Manchester City Centre scroats

[oarfish]

I would advise early morning transits of the Rochdale 9 through Piccadilly basin and Canal street. Had probably the worst harassment we have experienced on the system - thrown bottles & stones, spitting, jumping on the boat etc. 2 separate groups. There were 5 of us on the boat (and two of us are gym rats), I pity some poor old sod trying to single hand through that. Informed the police, but if you have seen the state of Manchester recently they are unlikely to actually do anything.

[Ray T]

10 minutes ago, oarfish said:

I would advise early morning transits of the Rochdale 9 through Piccadilly basin and Canal street. Had probably the worst harassment we have experienced on the system - thrown bottles & stones, spitting, jumping on the boat etc. 2 separate groups. There were 5 of us on the boat (and two of us are gym rats), I pity some poor old sod trying to single hand through that. Informed the police, but if you have seen the state of Manchester recently they are unlikely to actually do anything.

Ah you haven't had the ultimate yet - being piddled on from bridges.

 

Sorry to read of your misfortune though.

[mrsmelly]

18 minutes ago, oarfish said:

I would advise early morning transits of the Rochdale 9 through Piccadilly basin and Canal street. Had probably the worst harassment we have experienced on the system - thrown bottles & stones, spitting, jumping on the boat etc. 2 separate groups. There were 5 of us on the boat (and two of us are gym rats), I pity some poor old sod trying to single hand through that. Informed the police, but if you have seen the state of Manchester recently they are unlikely to actually do anything.

Sorry to here it, its rare but nasty when it happens. Funnily enough in our years we have been stoned three times, one was in Knottingley and the other two times were in the so called nice area of Thrupp from the railway bridge so it can happen anywhere unfortunately ☹️

[Mad Harold]

16 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Sorry to here it, its rare but nasty when it happens. Funnily enough in our years we have been stoned three times, one was in Knottingley and the other two times were in the so called nice area of Thrupp from the railway bridge so it can happen anywhere unfortunately ☹️

Only stoned three times?Perhaps you need to visit more pubs!

Seriously though,incidents described by Oarfish are thankfully rare.[ I came through Anal Street solo on midday with no problems]

A boater I know keeps a competition catapult and a supply of marbles handy for incidents described here,but it is not advisable.

[doratheexplorer]

Get your phone out and film them.  It's even possible to livestream direct on the internet.  They won't like that and will leave.

[Dave123]

Very sorry to hear of this! Did you phone 999 or 101? Surely this counts as an assault in progress and the police should show up soonish? They can't be THAT busy on a Thursday morning?

[Machpoint005]

I don't condone or excuse the actions of the scrotes at all, in any city, but bear in mind that the OP had everything against him:

 

(1) School holidays

(2) Fine weather

(3) Time of day.

 

The story might have been very different on a wet Monday in October.

[Jennifer McM]

51 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Get your phone out and film them.  It's even possible to livestream direct on the internet.  They won't like that and will leave.

We were sitting ducks thanks to the Beast from the East last March in Leighton Buzzard. We were iced in or a week, and were subjected to snowballs (probably with a stone in the middle) from the local kids. Be warned though, if you take photos of the kids they'll probably retaliate by shouting paedo at you.

[Athy]

4 minutes ago, Jennifer McM said:

 Be warned though, if you take photos of the kids they'll probably retaliate by shouting paedo at you.

To which the reply is "No, photo!"

[Jennifer McM]

3 minutes ago, Athy said:

To which the reply is "No, photo!"

Even if anyone's worried, you could always pretend to take a pic, they wouldn't know if you've snapped them.

[magictime]

1 hour ago, Furness said:

I came through Anal Street solo

The mind boggles! What are you, a contortionist?

[nicknorman]

2 hours ago, oarfish said:

I would advise early morning transits of the Rochdale 9 through Piccadilly basin and Canal street. Had probably the worst harassment we have experienced on the system - thrown bottles & stones, spitting, jumping on the boat etc. 2 separate groups. There were 5 of us on the boat (and two of us are gym rats), I pity some poor old sod trying to single hand through that. Informed the police, but if you have seen the state of Manchester recently they are unlikely to actually do anything.

Sorry to hear of your nasty experiences. You may just have been unlucky, we came down Ashton and Rochdale 9 yesterday. Absolutely zero trouble on the former and on the latter, which we started at about 13:30, I just had one silly boy spit on me from a bridge. Missed, fortunately. Oh and of course the gay cruisers under the second lock which might seem intimidating but they are no trouble, they just want to get on with their thing!

