Visitor moorings in Manchester

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

3 minutes ago, dmr said:

Was some of the Peaky Blinders also shot in Liverpool near the docks? there is an old industrial bit just off the canal that I thought I recognised in some of the Peaky Blinders episodes?

Yea, I’m sure they did,

remember them big Ionic columns around the the docks that support the buildings? They appear in it and give the location away,

and Ellesmere Port was used for the Camden shots, 

it’s a great series to spot places,

and boats, 

[Midnight]

10 hours ago, HenryFreeman said:

 

Yeah, good point. Coming from Barnoldswick -> Chorley -> Wigan and then going onto the Macclesfield and onwards south via Oxford Canal -> Braunston -> Grand Union.

 

In that case if you can't get into Castlefield, there is one half decent mooring below the Rochdale bottom lock on the left or visitor moorings under the railway bridge - although I never fancied them. I believe Marple flight is still closed so the Ashton is out and not worth the effort to travel up and back down the Rochdale 9. If you wish to leave your boat for a couple of days I would look at Stretford marina or Sale Cruising Club. Further out Lymm Cruising Club are very accommodating.  

 

 

 

Edited February 27 by Midnight

[Stroudwater1]

10 hours ago, HenryFreeman said:

 

Yeah, good point. Coming from Barnoldswick -> Chorley -> Wigan and then going onto the Macclesfield and onwards south via Oxford Canal -> Braunston -> Grand Union.

There maybe a difficulty for you if you were planning to access the Macclesfield from Marple/ Peak Forest. It’s a lovely journey but  lock 7 on the Peak Forest is closed and maybe for a while. Currently is scheduled to open on 24th May

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/26054-navigation-closure-marple-lock-flight-peak-forest-canal

 

You can’t therefore access the Macclesfield from the “Manchester end”. You maybe best to head down the Trent and Mersey via Preston Brook. You can do the Macclesfield from that way but you would have to turn round to get back on your way to The Oxford canal. 
 

Castlefield area seems the best for you if you really want to go to central Manchester. However as others have mentioned sadly it’s pretty grizzly for boaters. Going up the Rochdale 9 plus 2 to get moorings that are expensive at Islington then to go back down the 9 and 2 is not recommended. 
 

Overall it looks best if you look for moorings on the Bridgewater away from central Manchester. Unless you transit the Bridgewater and look for moorings on the Trent and Mersey 
 

 

[pearley]

10 hours ago, IanD said:

 

Castlefield is just one example of how badly boaters are served by moorings in Manchester, in contrast to Birmingham there seems to be no drive to encourage boaters to stay there -- in fact, increasingly the opposite... 😞

Have spent many a time moored in the various mentioned spots in the past. How things have changed.

I have expressed an opinion that Cambridge is least welcoming to boaters of our major cities. Looks like I might be wrong.

[HenryFreeman]

12 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

There maybe a difficulty for you if you were planning to access the Macclesfield from Marple/ Peak Forest. It’s a lovely journey but  lock 7 on the Peak Forest is closed and maybe for a while. Currently is scheduled to open on 24th May

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/26054-navigation-closure-marple-lock-flight-peak-forest-canal

 

You can’t therefore access the Macclesfield from the “Manchester end”. You maybe best to head down the Trent and Mersey via Preston Brook. You can do the Macclesfield from that way but you would have to turn round to get back on your way to The Oxford canal. 
 

Castlefield area seems the best for you if you really want to go to central Manchester. However as others have mentioned sadly it’s pretty grizzly for boaters. Going up the Rochdale 9 plus 2 to get moorings that are expensive at Islington then to go back down the 9 and 2 is not recommended. 
 

Overall it looks best if you look for moorings on the Bridgewater away from central Manchester. Unless you transit the Bridgewater and look for moorings on the Trent and Mersey 
 

 

 

Thanks for that heads up, I won't be going that way then! So not the Macclesfield - Trent and Mersey, Coventry Canal, Grand Union. The Macclesfield will have to wait for another day.

 

Cheers!

[Tony1]

13 hours ago, IanD said:

There are no visitor moorings in the basin any more thanks to Peel, but there are in the "hairpins" the other side of the railway viaduct.

 

Sorry to bang on, but I wanted to make sure I'm 100% clear on the situation.

Have Peel officially stopped visitors from mooring in the 'basin' itself (i.e. the arm that extends past the Wharf pub and runs for a few hundred yards)?

Or were there visitor moorings, but they were fully occupied? 

I visited last May and as you passed the Wharf there was a line of boats that seemed to be long-term moorers, but there were still a couple of hundred yards of that arm available for visitor mooring. I would guess that it would hold maybe 7 or 8 boats. 

If they've since been given to long term moorers that would be a major blow to visitors.

