Two pictures….. one canal …. and 47 years …. walking the Rochdale Canal

It was sometime back in 1979 when armed with just a couple of cameras and heaps of curiosity I wandered down the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street to the Castlefield Basin.

That journey and the eighteen or so pictures I took became a series of stories chronicling that day and subsequent trips.*

In the course of those 47 years the canal has undergone a transformation from a run down, slightly edgy place, littered with sunken boats covered in tall grass and invasive undergrowth which had all but taken over the towpath.

1979

But nothing daunted I returned with family and even groups of students when risk assessment hardy existed.

All of which was a sad lament on what had once been a busy waterway which cut through the centre of the city.

Back then there were plenty of reminders of its former glory fallen on hard times,  from the decaying warehouses lining the route to a complex set of pipes which carried steam from the nearby power stations to surrounding buildings.

Now the overgrown vegetation has been tamed, the warehouses converted into swish apartments or demolished for swish new apartments and those pipes which leached steam have gone to the scrap yard.

And as I was standing on Oxford Road this morning, I was drawn back to snap a few new pictures.

I checked the back catalogue but couldn’t replicate the scene from 1979 and instead fell back on an image looking towards Oxford Road.

At this point I could go into detail on the history of the canal and that space which was once the hospital, but I won’t.

They are all in the blog.**

Still its close enough. 

Location; The Rochdale Canal

Pictures; The Rochdale Canal from Oxford Road, 2026, and looking back towards Oxford Road, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*One Canal 18 pictures …….. https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/One%20canal%2018%20pictures

**The Rochdale Canal, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Rochdale%20Canal

It’s the history …. not the quality

I am on Camp Street looking across the Rochdale Canal.

The quality of the images is not wonderful but then they were taken with a cheap camera in 1978, and the negatives have sat in the cellar for 40 odd years.

The original prints were lost a long time ago, but today I digitized those negatives, and they reveal a bit of Manchester now vanished.

Back then the area was waiting for something to happen, so while the Courts were just up the road doing the business of dealing with lawbreakers, and the College of Commerce was still introducing students to the wonders of accountancy, the law, and even a mix of Arts degrees Camp Street was a pretty forlorn spot.

For three years at the start of the 1970s I had wandered down it, exploring this part of the city instead of going to the library in the Aytoun College of Knowledge.

Back then there was an old-fashioned transport café, and those line of parking meters, while the skyline was dominated by buildings most of which have long gone or been turned into other uses.

And that really is that.

Location; Canal Street

Pictures; the Rochdale Canal, 1979 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

One canal …… 18 pictures ……. 45 or so years ago …… walking the Rochdale in 1979

A short series bringing together for the first time pictures I took walking the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street to the Castlefield Basin.

Most have appeared before but not together in the order in which I walked the Canal back in 1979.

But given my memory and my total failure to make notes of each shot at the time I took them some may well be out of sync.

This is the end of the journey, and features pictures I don’t think I have used before.

The Rochdale Canal runs out into the Castlefield Basin under the Castle Street Bridge, at Lock 92.

In the 1970s and into the next decade this was still a shabby, slightly edgy, but wonderful place, which was, and is, at the centre of much of our industrial past. 

It was a major switching hub, where the river, the new railways and the canal network  met, supplying the diverse industries of the city.

Location; The Rochdale Canal

Pictures; The Rochdale Canal, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*One canal …18 pictures ,walking the Rochdale Canal in 1979, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/One%20canal%2018%20pictures

One canal …… 18 pictures ……. 45 or so years ago …… walking the Rochdale in 1979

 A short series bringing together for the first time pictures I took walking the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street to the Castlefield Basin.

Most have appeared before but not together in the order in which I walked the Canal back in 1979.

But given my memory and my total failure to make notes of each shot at the time I took them some may well be out of sync.

Back then the canal was still in a shabby state and despite the work of restoration there was still an air of decay, which was added to by the state of the buildings which stood along its path.

Many had seen better days, a few were derelict waiting for something to happen, and since I walked the walk some have been demolished and some have been renovated.

We are now about to go under Century Street and travel along the Gaythorn Tunnel, before reappearing in daylight beyond Deansgate.

