Back along the Rochdale Canal in the heart of the city

I have decided to revisit the Rochdale Canal.

It is a place that has held a special fascination for me ever since I first discovered it in the early 1970s, and as foolish as it sounds thought of it as somewhere which was pretty much all my own.

Of course back then it was very neglected and not that well known, despite the fact that it ran through the heart of the city from the Dale Street Basin near Piccadilly down to Castlefield.

And so back then I had it almost to myself, although I now discover that friends like  Eileen Blake had also discovered it at the same time.

To start the series off again I thought I would post one of the pictures I took just two years ago when I was showing the canal off to my sister’s partner.

This spot is always one of my favourites, and just as I started the post Andy Robertson sent me his own picture of the same lock keeper’s house today and a reminder that back in 1972 H

Milligan had recorded the same building.

Now I could go into a deep historical account but will just leave it there for now.

Pictures; the canal by the Deansgate Bridge, 2012, from the collection of Andrew Simpson,  the same spot in 2014 by Andy Robertson and back in 1972, H Milligan, m05522, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass


*The Rochdale Canal, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Rochdale%20Canal