Rochdale Sowerby Br <-> Manchester, Late Apr, early May ... will it be do-able?

[dmr]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

You mean at Chelbourne Wharfe?

 

They certainly do look neglected, it's not even clear if you can get to the pub from the photos!

 

Is that what its called 😀 Its an easy walk to the pub alongf a little path, or you can walk the other way and follow some of the route of the old leat that supplied water to the summit from the pumping engine at Hollingworth lake. The fence, handrails amd some of the steps have rotted away but otherwise its a very good spot.

I suspect it was built by the canal society so maybe CRT are not going to maintain it. A friend suggested that if CRT let him moor there for two months and supply the materials that he would love to rebuild it. We did not persue this as I expect the admin would be life draining, but maybe boaters should take on more jobs like this in the future. Like the VM at Longlees its signed as 2 days which is sad, the Rochdale has so few boats that I would like to see good 14 day moorings to encourage the boats that do get up the Rochdale to stay a bit longer.

Note that there is a lovely little side arm just above Littleborough that makes a good mooring spot.

[IanD]

34 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Is that what its called 😀 Its an easy walk to the pub alongf a little path, or you can walk the other way and follow some of the route of the old leat that supplied water to the summit from the pumping engine at Hollingworth lake. The fence, handrails amd some of the steps have rotted away but otherwise its a very good spot.

I suspect it was built by the canal society so maybe CRT are not going to maintain it. A friend suggested that if CRT let him moor there for two months and supply the materials that he would love to rebuild it. We did not persue this as I expect the admin would be life draining, but maybe boaters should take on more jobs like this in the future. Like the VM at Longlees its signed as 2 days which is sad, the Rochdale has so few boats that I would like to see good 14 day moorings to encourage the boats that do get up the Rochdale to stay a bit longer.

Note that there is a lovely little side arm just above Littleborough that makes a good mooring spot.

 

All correct -- photos show difference between 2008 and 2019, must be even worse now... 😞

 

We've moored in the little side arm too, assuming you mean the one just above lock 46... 🙂

 

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by IanD

[Unicorn Stampede]

10 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

Was all that cleared. It’s amazing how much stuff people Chuck into the canal. I realise it has happened for years and years but when you see it, it’s very disappointing what humans get up to.

I think so. There was another photo with, I assume the findings, loaded onto a barge.

 

I've also attached a shot of what we managed to pull out from our weed hatch and put in our well deck for the bins at new Islington on one descent down!

 

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Unicorn Stampede

[Nightwatch]

Not nice. Yuk!

[IanD]

10 hours ago, Unicorn Stampede said:

I think so. There was another photo with, I assume the findings, loaded onto a barge.

 

I've also attached a shot of what we managed to pull out from our weed hatch and put in our well deck for the bins at new Islington on one descent down!

 

 

 

Either you were unlucky (unlikely?) or there's a lot more crap in there than when we went through in 2017 (likely?) -- we found (for the entire Rochdale/HNC ring):

 

"All the warnings about problems in rough areas came to nought, and we didn't even have to open the weed hatch once in the entire trip. Water shortages and low pounds held us up a bit but this was expected and we'd planned in enough slack time on the likely problem sections for these to be no big issue. Both canals are now two of my all-time favourites, lovely scenery and stopping places, super food and beer ( I estimate about 50 different ones on tap during the trip, maybe 40 of which I've never tried before) in the pubs, friendly locals everywhere."

[dmr]

8 hours ago, IanD said:

 

Either you were unlucky (unlikely?) or there's a lot more crap in there than when we went through in 2017 (likely?) -- we found (for the entire Rochdale/HNC ring):

 

"All the warnings about problems in rough areas came to nought, and we didn't even have to open the weed hatch once in the entire trip.

 

We have also done the Manchester 18 without a weedhatch visit but thats the exception rather than the rule.  Last time (coming up) had a prop foul that I spent an hour on without much success. The CRT volunteer then spent maybe another hour on it but got there in the end. The next day we got a steel framed camping/fishing seat. Got most of that off in half an hour, but spent another hour or two later getting the last bits off.

Helped a friend down a  couple of years ago and got a big foul in Newton Heath. Put it all in a bin back on the roof and a little later saw that the roof was alive with leeches.

and....I assume the Rochdale visitors are up to date with the stoppages but note that the Rochdale summit will be on pre-booked passages and only for 4 days each week starting in May. CRT claim to be doing this help keep the west side (Manchester) in water over the summer so its a  good idea.

