Manchester City Centre scroats

[BruceinSanity]

4 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

Don't forget the drug dealing in the car park.

I’m not personally interested in drug dealer services, I get a big bag of them from my local pharmacy every couple of months.

 

And they’re free.

 

Because I’m old!

(c) Maureen Lipman

[Sea Dog]

10 hours ago, nicknorman said:

we took a river cruise to Salford Quays and went to the imperial war museum. Quite well done but a little mawkish for me, and only one aeroplane!

The aeroplanes are in the Aerospace Annex of the Science and Industry Museum. Worth sailing later for.

[adam1uk]

10 hours ago, nicknorman said:

we took a river cruise to Salford Quays and went to the imperial war museum. Quite well done but a little mawkish for me, and only one aeroplane! Came back on the tram. Such a waste really, all that vast expanse of quayside and zero boats.

There’s nothing to stop you going to Salford by boat, except for a bit of organisation and a fee for Pomona Lock.  We did it last September.  Nice mooring close enough to the Holiday Inn Express that you can easily get on their Wi-fi!

[pearley]

7 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

Don't forget the drug dealing in the car park.

That never bothered me and I never bothered them. Just wish they'd turn there headlights off whilst they're doing it. 

7 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

 

Edited July 27, 2018 by pearley

[mayalld]

18 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Perhaps, and maybe the response wouldn't have been what the term "Police Emergency" conjures up, but whoever put the sign up advertised it as if it was. It reads:

 

Welcome to Manchester City Centre

You are entering a Canal Watch Area

Police Emergency: Tel 0161-872-5050

 

It's in black lettering on a white background with a motif of a little red pennant with blue edging bearing the words "Canal Watch".  It probably means bugger all and is a sop to the issues to give an illusion of care.

That sign is both out of date, and misleading!

 

872 5050 is (or more correctly was), as many from Greater Manchester will recall, the NON-emergency number for GMP.

 

It was the number that you called to get through to the police where it didn't warrant a 999 call, and was rendered obsolete by the introduction of 101. I don't know if it even works these days.

[blackrose]

17 hours ago, Athy said:

I would send a copy of this to Manchester City Council and to their Tourist Office if there is one.

Yes, seriously. It might wake them up.

I'm not sure about that? I think it's just part of the local culture and I doubt they'd do anything. Mancs are MAD 4 IT!

 

[nicknorman]

1 hour ago, adam1uk said:

There’s nothing to stop you going to Salford by boat, except for a bit of organisation and a fee for Pomona Lock.  We did it last September.  Nice mooring close enough to the Holiday Inn Express that you can easily get on their Wi-fi!

Well a good point. Lack of forward planning by me! But really I was thinking that at least part of the area could be used for permanent moorings, like for example is done at Bristol floating harbour. It just seems a shame that it is a boat desert!

[Sea Dog]

7 hours ago, mayalld said:

That sign is both out of date, and misleading!

 

872 5050 is (or more correctly was), as many from Greater Manchester will recall, the NON-emergency number for GMP.

Well.its still there, large as life. Maybe it's just indicative of the priority Manchester Police give to the canal, which pretty much matches the priority CRT, Bridgewater Canal Co, the Planning Department, the Chamber of Commerce, businesses alongside it and the Council Cleansing Department give it.:(

[Machpoint005]

38 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

the Council Cleansing Department

Do they really call it that?

[Richard10002]

8 hours ago, mayalld said:

That sign is both out of date, and misleading!

 

872 5050 is (or more correctly was), as many from Greater Manchester will recall, the NON-emergency number for GMP.

 

It was the number that you called to get through to the police where it didn't warrant a 999 call, and was rendered obsolete by the introduction of 101. I don't know if it even works these days.

Apparently they take calls on 5050 and 101 but are trying to encourage 101. I called 101 the other day but, after being on hold for ten minutes or so, I hung up. 

[Machpoint005]

I wonder why GM Police can't afford to man the phone lines?

 

 

Oh no, I remember, it's something to do with that Mrs May when she was Home Secretary.

[PeterCr]

I had a new one today going through Nuneaton. A bunch of kids fishing on the towpath. One tried to hook me with the hooks hanging off the end of the rod and another threw a handful of maggots at me.

 

Not hurt in the least but I did have to pull my shirt off and pick maggots out of my pants and sweep a whole lot of wriggling multi coloured maggots off the deck.