 

There seem to be a couple of people reporting that currently, the only 'official' Peel-sanctioned visitor moorings are in those 'hairpin' arms under the railway viaduct.

Those seemed to be mostly full of long term moorers last summer, so I'm not optimistic about finding a visitor spot if that's the only option. 

There is supposed to be a water tap and refuse bins there, but I couldn't see the bins when I walked past, and there was a boat moored at the water point. 

You could always go up through the first of the locks, there were a couple of boats there and it looked decent enough. But its probably not as safe (or as pleasant) as the basin itself, which is well lit and closely overlooked by apartments etc.

I can hardly believe they would restrict visitor access so much- that's a really crappy move to pull. 

 

[ditchcrawler]

4 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

I can hardly believe they would restrict visitor access so much- that's a really crappy move to pull. 

 

Peal don't make money out of visitors, they do by letting moorings, they are a business. If you owned a caravan site would you leave a quarter of your pitches free for passing touring caravaners to use at no charge ? Its all about money.

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Midnight said:

 

In that case if you can't get into Castlefield, there is one half decent mooring below the Rochdale bottom lock on the left or visitor moorings under the railway bridge - although I never fancied them. I believe Marple flight is still closed so the Ashton is out and not worth the effort to travel up and back down the Rochdale 9. If you wish to leave your boat for a couple of days I would look at Stretford marina or Sale Cruising Club. Further out Lymm Cruising Club are very accommodating.  

 

 

 

 

That mooring was also suggested last time I asked about moorings in Castlefields -- however there's been a boat on it every single time I've been there, just like in the picture... 😞

[Tony1]

18 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Peal don't make money out of visitors, they do by letting moorings, they are a business. If you owned a caravan site would you leave a quarter of your pitches free for passing touring caravaners to use at no charge ? Its all about money.

 

I get that there is a financial motive for Peel in letting those half dozen or so moorings, but I wouldn't personally compare a site of national industrial heritage to a caravan site. In my view there are other obligations that should (in theory) come with managing a site like that. 

They've been happy to allow visitors there for many years, after all. I can only guess that perhaps an old contractual agreement or obligation has recently expired, and they've decided to take advantage of the chance to make more money from those moorings.

If the moorings in the 'hairpins' are as unappetising as people have said, then it changes the whole prospect for boaters visiting Manchester. But not too many people tend to care about the access rights for boaters.

And let's be honest, if we were in Peel's shoes, yes- most of us would probably take that same opportunity to make more profit when the chance arose. 

But that doesn't stop it being a real shame, and a crappy move to pull on boaters.  

Edited February 27 by Tony1

[IanD]

11 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

Sorry to bang on, but I wanted to make sure I'm 100% clear on the situation.

Have Peel officially stopped visitors from mooring in the 'basin' itself (i.e. the arm that extends past the Wharf pub and runs for a few hundred yards)?

Or were there visitor moorings, but they were fully occupied? 

I visited last May and as you passed the Wharf there was a line of boats that seemed to be long-term moorers, but there were still a couple of hundred yards of that arm available for visitor mooring. I would guess that it would hold maybe 7 or 8 boats. 

If they've since been given to long term moorers that would be a major blow to visitors.

 

There seem to be a couple of people reporting that currently, the only 'official' Peel-sanctioned visitor moorings are in those 'hairpin' arms under the railway viaduct.

Those seemed to be mostly full of long term moorers last summer, so I'm not optimistic about finding a visitor spot if that's the only option. 

There is supposed to be a water tap and refuse bins there, but I couldn't see the bins when I walked past, and there was a boat moored at the water point. 

You could always go up through the first of the locks, there were a couple of boats there and it looked decent enough. But its probably not as safe (or as pleasant) as the basin itself, which is well lit and closely overlooked by apartments etc.

I can hardly believe they would restrict visitor access so much- that's a really crappy move to pull. 

 

 

I don't think Peel have *stopped* visitors mooring in the basin, it's just that there are no longer any open VMs and both the last times I was there almost every space -- including the arm past the Wharf that runs to the shallow end -- was either occupied by long-term moorers, or had "no mooring, this mooring belongs to boat xxx" signs. On a previous visit we managed to find a space at the far end on the left (curved edge...), but turning round to get in was a nightmare because of the shallows, we almost got stuck -- see photo.

 

There was space on the "hairpin" moorings which I believe are VMs -- there was also a boat moored at the water point there which looked semi-permanent, but we moored behind it to fill up. I'm not sure I'd want to leave a boat there for any length of time, but obviously some people are because the moorings were fairly full.

 

There are rings above Duke's Lock but it's a bit less salubrious there. Having said that the side of the basin next to the car-park seems to attract some dodgy-looking characters at night, and the (bright!) lights stay on all night so you need light-tight curtains in your bedroom -- DAMHIK... 😞

 

 

7 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

I get that there is a financial motive for Peel in letting those half dozen or so moorings, but I wouldn't personally compare a site of national industrial heritage to a caravan site. In my view there are other obligations that should (in theory) come with managing a site like that. 

They've been happy to allow visitors there for many years, after all. I can only guess that perhaps an old contractual agreement or obligation has recently expired, and they've decided to take advantage of the chance to make more money from those moorings.

If the moorings in the 'hairpins' are as unappetising as people have said, then it changes the whole prospect for boaters visiting Manchester. But not too many people tend to care about the access rights for boaters.

And let's be honest, if we were in Peel's shoes, yes- most of us would probably take that same opportunity to make more profit when the chance arose. 

But that doesn't stop it being a real shame, and a crappy move to pull on boaters.  

 

It's not that they don't *allow* visitors to moor in the basin, there just aren't any VMs any more -- or often, any free mooring spaces at all... 😞

 

The "hairpins" -- if they have space, there wasn't much when we were there and the boats didn't look like "visitors" either -- are hidden out the back and completely open to the public (i.e. scroats) but with little foot traffic, unlike the main basin, which makes them less attractive to moor a boat there since there are no eyes on it.

 

It's not just that Peel don't seem to want to encourage boaters to visit Castlefield, they seem to be actively trying to discourage them by making it hard to find anywhere decent to moor... 😞

[Tony1]

14 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

 Having said that the side of the basin next to the car-park seems to attract some dodgy-looking characters at night, and the (bright!) lights stay on all night so you need light-tight curtains in your bedroom 

 

The "hairpins" -- if they have space, there wasn't much when we were there and the boats didn't look like "visitors" either -- are hidden out the back and completely open to the public (i.e. scroats) but with little foot traffic, unlike the main basin, which makes them less attractive to moor a boat there since there are no eyes on it.

 

 

When I visited, I saw one or two 'private mooring' signs on the car park side of the basin, so I didnt bother going over there. But it sounds as if the whole basin is now effectively out of bounds to visitors. 

 

On the plus side, at least we still have the hairpin moorings, which is a lot better than nothing at all, and I'll certainly give them a try, and just try to ignore any young scrotes that might hang about. And with all the other boats there, at least there is a degree of safety in numbers.

 

But I can't understand how some boats seem to get away with staying there for weeks on end. I wonder if the local boaters know the precise days that Peel check on the moored boats? I've seen a few CRT places where local boaters play the system a bit, moving away from a mooring on the day before the local spotter comes, and moving back on the following day.  I reckon a fair bit of that goes on at places like Nantwich, for example. 

 

 

[IanD]

25 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

When I visited, I saw one or two 'private mooring' signs on the car park side of the basin, so I didnt bother going over there. But it sounds as if the whole basin is now effectively out of bounds to visitors. 

 

On the plus side, at least we still have the hairpin moorings, which is a lot better than nothing at all, and I'll certainly give them a try, and just try to ignore any young scrotes that might hang about. And with all the other boats there, at least there is a degree of safety in numbers.

 

But I can't understand how some boats seem to get away with staying there for weeks on end. I wonder if the local boaters know the precise days that Peel check on the moored boats? I've seen a few CRT places where local boaters play the system a bit, moving away from a mooring on the day before the local spotter comes, and moving back on the following day.  I reckon a fair bit of that goes on at places like Nantwich, for example. 

 

 

You're right, if there are no moorings available for visitors it's effectively out of bounds even if they're theoretically allowed to moor there... 😞

 

We were in the hairpins early afternoon filling up with water, and didn't see any boaters -- presumably there were some inside their boats, though most looked unoccupied, curtains closed and no chimney smoke -- so I'm not sure "safety in numbers" would work. The other thing that keeps moorings safe is having a lot of public foot traffic, and there was nobody there, and it's definitely a bit "out-of-sight-windswept-urban-canyon"...

 

It's possible the "mooring squatters" without an official mooring do the same arranged "moorings swapover" trick as I know happens down here in London, I don't know if that would work with Peel or not.

 

All a great pity, because Castlefield was a nice place to moor when it was first restored and before Peel took it over -- which I assume was when the Rochdale re-opened twenty-odd years ago?

Edited February 27 by IanD

[haggis]

You were brave filling up with water just outside the "hairpins". 🙂 Any time we have been there there has been a hose fixed to the tap and lying on the  dirty ground. As we couldn't get that hose off we didn't take on water there.  We have had no problems mooring in the hairpins and although there are usually a couple of what look like permanent boats there the rest were visitors. Nice quiet mooring unlike through the first lock of the nine where there is an almost constant footfall and there is not much distance between your boat and the wall. Ok for a night though.