At the moment the summit is seeing a bit less than one boat per day so this plan should result in a big increase in lock sharing.

 

[David Mack]

On 11/04/2023 at 14:02, dmr said:

 

There is free and unrestricted passage over the summit. CRT did have locks on for part of the summer when water was in short supply but removed them once we had a bit of rain.

But a new booking system is coming in from 1 May:

 

Notice Alert

Rochdale Canal
Location: Booking Information: Summit Pound, Lock 36 to Lock 37, Rochdale Canal
Starts At: Lock 36
Ends At: Lock 37, West Summit

Monday 1 May 2023 07:00 until Tuesday 31 October 2023 17:00

Type: Booking Information

---

 

Original message:

 

To help maintain a sufficient water supply to the west side of the Rochdale Canal throughout the summer months, we will be implementing a booking system for the Summit pound, Lock 36 to Lock 37, from 1 May to, and inclusive of, 31 October 2023.

Passage will be available to the direction of Manchester from Sowerby Bridge, and vice versa, at 11am on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays only, for prebooked passages only. You can book via your online account, selecting “Rochdale Summit’, or call us on 0303 040 4040.

Bookings must be made 24 hours in advance.

We will continue to monitor the water levels and keep this under review.

You can view this notice and its map online here:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/24741/booking-information-summit-pound-lock-36-to-lock-37-rochdale-canal

You can find all notices at the url below:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices

[Simon Pooley]

52 minutes ago, David Mack said:

But a new booking system is coming in from 1 May:

 

Notice Alert

Rochdale Canal
Location: Booking Information: Summit Pound, Lock 36 to Lock 37, Rochdale Canal
Starts At: Lock 36
Ends At: Lock 37, West Summit

Monday 1 May 2023 07:00 until Tuesday 31 October 2023 17:00

Type: Booking Information

---

 

 

Ah - that'll be my fault for booking our trip such that we'll be returning East over Summit during the 1st week in May 🙂

 

Oh well, the first little challenge for us: we'll have to pace ourselves to be sure to get the 11am Weds passage to get the boat back through Tuel Lane on Friday afternoon. 

[dmr]

29 minutes ago, Simon Pooley said:

 

Ah - that'll be my fault for booking our trip such that we'll be returning East over Summit during the 1st week in May 🙂

 

Oh well, the first little challenge for us: we'll have to pace ourselves to be sure to get the 11am Weds passage to get the boat back through Tuel Lane on Friday afternoon. 

 

When it was booked passage last summer I think CRT failed to turn up an a couple of occassions so do the booking and phone up and confirm the night before. Also as you are a hire boat on a mission I would hope that CRT would be co-operative if you needed to go through on a non-summit day.

[Stroudwater1]

11 hours ago, IanD said:

 

Either you were unlucky (unlikely?) or there's a lot more crap in there than when we went through in 2017 (likely?) -- we found (for the entire Rochdale/HNC ring):

 

"All the warnings about problems in rough areas came to nought, and we didn't even have to open the weed hatch once in the entire trip. Water shortages and low pounds held us up a bit but this was expected and we'd planned in enough slack time on the likely problem sections for these to be no big issue. Both canals are now two of my all-time favourites, lovely scenery and stopping places, super food and beer ( I estimate about 50 different ones on tap during the trip, maybe 40 of which I've never tried before) in the pubs, friendly locals everywhere."

we had about 15 or more weedhatch visits on our journey mid 2021. Only one bag full though so I’m envious plus a mattress which meant a night in Newton Heath which we and the boat survived. 
I believe there is a development going on by Newton Heath which may help make the area somewhat better? 

[dmr]

Just now, Stroudwater1 said:

we had about 15 or more weedhatch visits on our journey mid 2021. Only one bag full though so I’m envious plus a mattress which meant a night in Newton Heath which we and the boat survived. 
I believe there is a development going on by Newton Heath which may help make the area somewhat better? 

 

Maybe, and maybe yes or maybe no. If they build posh houses one side and leave the estate on the other then the poor canal could become a front line battle zone

😀.

 

And it will maybe never happen, the diggers and materials will all get nicked before the building work even starts.

[IanD]

3 hours ago, David Mack said:

But a new booking system is coming in from 1 May:

 

Notice Alert

Rochdale Canal
Location: Booking Information: Summit Pound, Lock 36 to Lock 37, Rochdale Canal
Starts At: Lock 36
Ends At: Lock 37, West Summit

Monday 1 May 2023 07:00 until Tuesday 31 October 2023 17:00

Type: Booking Information

---

 

Original message:

 

To help maintain a sufficient water supply to the west side of the Rochdale Canal throughout the summer months, we will be implementing a booking system for the Summit pound, Lock 36 to Lock 37, from 1 May to, and inclusive of, 31 October 2023.

