Cycling the southern leg of the Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal
10th April 2010
Easter 2010 Part 15
Milepost No 4
Having found the northern end of this section and met a rambler who had spent the morning walking it all the way from Salford we decided to give cycling it a crack. Whilst a short section of the canal is in water, just south of Clifton Aqueduct, it is hemmed in by chain linked fencing and exploration is not encouraged. A right of way exists, squeezed in between high fences but this soon gives way to more open ground and a dry channel.
Dry canal bed
The section has clearly been the recipient of some TLC as the canal bed is tree free and the granite walls are in surprisingly good order - just add water.
Canal at Clifton
It was almost by surprise that we came across the remains of Lumm's Aqueduct, hidden beneath brambles and lookiing much like a lock chamber till we realised we could see the path below. This low aqueduct has been torn out, existing to give pedestrian access to the factories beyond.
Lumm's Aqueduct (remains)
Running south from here the canal returns to water and is rather attractive with its hard edgings matching the sturdy bridges which span the broadguage channel. Whilst the canal bed is in good repair, the towpath gets ever narrower and you end up riding n the 2ft wide edging stones. We tried this for a while but eventually resorted to walking when one or other of us falling down four feet to a murky bottom seemed an inevitable end.
Agecroft Road Bridge
After all the dashing about to find Clifton Aqueduct by road and path, the three miles back to Park House Bridge (now embankment) wizzed by and we found ourselves in Salford Quays a little over a hour.
Canal at Park House Bridge
Dont expect to find much at the extreme south of the manchester Bolton and Bury Canal, but the more northerly sections are well worth a wander.
3 comments:
This was very much my old stamping ground when I was a student at Salford Uni. Our halls of residence (now demolished) were just off Agecroft Road; the MB&B was a short walk away. If only I'd been more interested in canals then! I did take one roll of photos (transparencies) in the area, I must see if I can get them scanned. I remember one of the pics was of a milestone - I wonder if it was the same one!
Halfie
I successfully digitised a bunch of transparencies by photographing them with a close up lens when laid on top of a light box.
If you dont have the kit I will happily do it for you and send the end result back on a USB stick.
Andy
Good to see the old canal again even as neglected as it is. I spent many of my school days (wagging it) fishing for roach and perch between the cock robbin bridge and Agecroft. Your pictures brought back many happy memories as I now live in Northen Ireland Thanks.
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