[doratheexplorer]

36 minutes ago, Jennifer McM said:

 if you take photos of the kids they'll probably retaliate by shouting paedo at you.

I don't really fit the demographic so I can't imagine that happening to me.

[nicknorman]

Ps are you now moored at castlefield?  In which case I’ll pop over and say hello.

Just now, doratheexplorer said:

I don't really fit the demographic so I can't imagine that happening to me.

... and so what if they did!?

[doratheexplorer]

1 minute ago, nicknorman said:

 

... and so what if they did!?

I might cry

[Jennifer McM]

9 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

I don't really fit the demographic so I can't imagine that happening to me.

As a 65 year old granny, I don't fit the demographic either, but that didn't stop them.

[matty40s]

40 minutes ago, magictime said:

The mind boggles! What are you, a contortionist?

You don't know the area then??

[Athy]

38 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

 Oh and of course the gay cruisers under the second lock which might seem intimidating.

Just warn them that they've got 48 hours to clear off.

Edited July 26, 2018 by Athy

[billS]

1 hour ago, Jennifer McM said:

 Be warned though, if you take photos of the kids they'll probably retaliate by shouting paedo at you.

Just tell them that they are too fat and ugly for anyone to bother photographing for fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2018 by billS

[magictime]

55 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Oh and of course the gay cruisers under the second lock which might seem intimidating but they are no trouble, they just want to get on with their thing!

"Hello, police? I wish to report that I was cruising along the canal minding my own business when I was intimidated by a man cruising along the canal minding his own business."

*click*

25 minutes ago, matty40s said:

You don't know the area then??

Is this a question about Manchester or about human anatomy?

[oarfish]

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

Ps are you now moored at castlefield?  In which case I’ll pop over and say hello.

... and so what if they did!?

Well that was the plan, but the lock by rain bar was out of order. Should get down there this evening.

Yeah, it's often a timing thing. Thought it would be low harassment due to having a bunch of friends helping out.

[nicknorman]

3 minutes ago, oarfish said:

Well that was the plan, but the lock by rain bar was out of order. Should get down there this evening.

Yeah, it's often a timing thing. Thought it would be low harassment due to having a bunch of friends helping out.

Right there is a story behind that lock. Yesterday we arrived, delighted to find the lock full (rest had been empty). But a bloke waiting to come up telling us the lock was broken, he’d called out CRT who would send someone by 4:30 (was about 3pm) and he’d already been waiting a couple of hours. We determined that the problem was a very leaky / broken top paddle. Not being one to not take charge, we put the boat in the lock. Prodded the paddle which did seem / feel iffy. And then opened the bottom paddles. Yes there was a fair flow in from the top. However I attached our bow line to the top of one of the gate posts, took up the slack, 3 people pushing on the balance beam and Telemachus in reverse (not too much power for fear of snapping the ropes, and having extricated Mother in law from the bow deck lest she got killeded by the breaking rope) and lo, the gate came open. We exited and the two boats waiting (for hours) to come up went in. At that point 2 very grumpy CRT blokes arrived asking what the problem was. When it was explained, they said “oh yes we know about that paddle! Mutter mutter ... called out for nothing again...” etc. I half expected a bollocking for using force to open the gate but Jeff pre-emptied that by saying “we just wanted to get through before you close yet another North west canal. The guys looked even grumpier, and didn’t seem to give a sh1t. Welcome to the world of CRT NW region!

[Richard10002]

3 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

Get your phone out and film them.  It's even possible to livestream direct on the internet.  They won't like that and will leave.

or steal your phone and assault you?

[Sea Dog]

Welcome to Manchester, eh?  If anyone really cares about the canal there, they're either on a very long holiday or they're hiding it well. There is, however, a special police canal emergency number which is advertised on a big notice as you enter the nine: 0161 872 5050.

Edited July 26, 2018 by Sea Dog

[Richard10002]

1 minute ago, Sea Dog said:

Welcome to Manchester, eh?  If anyone really cares about the canal there, they're either on a very long holiday or they're hiding it well. There is, however, a special police canal emergency number which is advertised on a big yellow notice as you enter the nine: 0161 872 5050.

I dont think that's a special canal number, IIRC its GMP general enquiries number, although I probably havent called it for over a decade.