It used to be good when you could moor round past the pub though.

Edited February 27 by haggis
mis type

[Iain_S]

2 hours ago, IanD said:

 

(snip)

 

It's not just that Peel don't seem to want to encourage boaters to visit Castlefield, they seem to be actively trying to discourage them by making it hard to find anywhere decent to moor... 😞

Agree: there are a lot of other potential moorings in the other basins, which are buoyed off to prevent entry

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

27 minutes ago, haggis said:

You were brave filling up with water just outside the "hairpins". 🙂 Any time we have been there there has been a hose fixed to the tap and lying on the  dirty ground. As we couldn't get that hose off we didn't take on water there.  We have had no problems mooring in the hairpins and although there are usually a couple of what look like permanent boats there the rest were visitors. Nice quiet mooring unlike through the first lock of the nine where there is an almost constant footfall and there is not much distance between your boat and the wall. Ok for a night though.

It used to be good when you could moor round past the pub though.

^^^ a more positive comment about Manchester 👍

 

the OP only needs 55’ of space so should be ok,

but if there’s no room below, going up the 9 locks to find space at Piccadilly wouldn’t be too much hardship,

however, for peace of mind the suggestion to use a boat club is well worth considering,

 

either way HenryFreeman,

while you’re there do the Rochdale 9 for the hell of it and see what the fuss is about,

it’s great taking a boat through a city and this one’s a unique experience,

 

[pearley]

10 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

 

while you’re there do the Rochdale 9 for the hell of it and see what the fuss is about,

it’s great taking a boat through a city and this one’s a unique experience,

 

Having been up and down the 9 many times, first in 1981, it is definitely a unique experience with every lock offering something different.

[IanD]

1 hour ago, haggis said:

You were brave filling up with water just outside the "hairpins". 🙂 Any time we have been there there has been a hose fixed to the tap and lying on the  dirty ground. As we couldn't get that hose off we didn't take on water there.  We have had no problems mooring in the hairpins and although there are usually a couple of what look like permanent boats there the rest were visitors. Nice quiet mooring unlike through the first lock of the nine where there is an almost constant footfall and there is not much distance between your boat and the wall. Ok for a night though.

It used to be good when you could moor round past the pub though.

 

That hose was there but IIRC it had a Hozelock fitting, so I just unclipped the dirty hose and clipped my nice clean one on instead... 🙂

36 minutes ago, Iain_S said:

Agree: there are a lot of other potential moorings in the other basins, which are buoyed off to prevent entry

 

That's because the water is far too shallow to get a boat into them, a *lot* of dredging would be needed. We had a lot of trouble turning the boat round in the basin at the end just before the buoys, only just got round with a lot of pushing/pulling and power... 😞

 

(yes I know about squat, there wasn't any realistic alternative...)

8 minutes ago, pearley said:

Having been up and down the 9 many times, first in 1981, it is definitely a unique experience with every lock offering something different.

 

It certainly is an experience (which I've done several times), but not always a pleasant or easy one, especially if it's raining... 😉

 

(five people needed to open a gate last time we came down)

Edited February 27 by IanD

[Paul C]

When I went there last summer, there were 2-3 spaces to choose from (58’ boat) and no issues turning at the top of castlefield because I’d reversed in…..

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Paul C said:

When I went there last summer, there were 2-3 spaces to choose from (58’ boat) and no issues turning at the top of castlefield because I’d reversed in…..

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing -- I wished I'd reversed in after I didn't... 😉

 

How full it is obviously depends on when you're there, and presumably what time of day you arrive -- we got there at teatime and it was full, maybe there's more space earlier in the day?

 

Either way it's pot luck, and clearly Castlefield is not very visiting-boater-friendly nowadays -- certainly not compared to before Peel took over... 😞

Edited February 27 by IanD

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

1 hour ago, pearley said:

Having been up and down the 9 many times, first in 1981, it is definitely a unique experience with every lock offering something different.

 

 

It’s a fascinating set of locks and I keep telling myself I’ll find out more about them. 
I think at least the bottom couple of locks are cut into  stone,

wonderful bits of stonework on the bridges and locks 

Whilst they’re hard work, they’re very doable and with some care and thought there shouldn’t be problems,

I’d recommend the experience, 

 

oh and you go the back of Factory Records,

lots to see,

 

[Tracy D'arth]

Reading another post on here there will be a long term mooring in New Islington Marina coming available soon.

[junior]

Is it to leave the boat unattended for a few days? And does it have to be in Manchester itself?

 

We are about a day and a halfs cruising south of Manchester and 30 mins in the car. You'd be welcome to leave the boat in our garden for a while if necessary, so long as it's not full length.