Coming out of the darkness under Dale Street, Mr Monkey paused for a moment to watch water pouring through the upper gate of Lock 84. He was fairly sure that it shouldn't be leaking so much. Then he looked at the Piccadilly Basin of the Rochdale Canal. In 1849 there was a long storehouse along the wharf on the left, and you could take a barge all the way to Rochdale and beyond. The Rochdale canal was legally abandoned in 1952 after not being used commerically since 1937, and 2½ miles from Great Ancoats Street to the city boundary were filled in with concrete in 1971.
Return to Mr Monkey walks the Rochdale Canal through Manchester
Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey.