" arms north of the main basin under the railway bridge.

I think these moorings are closed just now because of an event in the arena and with the other visitor moorings being made long term moorings, I don't think there are many visitor moorings left at Castlefield. 

Remember you need to go onto the C & RT site and book your passage on the Bridgewater. You have to make the booking before the day you expect to go into the Bridgewater.

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21 minutes ago, haggis said:

I think these moorings are closed just now because of an event in the arena and with the other visitor moorings being made long term moorings, I don't think there are many visitor moorings left at Castlefield. 

Remember you need to go onto the C & RT site and book your passage on the Bridgewater. You have to make the booking before the day you expect to go into the Bridgewater.

It's getting to be a real pain mooring at Castlefield. Last time we were there the "tuning fork" moorings were blocked off for work, and there were almost no spaces on the other (almost non-existent) visitor moorings. It's almost as if they don't *want* any visiting boats... 😞

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20 hours ago, Leemc said:

Just done the Portland Basin to Manchester and I have to say was pleasantly surprised. Really interesting journey, 18 locks so took all day. Loads to see and all locks working well with plenty of water. Great mooring at the end ( on rings) in Piccadilly Village, not sure how long we can stay here but very nice.

14 days 

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3 minutes ago, Goliath said:

What are the consequences if you don’t?

 

No idea but if they find a lot of boaters not booking they might get tougher in the future. Peel Holdings seem to be a law unto themselves and they probably don't think they have much to gain by allowing C&RT licenced boats free passage. 

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2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Having visited in the past, I have to say it's not difficult to give this initiative my support  in the future! :(

 

It wasn't that bad that day.  The biblical rain deluge kept the local branch of Mensa away and cleaned the air and the towpath for us.

 

Try it on a sunny Saturday ...

 

 

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3 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

From a boater and resident's perspective the city centre boating facilities are an embarrassment.

 

Stay where you are and then move on through when ready

This ^^ compared to all the other canal side cities it’s pretty dire. TBF The Ashton is much better now, though there’s such a lost opportunity in the centre with plenty of mooring potential and places to visit in Manchester there no real effort to attract at all. There’s expensive Islington hard to moor Castlefield a few spaces at Piccadilly and that’s about it folk. 

I’m a little surprised the often vocal mayor doesn’t appear to realise this nor CRT point it out. 
 

 

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10 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

It wasn't that bad that day.  The biblical rain deluge kept the local branch of Mensa away and cleaned the air and the towpath for us.

 

Try it on a sunny Saturday ...

 

 

 

In their defence, the trolls filling the bridges with clouds of fragrant smoke are usually friendly... 😉

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Thanks for all responses. We are the only boat in Piccadilly Village( been here since Monday) it’s a great mooring, feels very safe, lots of mooring rings and places to eat drink and go nearby. 
Had a walk down to castlefield and there are restrictions due to Sounds of the City concerts so there’s not much room.

Islington Marina is £25 and boats are doubled up.

Undoubtedly need some boaters facilities, there’s loads of room for some in Piccadilly Basin. Might attract more boaters as haven’t seen one go passed since we arrived.

 

7 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

In their defence, the trolls filling the bridges with clouds of fragrant smoke are usually friendly... 😉

The journey down to Castlefield is a bit grim and those underground characters are a sad bunch. They do return a wave if not out of it, face down on sleeping bags. 

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12 minutes ago, Leemc said:

Thanks for all responses. We are the only boat in Piccadilly Village( been here since Monday) it’s a great mooring, feels very safe, lots of mooring rings and places to eat drink and go nearby. 
Had a walk down to castlefield and there are restrictions due to Sounds of the City concerts so there’s not much room.

Islington Marina is £25 and boats are doubled up.

Undoubtedly need some boaters facilities, there’s loads of room for some in Piccadilly Basin. Might attract more boaters as haven’t seen one go passed since we arrived.

 

The journey down to Castlefield is a bit grim and those underground characters are a sad bunch. They do return a wave if not out of it, face down on sleeping bags. 

 

I didn't mean there, I meant on the Ashton from Piccadilly up where several bridges had resident trolls when I went past... 😉

Edited by IanD
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17 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

It wasn't that bad that day.  The biblical rain deluge kept the local branch of Mensa away and cleaned the air and the towpath for us.

 

Try it on a sunny Saturday ...

 

 

The Ashton was fine and the weather steadily improved after we "hurtled" past you at Portland Basin (it only dawned on me later that it was you hurling abuse! :D) so we had quite a nice descent. I'm still confused about what's going on with New Islington Marina from the Ashton end, but Picadilly basin is great for a peaceful overnight.  The Rochdale 9 is a bit rum of course, but the drug and alcohol related issues make Castlefields a real disappointment. Perhaps I've led a sheltered life...

I'll still transit Manchester obvs, but I'll probably not stop except for Picadilly basin. It's certainly not on my "must go back" list though and I think CRT and Manchester Council ought to be ashamed. Andy Burnham obviously doesn't have a narrowboat...

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1 minute ago, Sea Dog said:

The Ashton was fine and the weather steadily improved after we "hurtled" past you at Portland Basin (it only dawned on me later that it was you hurling abuse! :D) so we had quite a nice descent. I'm still confused about what's going on with New Islington Marina from the Ashton end, but Picadilly basin is great for a peaceful overnight.  The Rochdale 9 is a bit rum of course, but the drug and alcohol related issues make Castlefields a real disappointment. Perhaps I've led a sheltered life...

I'll still transit Manchester obvs, but I'll probably not stop except for Picadilly basin. It's certainly not on my "must go back" list though and I think CRT and Manchester Council ought to be ashamed. Andy Burnham obviously doesn't have a narrowboat...

 

The contrast between Manchester and Birmingham in how they treat/use/value their canals is massive...

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I did do a CRT questionnaire recently about the state of central manchester canals. Unfortunately, I think it is not down to CRT to improve things. 

 

Biggest potential for improvement is in the Castlefield area but Peel have shown little interest in exploiting their assets. It would be even better if boats were routinely allowed down on to the section of the Ship Canal above the Lowry / BBC.

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6 minutes ago, Cheshire cat said:

I did do a CRT questionnaire recently about the state of central manchester canals. Unfortunately, I think it is not down to CRT to improve things. 

 

Biggest potential for improvement is in the Castlefield area but Peel have shown little interest in exploiting their assets. It would be even better if boats were routinely allowed down on to the section of the Ship Canal above the Lowry / BBC.


I wonder if  CRT have anything to do with the jettys currently semi wonky/ broken just by the sharp turn heading towards the  Morrisons bridge and Rochdale9 from the Ashton? That’s an area that with minimal work could resemble the Gas Street basin type arrangement which seems to be a big part of the successful Birmingham canal scene. 

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4 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

I did do a CRT questionnaire recently about the state of central manchester canals. Unfortunately, I think it is not down to CRT to improve things. 

 

Biggest potential for improvement is in the Castlefield area but Peel have shown little interest in exploiting their assets. It would be even better if boats were routinely allowed down on to the section of the Ship Canal above the Lowry / BBC.

A few years ago it did feel like Castlefield was coming alive and might just be a little version of Birmingham. The Wharf pub had just opened (despite resistance from Peel holdings?) and there were a couple of other venues, plus canalside events. Then suddenly it all slipped into reverse. I think maybe building more flats rather than shops/pubs plus Peel converting all the visitor mooring into long term moorings is what did for it. We used to like a couple of nights in Castlefield but now prefer to come down the Rochdale and up the Ashton rather than heading into Manchester.

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