the gaggle saluted us beneath a patch of blue…
the spire seemed closer and more homely as we passed Romily…
and we encountered some interesting bridges on our way up the Peak Forest Canal to Ashton-under-Lyne.
The more unusual ones seemed to owe their more-unusualness to having been widened in some way. So the view from one side was rather different to the one from the other.
Nicholson's guide calls bridge 6 "a pretty roving bridge, grown wider over the years".
It has a plaque commemorating its restoration.
This next bridge is unlikely to be a candidate for any plaques…
It took us under the M67.
And what day would be complete without one of these?
It's Bridge 1 on the Peak Forest Canal…
– though the numbering is rather upset by there being one more bridge to come before the junction, labelled Bridge A!
So now we're off the Peak Forest. It's been a great, if wet, visit. We'll be back. Tonight we're tied up just round round the corner, on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, though facing in the right direction to start down the 18 locks of the Ashton Canal towards the centre of Manchester. They advise you to get through them early and in one hit, cos' this is bandit country. But we'd also like to have another quick peep at Ashton's Social and Industrial History Museum just across the water, and that doesn't open until 10 a.m. Decisions…
The Ashton really isn't as bad as it used to be, and if you start a bit later you're more likely to meet boats coming up.
ReplyDeleteWe can recommend a mooring at the bottom of the locks, at Piccadilly Village. It's a little basin on the left hand side, in a gated development. Ask a resident, and they'll give you the code for the gates so you can get out and back in again. We stayed there last week, and it's very handy for Manchester city centre.
Thanks, Adam. Tonight we are happily ensconced in Telford Basin as you suggested. We got the code for the gate – but after the 18 we're far too knackered to go out!
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