Location; The Rochdale Canal

Pictures; The Rochdale Canal, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*One canal …18 pictures ,walking the Rochdale Canal in 1979,  https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/One%20canal%2018%20pictures

One canal …… 18 pictures ……. 45 or so years ago …… walking the Rochdale in 1979

A short series bringing together for the first time pictures I took walking the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street to the Castlefield Basin.

Most have appeared before but not together in the order in which I walked the Canal back in 1979.

But given my memory and my total failure to make notes of each shot at the time I took them some may well be out of sync.

Back then the canal was still in a shabby state and despite the work of restoration there was still an air of decay, which was added to by the state of the buildings which stood along its path.

Many had seen better days, a few were derelict waiting for something to happen, and since I walked the walk some have been demolished and some have been renovated.

And, so have the half sunken vessels which lay where they had sunk slowly rotting away.

It always amazed me that long after the restoration of the canal the three were still there, although as befitting the new tidied up canal they have finally gone.

Location; The Rochdale Canal

Pictures; The Rochdale Canal, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*One canal …18 pictures ,walking the Rochdale Canal in 1979, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/One%20canal%2018%20pictures

One canal …… 18 pictures ……. 45 or so years ago …… walking the Rochdale in 1979

A short series bringing together for the first time pictures I took walking the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street to the Castlefield Basin.

Most have appeared before but not together in the order in which I walked the Canal back in 1979.

But given my memory and my total failure to make notes of each shot at the time I took them some may well be out of sync.

Back then the canal was still in a shabby state and despite the work of restoration there was still an air of decay, which was added to by the state of the buildings which stood along its path.

Many had seen better days, a few were derelict waiting for something to happen, and since I walked the walk some have been demolished and some have been renovated.

The real surprise was the conversion of the railway arches into Deansgate Locks which are described as the “Trendy nightspot for those who want to party the night away. You'll find establishments such as The Comedy Store, Revolution and Baa Bar. This canal side location is perfect for those who want to stay in one area, find DJ's playing all night and plenty of cocktails".**

All a bit brighter than 40 years ago when the best you could hope for was a passingboat.

Location; The Rochdale Canal

Pictures; The Rochdale Canal, 1979, 2003, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*One canal …18 pictures ,walking the Rochdale Canal in 1979, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/One%20canal%2018%20pictures

**Deansgate Locks, https://www.visitmanchester.com/things-to-see-and-do/deansgate-locks-p37991

One canal …… 18 pictures ……. 45 or so years ago …… walking the Rochdale in 1979

A short series bringing together for the first time pictures I took walking the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street to the Castlefield Basin.

Most have appeared before but not together in the order in which I walked the Canal back in 1979.

But given my memory and my total failure to make notes of each shot at the time I took them some may well be out of sync.

Back then the canal was still in a shabby state and despite the work of restoration there was still an air of decay, which was added to by the state of the buildings which stood along its path.

Many had seen better days, a few were derelict waiting for something to happen, and since I walked the walk some have been demolished and some have been renovated.

But as rundown as the canal was, and perhaps because it was so messy, and out of sight,  it was from time to time part of the urban playground.

Location; The Rochdale Canal

Pictures; The Rochdale Canal, 1979,  from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*One canal …18 pictures ,walking the Rochdale Canal in 1979, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/One%20canal%2018%20pictures

One canal …… 18 pictures ……. 45 or so years ago …… walking the Rochdale in 1979

 A short series bringing together for the first time pictures I took walking the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street to the Castlefield Basin.

Most have appeared before but not together in the order in which I walked the Canal back in 1979.

But given my memory and my total failure to make notes of each shot at the time I took them some may well be out of sync.

Back then the canal was still in a shabby state and despite the work of restoration there was still an air of decay, which was added to by the state of the buildings which stood along its path.

Many had seen better days, a few were derelict waiting for something to happen, and since I walked the walk some have been demolished and some have been renovated.

Location; The Rochdale Canal

Pictures; The Rochdale Canal, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*One canal …18 pictures ,walking the Rochdale Canal in 1979, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/One%20canal%2018%20pictures

One canal …… 18 pictures ……. 45 or so years ago .......... walking the Rochdale in 1979

 A short series bringing together for the first time pictures I took walking the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street to the Castlefield Basin.*

Most have appeared before but not together in the order in which I walked the Canal back in 1979.

But given my memory and my total failure to make notes of each shot at the time I took them some may well be out of sync.

