Worsley to Castlefield

On Friday morning we left the pleasant surroundings of Worsley 

the ochre colour is due to dissolved iron ore in the water

On route we passed 'The Lighthouse'  

& crossed the Manchester Ship Canal on the Barton Swing Aqueduct

looking left towards the Manchester skyline

looking right towards the road bridge & the M60 in the distance

Had lots of family time over the weekend & on Sunday with family aboard we cruised into Manchester, managed to find a mooring in a very busy Castlefield & enjoyed a picnic in the sunshine, later they got the tram home back to Stretford.

busy Castlefield

We had a walk over to check out the big screen area, complete with beach, before the football final & thought we may watch it there to save on our power but in the end we were just too idle & watched it on TV.

Manchester 'beach' 

I woke at 3am & someone was running their engines !! It was pretty busy with boats end to end & no spaces left so difficult to figure out who was the culprit except it was someone on the opposite side, just as well because if I had actually got up………

Had a potter around yesterday, visited the John Rylands Library , & the Museum of Science & Industry  I was a bit disappointed  not too see more about the history of the canals in Manchester but it is undergoing some serious revamping with the main building currently closed so I may be doing them an injustice.

9pm last night & just settling down to watch Rich Hall’s programme about the American Deep South  when the boat opposite turned their engines on, opened their hatch & started playing music so we all could hear, cheers guys!

I bit my tongue & closed the windows, it quietened down about 11 so not too bad I suppose…..

This morning we needed to go up to the service point to water & as a few boats have moved on we have now moored up well away from the offenders.

We will probably make a move on Thursday or Friday & the current plan is to head up the Ashton then onto the Peak Forest, maybe…

It seems that the water situation on the Leeds Liverpool is getting critical, & BW plan to close it between Gargrave & Wigan on 2nd August unless there’s significant rainfall, well it’s pouring down here tonight so that’s a start.

a couple more pics

erm.. can't I play with this freshly baked bread bun then ?

for Richard ;-)