Passage will be available to the direction of Manchester from Sowerby Bridge, and vice versa, at 11am on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays only, for prebooked passages only. You can book via your online account, selecting “Rochdale Summit’, or call us on 0303 040 4040.

Bookings must be made 24 hours in advance.

We will continue to monitor the water levels and keep this under review.

You can view this notice and its map online here:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/24741/booking-information-summit-pound-lock-36-to-lock-37-rochdale-canal

You can find all notices at the url below:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices

Well that's a total PITA then... 😞

[Jim Riley]

On 11/04/2023 at 15:06, David Mack said:

Yes you can. Although the towpath wall is quite high and it's a step up from the boat deck.

Convenient for the Summit Inn though.

Not all the wall is high, on the offside where the moorings are is fine.

[IanD]

19 minutes ago, Jim Riley said:

Not all the wall is high, on the offside where the moorings are is fine.

That's what I thought from the photos.

 

Given that passage over the summit pound is only going to be allowed at 11am on Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat it's now a moot point anyway... 😞

 

(so I hope we end up at the VMs below East Summit Lock #36 on Sunday as planned -- and Monday's gonna be a *long* day...)

Edited April 13, 2023 by IanD

[Jim Riley]

4 minutes ago, IanD said:

That's what I thought from the photos.

 

Given that passage over the summit pound is only going to be allowed at 11am on Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat it's now a moot point anyway... 😞

 

(so I hope we end up at the VMs below East Summit Lock #36 on Sunday as planned -- and Monday's gonna be a *long* day...)

That's where my home mooring is. Be careful on the next pound down, it's infested with offcomers from the K&A. 😉

Not seen the restrictions, when did they happen? Top pound is low at the moment because Yorkshire CRT stole our water to fill the empty pound in Todmorden last week

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, Jim Riley said:

That's where my home mooring is. Be careful on the next pound down, it's infested with offcomers from the K&A. 😉

Not seen the restrictions, when did they happen? Top pound is low at the moment because Yorkshire CRT stole our water to fill the empty pound in Todmorden last week

Starting May 1st, running until Oct 31st...

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/24741-booking-information-summit-pound-lock-36-to-lock-37-rochdale-canal

 

Will probably have to aim for Slattocks the following day now (not Rose of Lancaster) -- what's mooring like there?

Edited April 13, 2023 by IanD

[Jim Riley]

16 minutes ago, IanD said:

Starting May 1st, running until Oct 31st...

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/24741-booking-information-summit-pound-lock-36-to-lock-37-rochdale-canal

 

Will probably have to aim for Slattocks the following day now (not Rose of Lancaster) -- what's mooring like there?

Mooring at Slattocks is fine, there's a pub, a garage with Spar shop and bollards to tie to. Though if you can go the extra mile (and a few locks) down the Slattocks flight there's a very peaceful mooring over the Irk aqueduct, with bollards and noisy owls. It's doable from littleborough but not Summit. You'd have to hang around somewhere on that schedule or you'd be going down Newton Heath later in the day. 

[IanD]

6 minutes ago, Jim Riley said:

Mooring at Slattocks is fine, there's a pub, a garage with Spar shop and bollards to tie to. Though if you can go the extra mile (and a few locks) down the Slattocks flight there's a very peaceful mooring over the Irk aqueduct, with bollards and noisy owls. It's doable from littleborough but not Summit. You'd have to hang around somewhere on that schedule or you'd be going down Newton Heath later in the day. 

 

I know, the 11am summit opening is a total PITA for coming down into Manchester, probably have to do Slattocks to Ducie Street next day but bad timing and not a good stopping place... 😞

 

Maybe time to look at the HNC (and L&L) again, or even the Trent (I have to get the boat from Sheffield to Park Farm Marina)...

Edited April 13, 2023 by IanD

[dmr]

29 minutes ago, Jim Riley said:

That's where my home mooring is. Be careful on the next pound down, it's infested with offcomers from the K&A. 😉

Not seen the restrictions, when did they happen? Top pound is low at the moment because Yorkshire CRT stole our water to fill the empty pound in Todmorden last week

 

Daisy has gone off boating so there is only one K&A boat here now, but then one of the house dwellers overlooking the canal has a fair bit of K&A boating history.

 

And I suspect Yorkshire did not tell NorthWest that they were taking summit water and so I got a gentle telling off from NorthWest. 😀

19 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

I know, the 11am summit opening is a total PITA for coming down into Manchester, probably have to do Slattocks to Ducie Street next day but bad timing and not a good stopping place... 😞

 

Maybe time to look at the HNC (and L&L) again, or even the Trent (I have to get the boat from Sheffield to Park Farm Marina)...

 

Is this in a hire boat or your boat?   If its a hire boat then I would hope that CRT would assist you through when you needed, but you will probably need to speak to the NorthWest team directly. Slattocks to Manchester should be fine in a day, especially if you make a really early start, but no safety margin if things go wrong.

 

[IanD]

22 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Daisy has gone off boating so there is only one K&A boat here now, but then one of the house dwellers overlooking the canal has a fair bit of K&A boating history.

 

And I suspect Yorkshire did not tell NorthWest that they were taking summit water and so I got a gentle telling off from NorthWest. 😀

 

Is this in a hire boat or your boat?   If its a hire boat then I would hope that CRT would assist you through when you needed, but you will probably need to speak to the NorthWest team directly. Slattocks to Manchester should be fine in a day, especially if you make a really early start, but no safety margin if things go wrong.

 

My boat. We did Thomas Telford Basin to Rose of Lancaster fairly easily in a day (with no assistance) a few years back, but sounds like prop fouls have got much worse since -- we were lucky, we didn't have any...

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, Jim Riley said:

Not all the wall is high, on the offside where the moorings are is fine.

I was referring to the towpath side moorings above West Summit Lock.

Edited April 13, 2023 by David Mack

[Jim Riley]

29 minutes ago, David Mack said:

I was referring to the towpath side moorings above West Summit Lock.

Ah, the west end of Summit Pound. Yes, a big drop. 

[IanD]

4 hours ago, Jim Riley said:

Mooring at Slattocks is fine, there's a pub, a garage with Spar shop and bollards to tie to. Though if you can go the extra mile (and a few locks) down the Slattocks flight there's a very peaceful mooring over the Irk aqueduct, with bollards and noisy owls. It's doable from littleborough but not Summit. You'd have to hang around somewhere on that schedule or you'd be going down Newton Heath later in the day. 

The Irk Aqueduct is where I was originally planning on mooring for the Rose of Lancaster (done this before), but now with an 11am entry to the summit and then 11M/28L to do (9h according to Canalplan) that just isn't going to work...

 

Does anyone know if the Hopwood Arms at Slattocks still open (and doing food), or is the Ship (no food) a better bet? Not clear where the moorings are, I assume above the top lock?

 

Will aim for an early start next morning, probably aim for Thomas Telford Basin instead of Ducie Street Junction. I know you can't easily get out to go anywhere but it's a lot more salubrious/secure... 😉

 

I'm aware that's a long day (30 locks) but we've done it before, and there's not a lot of alternative possibilities that I can see -- unless anyone has any better ideas?

Edited April 13, 2023 by IanD

[Jon57]

https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/23448791.never-again-canal-boating-dad-says-rochdale-dirtiest/

[dmr]

19 hours ago, IanD said:

The Irk Aqueduct is where I was originally planning on mooring for the Rose of Lancaster (done this before), but now with an 11am entry to the summit and then 11M/28L to do (9h according to Canalplan) that just isn't going to work...

 

Does anyone know if the Hopwood Arms at Slattocks still open (and doing food), or is the Ship (no food) a better bet? Not clear where the moorings are, I assume above the top lock?

 

Will aim for an early start next morning, probably aim for Thomas Telford Basin instead of Ducie Street Junction. I know you can't easily get out to go anywhere but it's a lot more salubrious/secure... 😉

 

I'm aware that's a long day (30 locks) but we've done it before, and there's not a lot of alternative possibilities that I can see -- unless anyone has any better ideas?

Dunno about the Hopwood, had a bit of a falling out with them a while ago so don't go in, but think it has changed hands since. The Ship has been done up but still retains its feel as a locals drinking pub and can get quite busy, but as you say, no food. Mooring rings above top lock. 

If you are arriving late and leaving early then the lock landing right outside the Ship is also possible (the Rochdale is not a busy canal 😀) though if its not raining the outside benches can get quite busy.

I am told that there is a really good pub about 20mins walk away but have not been myself.