Back then the canal was still in a shabby state and despite the work of restoration there was still an air of decay, which was added to by the state of the buildings which stood along its path.

Many had seen better days, a few were derelict waiting for something to happen, and since I walked the walk some have been demolished and some have been renovated.

Once you had walked underneath St James’s Building and Oxford Road you had a clear waljk down the canal as far as the bridge which carried Albion Street into town.

Today this section is flanked with modern buildings but in 1979, the walk took you past a heap of warehouses and factories dating from the 19th century and offered up fine views of the Refuge Building.

Location; The Rochdale Canal

Pictures; The Rochdale Canal, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*One canal …18 pictures ,walking the Rochdale Canal in 1979, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/One%20canal%2018%20pictures

 

One canal …… 18 pictures ……. 45 or so years ago ..... walking the Rochdale in 1979

A short series bringing together for the fist time pictures I took walking the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street to the Castlefield Basin.*

Most have appeared before but not together in the order in which I walked the canal back in 1979.

But given my memory and my total failure to make notes of each shot at the time I took them some may well be out of sync.

Back then the canal was still in a shabby state and despite the work of restoration there was still an air of decay, which was added to by the state of the buildings which stood along its path.

Many had seen better days, a few were derelict waiting for something to happen, and I since I walked the walk some have been demolished and some have been renovated.

The first stretch from Princess Street took in the power station, which had supplied steam to the neighbouring offices and warehouses, through pipes which ran the length of the canal.

Passing these pipes could be a tad unnerving as in places steam would escape from the joints, leaving you wondering if you would suddenly encounter a burst of scalding water. 

The pipes have gone, the overgrown towpath has been cleaned up, and sections of the canal have been transformed, which rather makes the 18 pictures something special.

Although I am the first to admit the quality of some are iffy.

Location; The Rochdale Canal

Pictures; The Rochdale Canal, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*One canal ….. 24 pictures ,walking the Rochdale Canal in 1979, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/One%20canal%2018%20pictures

The canal, some lost buildings and a moment from 1978

 This is Canal Street in 1978, and for me and those friends who went to the old College of Commerce it is  familiar scene.

Canal Street and the Rochdale Canal, 1978

Now the blog doesn’t do nostalgia, it is a pernicious and deceptive trick, where the sun always shone, Wagon Wheels were always big, and people left the doors unlocked.

The fact is that there was never  a perfect golden time, and if people did leave their doors unlocked it was simply because there was nothing in the house worth stealing.

The canal, 1955

That said, the picture does conjure up nostalgic memories.  By 1978, my student days at the College were six years in the past, I was gainfully employed, and still finding lots of time to wander the streets of the city, with a camera and heaps of historical curiosity.

But perhaps because I walked Canal Street so many times I don’t think I ever photographed the canal from this angle.

David Ward-naden did, and it is a perfect piece of history.  Beyond the bridge and to the right the buildings which fronted London Road and have long gone, as has the cark park of the college which was behind that white wall.

David reminded me that this has once been an arm of the Rochdale Canal which serviced a series of warehouses, one of which in the early 1970s was converted into the library of the college.

And that in turn led me back to a series of stories I did of that spot, and in particular of Back Canal Street and Little David Street which ran parallel to Camp Street.  

Only Little David Street still exists and it is now just an alley which at present id fenced off.  Back in the early 19th century the two streets which ran off Chorlton Street terminated at the edge of the canal arm.*

In 1841, 81 people lived in 22 of the 28 back to back properties which had been built as one up one downs at the beginning of the 19th century.

The area, 1955

Here lived a mix of families who earned their living as labourers, textile workers with the odd craftsmen.

The properties were swept away and replaced by a new commercial building, but as late as the 1950s, the canal arm was still in use, and the site was not cleared until the middle of the next decade when the College of Commerce was built.

That too has now gone, with the old tower block redeveloped for residential purposes, and a new block standing on the site of the old car park.

Such is the passage of time over 40 or so years.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Canal Street and the Rochdale Calana, 1978, from the collection of David Ward-naden British Waterways narrow boats, proceeding to Hassall's Warehouse, Ducie Street, leaving Chorlton Street Lock, 1955, m54248, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester .... nu 64 Little David Street, a lost canal a cafe and a plan, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=Little+David+Street

“Look on my Works”* ……… and wonder …… a story for Alan

I don’t usually do then and now pictures but sometimes I break the rule, especially when it’s a place I have known for heaps of time.