[roland elsdon]

You were lucky, you met the kids. Nuneaton is a town not known for welcoming its canal. You may have noted the absence of boats moored on the towpath or livaboards. There is a reason... We never stop anywhere near it.

 

[billS]

5 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

You were lucky, you met the kids. Nuneaton is a town not known for welcoming its canal. You may have noted the absence of boats moored on the towpath or livaboards. There is a reason... We never stop anywhere near it.

 

Who can blame them? What with the canal being full of hippies and privileged geriatric baby boomers...

[roland elsdon]

I think the privileged get the butler to take the boat through, the rest of us run the gauntlet or go early in the morning. It's better than it was. I remember being lodged on a trolley under the pedestrian bridge once, while the kids threw rocks. Fortunately as they said' it's got no f...ing windows

[rgreg]

21 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Only exceptional because of lack of rainfall. That doesn’t make the paddle gear unlubricated and incredibly stiff, the former visitor moorings too shallow to use (considering the relevant pounds were up to the bywash), many paddles out of action, gates and lock walls leaky, several canals closed due to mechanical issues, a general air of being unkempt and nearly abandoned, and the staff very surly. Well I suppose the hot weather could be responsible for the last one, but my suspicion is that they are always like that (Standedge tunnel chaps excepted).

Ah, you're far too sensitive Nick. Stay up north for a while and you'll grow to love it ?

[nicknorman]

3 minutes ago, rgreg said:

Ah, you're far too sensitive Nick. Stay up north for a while and you'll grow to love it ?

I can’t. The canals up there are all closed for the summer.

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Machpoint005 said:

Do they really call it that?

Who knows? Have they got one? (They have actually, I saw a guy with a brush doing a very good job - just not near the canal)  Nevertheless,  a rose by any other name...

[nicknorman]

I suppose I should recount a positive experience in Manchester. This was just after the boy spat on me from a bridge on the pound between lock 90 and 91. Approaching the lock a chap was magnet fishing. I said (by way of polite conversation) “Oh, are you magnet fishing?” To which he replied Yes. A bit of chit chat ensued about what he caught and how he disposed of it (his mate sold the windlass and handcuff keys on eBay) and I then entered the lock. A minute or so later he came back up to me with a windlass in hand, offering it to me. I thanked him kindly but said we already had 4 and that he should sell it on eBay. He said “I don’t want anything for it, you could put it to better use than me” but still I declined it, hopefully as gracefully as I could. Well I thought actually he had more need of it as a means of making a few quid than I did. But it was such a nice gesture and afterwards I did feel bad about not accepting it. Maybe I should have? So not everyone in Manchester is a scrote!

[rusty69]

9 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Maybe I should have

You should have accepted. Then chucked it in the next lock so someone else could catch it! 

[Rob-M]

Probably drain all the locks with it tonight ?

[mayalld]

2 hours ago, nicknorman said:

I can’t. The canals up there are all closed for the summer.

Don't you read the notices?

 

Only for boating. You can still go for a walk.

 

The stoppage notices with this trite crap about you can still do all this other stuff (oh can I, but anybody can do that FOC, and you've trousered a grand of mine to tell me I can still do the free stuff) seem to be seen by CRT as a way of putting a less gloomy spin on it, but in actual fact they are serving only to turn even the more supportive elements amongst boaters against them.

 

[Sea Dog]

8 hours ago, rusty69 said:

You should have accepted. Then chucked it in the next lock so someone else could catch it! 

Probably correct - there's a catch and return policy on canal fishing. You'd have to check the rule book to ascertain whether there's an exemption for magnet fishing, but I'm pretty sure Mike the Boilerman throws his windlasses back.

[mayalld]

4 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Probably correct - there's a catch and return policy on canal fishing. You'd have to check the rule book to ascertain whether there's an exemption for magnet fishing, but I'm pretty sure Mike the Boilerman throws his windlasses back.

Is it close season on windlasses?

[oarfish]

So according to the GMP police twitter they nicked a bunch of 13-15 year old kids for 'robbery and other offences in the Village area'. That was almost certainly them. And yeah, it's not all bad at all. Going down the Ashton on the way plenty of people were trying to be helpful when we picked up a metal strap lined suitcase on the prop. Also last year going through Rochdale early on a Sunday morning it was mostly nice African ladies on their way to church, one of whom asked us if we were cleaning the canal.