Rochdale transit charges to be £10 per passage.

[Alan de Enfield]

From Christmas 1978 Waterways World

 

 

 

[Tracy D'arth]

Trying to be sensationalist Alan?

[pearley]

Interesting about the Canal Shop. When we went down the 9 in 1980 we had great trouble finding someone to take our money and unlock the top gates, let alone a shop. 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

An interesting bit of recent history. I never knew that the Rochdale Canal Company had not been nationalised and that they were still charging for access to boats on the Nine in the late 20th century. Control of the canal passed to BW in 2000 as part of the restoration of the Pennine crossing.

[IanD]

Just now, pearley said:

Interesting about the Canal Shop. When we went down the 9 in 1980 we had great trouble finding someone to take our money and unlock the top gates, let alone a shop. 

We had more trouble getting through the b*stard locks, they (and the canal) were in a terrible state... 😞

[pearley]

6 minutes ago, IanD said:

We had more trouble getting through the b*stard locks, they (and the canal) were in a terrible state... 😞

Yes. I have recollections of having to pick up bits of wood off the lock side to jam into the paddle rack to keep them up. 

11 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

An interesting bit of recent history. I never knew that the Rochdale Canal Company had not been nationalised and that they were still charging for access to boats on the Nine in the late 20th century. Control of the canal passed to BW in 2000 as part of the restoration of the Pennine crossing.

£26 in 1996

[Graham Davis]

We went down the Rochdale one Sunday in 1977 when we did the Cheshire Ring and couldn't find anyone to pay, so opened the top gates and carried on down. I sure the fee we should have paid was more than that.

[mrsmelly]

5 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

We went down the Rochdale one Sunday in 1977 when we did the Cheshire Ring and couldn't find anyone to pay, so opened the top gates and carried on down. I sure the fee we should have paid was more than that.

1977 was a great year. This was the boat I was on in 1977.

 

[jonathanA]

I'm not sure exactly when i did it on a hire boat - would have been the late 1990's and i remember I had to trot across a grotty car park up some rickety steps to the rochdale canal company office. seem to recall I had part with I think £32 pounds to get the padlock key to unlock the top gate and then take the key back.  The rest of the trip thru the 9 was as expected and 'interesting' to say the least. fortunately we had a big crew. 

Edited December 10, 2023 by jonathanA
punc.

[Tim Lewis]

9 hours ago, pearley said:

Interesting about the Canal Shop. When we went down the 9 in 1980 we had great trouble finding someone to take our money and unlock the top gates, let alone a shop. 

Seem to remember that you paid the attendant in the adjacent TCS car park at the top of the flight

[ditchcrawler]

31 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

Seem to remember that you paid the attendant in the adjacent TCS car park at the top of the flight

spot on, I remember it well and a blade full half way down 

[Tacet]

44 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

Seem to remember that you paid the attendant in the adjacent TCS car park at the top of the flight

Yes.  Man wearing a milkman's cap and situated in a small, wooden shed - as best I can recall from the early 1970s.

Edited December 10, 2023 by Tacet

[David Mack]

9 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Control of the canal passed to BW in 2000 as part of the restoration of the Pennine crossing.

Ownership of the Rochdale Canal passed from the Rochdale Canal Company (who were owned by Leeds-based property company Town Centre Securities) to The Waterways Trust through some complex deal related to the availability of Millennium Lottery funding to complete the restoration. TWT in turn subcontracted the restoration and subsequent management of the canal to BW. TWT was absorbed into CRT when the latter was setup.

[MtB]

8 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

1977 was a great year. This was the boat I was on in 1977.

 

 

Is that on one of them really wide 'northern canals' I keep hearing about? 

 

 

[Stroudwater1]

It was more the folk of Manchester that caused us troubles in the mid 80s.  At the bottom lock my windlass was nicked by lads who spent 5 minutes passing it around between them whilst swimming in the lock. 

We were never sure if it was the same folk but on the 4th one down as we approached they knocked the collar off one of the  top gates so it lay at a horrible angle . Oddly this was repaired within an hour so the bloke in the car park must have known some handy mates. 

The Ashton meanwhile saw several groups walk and jump  on and off the roof of our boat as we descended. 

Thankfully it’s mostly rubbish and paraphernalia nowadays we see. 

Edited December 12, 2023 by Stroudwater1

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

The Ashton meanwhile saw several groups walk and jump  on and off the roof of our boat as we descended. 

 

We came down with a BW chaperone 

[Ian Mac]

On 10/12/2023 at 21:09, David Mack said:

Ownership of the Rochdale Canal passed from the Rochdale Canal Company (who were owned by Leeds-based property company Town Centre Securities) to The Waterways Trust through some complex deal related to the availability of Millennium Lottery funding to complete the restoration. TWT in turn subcontracted the restoration and subsequent management of the canal to BW. TWT was absorbed into CRT when the latter was setup.

Even that is not the full story. I believe that Manchester City Council took out a further lease in the mid 1990's to extend the amount of canal they already had a lease on (which was from just above lock 82 to the city boundary, excluding the length from below lock 78 to the tail of lock 77). The extension included the missing bit in Miles Platting and the length from Ancoats down to the Bridgewater below Dukes Lock.  This allowed new lock gates to be pre-curded and for Manchester City to upgrade the towpaths thus no bollards - they are a trip hazzard according to the council.
If one notices the 1996 licence is issued by the RCT (Rochdale Canal Trust ) a vehicle created to fight the M60 and then to gain Lottery money for full restoration. Some of this then transferred to the Waterways Trust and then to the Canal & River Trust. Manchester kept the lease of the towpath and adjoining lands, the transfer was only from coping to coping. So Manchester are still responsible for the towpaths, makes managing the Rochdale in the city of Manchester, very difficult.
I believe the original negotiation was done so the water channelling could take place to be a 777 year lease.

[Cheshire cat]

We had that in the nineties too. These days WE are all too busy on our playstations, Iphones et al. 

[Jim Riley]

Thanks Alan, blatantly stolen to post on Rochdale Canal FB groups. With the headline obvs. Giggle! 

I may well be one of the last people to pay for a ticket to traverse Rochdale Canal Summit. I lived in Smithybridge, in 1983 2 mates and I set off to Sowerby in a Canadian canoe and a kayak, I'd made folding trolleys with pram wheels, we had to portage not just round the locks but along whole dry stretches, the MSC Job Creation Scheme was doing its stuff. One of my mates was a supervisor on the scheme - got me the wellies and donkey jacket! 
As we got to the Summit West Lock with it's pretty lock house, still owned by Rochdale Canal Co, the little old lady lockie came out and demanded payment, maybe a 50p or something, it wasn't much, we got a couple of little tickets. The trip took 4 days, an overnight stay each way in the wood below Shaw Wood Rd, one night in a field near the end at Sowerby.