The Rochdale Canal, 1979

And so, it is with the stretch of the Rochdale Canal from Piccadilly down to Castlefield.

Back in the 1970s I regularly walked it, marveling on how it had survived a combination of neglect and willful vandalism and how it offered up glimpses of what had once been.

The Rochdale Canal, 2023

Like those pipes running along the wall of what had once been part of  St Mary’s Hospital and supplied steam to a host of buildings from the old Electricity  Station.  

Some of the lagging had fallen away and steam rose from the pipes leaving me a tad worried that one day I would cop for a scolding burst.

And further along there were those half sunken boats which were a continuing source of mystery and fed my imagination with possible disasters which had overcome crew and cargo.

The future of the canal always seemed in doubt, and despite its historic significance and its role in shipping water through the city there was always the possibility it would end up being filled in.

But not so and the story of its restoration is there to read. 

Suffice to say it was saved and now boasts plenty of amenities along its towpath of which Deansgate Locks are but one.

And so last Thursday I looked down on that bit of water beside the bars and reflected on the changes on the skyline, which of course is the point of the two pictures, and the rest as they say is for you to "compare and contrast".

Looking down towards Castlefield, 1979

Location; The Rochdale Canal

Pictures, My canal, 1979 and 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*"Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!", Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1817 

Lazy history …….

 Well, just occasionally I break the cardinal rule, don’t do then and now pictures.

But rules are meant to be broken  ……. sometimes, and so here are two of the Rochdale Canal as it flows from Knott Mill into the Castlefield Basin.

Something like 44 years separates the two.

The first was taken using a camera which relied on smelly photography and the second the all singing digital replacement.

Of course they are not exactly taken from the same spot, but close enough.

I could have written about the transformation of the canal over those 40 plus years but I have done that heaps of times and anyway this is lazy history.*

Location; the Rochdale Canal

Pictures; the Rochdale Canal, 1979 and 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*The Rochale Canal, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Rochdale%20Canal

Mystery solved ….. and a confirmation of the honest and right way to do things ....

I won’t be alone I think in wondering why I haven’t been able to access Manchester Libraries digital collection of photographs.

St Andrew's School, 1920 Ancoats

At the last count there were over 80, 000 with some of them also appearing on a Flicker account.

A long time ago I sought permission to reproduce images from the collection on the blog with the clear understanding that I would acknowledge Manchester libraries and include the reference number and credit the photographer.  To which I also added the date.

But for perhaps six months the site has been down and despite requests for information all I got was that it “had issues”.  

This week in response to another request I got the promising reply that “Unfortunately the site is provided by a third-party company and there are still apparently problems that they need to fix, although we are assured it is nearly ready. In the meantime, you can see most of the images by going to http://gmlives.org.uk/results.html and selecting photograph as the category”.

All of which is very promising but makes me reflect on the request I made a decade and a bit ago to use their pictures is the simple observation that I don’t hold the copyright and like any images which I haven’t created they are not mine to use without permission.

Now I know in the case of the 80,000 most were donated by individuals who perhaps are the real copyright holders, but it remains the case they ain’t mine to use unless I ask and get the go ahead.

Not that that troubles many on social media who happily download and post away with no reference to where they came from, where they were taken and a date.

At best they leave a caption along the lines of “an old part of the city” which is as useful as reflecting “it was different in the past”.

Dates, locations and the name of the author are all important in providing context to the image, and help tell a story.

 Palais De Luxe cinema, Barlow Moor Road, circa 1928

And it matters.

Years ago someone reposted a picture I had used of an old Chorlton cinema, ignored  the story that came with it and so rendered its real value worthless.

Because the source came from an archive in east Scotland in a collection devoted to the Lion Foundry and had been taken by a local Chorlton photographer called Charles Ireland in the early 1920s.

All of which was important in telling the story of this cinema and throwing light on the fact that it had been taken to illustrate the cast iron and glass veranda which fronted the building. 

Equally important was Charles Ireland who not only lived in Chorlton but was a recognised photographer with studios in Manchester.

Abandoned, Rochdale Canal, 1979

Finally, the date helped locate the films being shown that week and provided extra information on the concert party that was down to perform live.

Angel Street, 1900

All of which means that using the catalogue entry is important, as is seeking permission.

When it comes down to it someone took the picture and at the very least they or the present holders should have the right to decide where and how it should be used.

And it is not enough just to mutter “well it was out there so its fair game to be used”, which in a different context could be used to justify walking away with a bike parked outside a shop.

Many of us have seen images we have taken, or accounts we have written stolen and reused on the most inappropriate sites in a context which does little credit to the original piece of work.

Common Lodging House, Angel Street, 1897

So I shall be pleased when those 80,000 images are back online and will continue to be careful to credit Manchester Libraries and offer up all the information from the catalogue.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; St Andrew’s School, Homer Street, 1920, m48646, Angel Street common lodging house, 1897, m08365, Angel Street, 1900, Samuel L Coulthurst, m08978, S.L.Coulthurst, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass,  The Rochdale Canal, 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Palais De Luxe cinema, circa 1928, Charles Ireland, GD10-07-04-6-13-01 courtesy of East Dunbartonshire Archives

The silly detective story ….. one canal …. that stone wall …. and the viaduct

This will either seem a fascinating exploration of a forgotten bit of our past or confirmation that I need to get a life.

That brick wall, 2023

But I have become fascinated by the detail on this picture which I took last week down by the Rochdale Canal.

Like countless others I have passed it heaps of times and never gave it a thought.

Today it carries the tram which connects south Manchester, Salford and Altrincham to the city centre and beyond.

Added to which the arches to the left of my bit of brick are now home a collection of bars, and restaurants known as Deansgate Locks.

Those stone yards, 1851

A century earlier it supported a series of railway lines which terminated at Trafford Street.

And so back to the wall, which offers up the question of why is there a stone section at the bottom?

It may just be the solid stone foundations, but I rather think it may be more, particularly given the arched window which long ago was blocked off.

Looking at maps from the mid-19th century, all of the north side of the canal from Albion Street almost to Deansgate were a mix of stone, timber and coal yards and our spot stored stone.

The rate books for the period offer up eight names of people who may have run our stone yard, and I rather think ours may have been the business of a John Routledge, but that is based purely on his proximity in various records to the Albion Street end of that series of yards.

So it may be that the stone wall with its bricked-up arch ran beside the canal and Mr. Routledge’s business.

He and his family appear in the historical records.

In 1851 they were living on Stretford Road, and he described himself as a “Stone mason employing 40 men”.  Their home must have been a busy one give that along with the seven children Mr. and Mrs. Routledge shared the house with a niece and two servants.

Railway lines, 1900

In time I will go looking for 274 Stretford Road and other references in the census, trade directories and rate books, but now there is just one other surprise to sort out.

And that is my assumption that this stone wall supports the viaduct that carried the railway out of Central Station to Chorlton, Didsbury, Derbyshire and London.  

An easy assumption to make given that the tram now follows the same route as far as East Didsbury.

But no, the great viaduct joined a little further east, while running alongside the canal were a series of railway lines including a turntable which terminated close by Trafford Street.

And beside those lines directly facing the canal is a building which appears all all the later maps.

Trafford Street and the Canal, 1950

As late as 1950 those railway lines were still there, and while they ceased to be in use with the closing of Central Railway Station, this stretch of viaduct now plays its part in the creation of the tram network.

Of course, as soon as the story goes live someone will be able to offer up more information, with pictures and personal recollections.

We shall see.

Location; Whitworth Street, Manchester

Pictures; Bricks and things, Rochdale Canal, 2023, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, the Rochdale Street and Trafford Street, 1851, from Adshead’s map of Manchester 1851, and in 1900 from Goads Fire Insurance map, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

Walking the Rochdale Canal …… all flowers, water and mills

On a warm sunny day, there is nothing better than a stroll along a canal.

Of course the hardy and resolute will do the walk in all weathers, even when the rain is coming down like stair rods and bouncing off the water.

But in spring and summer there is much more to see, and lingering beside a lock gate or admiring the canal architecture is so much more appealing.

And that is what Andy did yesterday, choosing to stop by the Victoria Mill which my Wikipedia tells me, "is a Grade II listed nineteenth century cotton spinning mill in Miles Platting, Manchester. It was a double mill designed by George Woodhouse completed in 1869.

It was built alongside the Rochdale Canal and Varley Street, Victoria Mills were constructed for William Holland, of the Adelphi Mill, Salford. 

It was designed by George Woodhouse of Bolton. It was designed as a six storey double mill with shared engine house. It had an octagonal chimney. It was worked to the 1960, and has now been converted into office space and residential."**

It is a mill I knew nothing about, and as you do I went looking for more, which I discovered in the form of another history of the building, and the site of the present owners advertising its role as a commercial and residential property.**

Location; Mile Platting

Pictures; the Victoria Mill and the Rochdale Canal, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson

* Victoria Mill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Mill, 

**Victoria Mill, https://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/outside/victoriamill.html, http://whitecroftgroup.com/projects/victoria-mill

The Rochdale Canal offer up its surprises ……

I wonder what generations of those who navigated the canal over the centuries would make of these two figures.

I like them.

Enough said.

Location; Manchester

Picture; surprises along the Rochdale Canal, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Walking the Rochdale …… on a January day

The Rochdale Canal has been one of my favourite bits of waterway for over 40 years.

And here I should be more specific and say it is the stretch from the Dale Street Basin through the heart of the city to Castlefield.

 I first discovered it in the 1970s, and it is  place that has been a backdrop for a series of photo shoots, somewhere to bring friends and family, and once the scene of several school projects where I introduced groups of Year nine history students to a bit of Manchester’s industrial past.

 And a few days ago my old friend Andy Robertson  wandered along and photographed the canal as it looks to day.

 

Some of these images I posted with ones I took back in 1979, and today I am rounding off a look at the canal with a few more from Andy.

 The canal today is very different from the one I remember.

 

Location; he Rochdale Canal in Manchester

Pictures; the Rochdale Canal in Manchester, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson 

Two towers …. an art gallery and a rant ……………. in Castlefield on a Sunday

Now, I like this picture, with its mix of different towers.

It was one of a series Andy took at the weekend in Castlefield, beside and around the Rochdale Canal

We will all have our own opinions of the rise and rise of those new towers which have come to dominate the city’s landscape.

I am fully aware of the economic arguments and never want to appear the backward historian.
After all the Victorians and Edwardians did their share of knocking down old buildings to put up their own, which today we can be quite precious about.

But for me these new towers do nothing for their surroundings, after all architecture should be about harmony, and the skill of making the new building feel that it belongs with its neighbours.

And above all not making all of us insignificant blots on the horizon.

So rant over, and moving on, here is one of my favourite buildings along the canal.  I have admired it for over 40 years, from when I first wandered down to take photos of what was then a very sad and grimy place.

And just for a minute I thought it had become an art gallery, because there was a sign for the Saul Hay Gallery.

On closer examination I noticed there was that arrow, which pointed to that bit of Collier Street where the gallery is located.

I have to say I missed the arrival of the gallery which “was born out of the passion of its collector founders, Catherine and Ian Hay, and has quickly established itself as one of Manchester's foremost independent art galleries. 

In the heart of the city and yet tucked away on the banks of the Rochdale Canal our beautiful gallery offers a wide range of original artworks available to buy”.*

All of which is the thing about adventures, even if they are not your own, and that is the way they can offer up surprises, which in this case was a collection of fine pictures.

Leaving me just to finish where I started with a collection of towers.

Location; Castlefield

Pictures, Castlfield, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Saul Hay Gallery, https://www.saulhayfineart.co.uk/

Walking the Rochdale Canal …………. 40 years ago

Now 40 or more years ago, armed with a new camera, and more than a sense of adventure I walked the Rochdale Canal from Princess Street down to the Castlefield Basin.*

At the time the stretch was still wild, neglected and few people ventured along it.

Today it is a popular walk, ending at spot inhabited by Dukes 92, the Wharf and Barca.

None of these were there back in 1978, and it’s hard now to think just how derelict, and a little threatening the place could be.

So here 40 and a bit later are a collection of the pictures, I took, they are in no particular order, and the purists will shout they follow no logical sequence.

But where would the fun be in that?  For those that want to. they can retrace my steps, putting the images in order.

Most have appeared before and will do again, but now over the brace of a few days they are all together.

Location; the Rochdale Canal

Pictures; the Rochdale Canal, circa 1978, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Pentax K100, the camera you could drop, and it would pretty much just bounce, and which would perform in the deepest cold of winter, and blistering hot days travelling the Greek islands.