| The 32 mile long Rochdale canal runs across the Pennines from Castlefield in Manchester to Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire. The canal, officially opened in 1804, was mostly closed by 1952, and by the 1960s large parts of it were unusable. In 2002, and after many years of restoration work, the entire canal was again open to canal barges, though there have been a few problems due to leaks etc. since then.
On Friday 10th of July 2009, word reached us that a horse drawn barge was navigating its way along the canal, and was due to pass through Rochdale that afternoon on its way to Sowerby Bridge as part of the 9 day Rochdale Canal Festival. The barge 'Maria' was provided by members of the Horse Boating Society, and this page shows a number of images of them passing through the Firgrove area of the town, and closely followed by a motor driven barge owned by the Jones family (with a very witty and appropriate name at that I might add!) 
Always nice to see canal barges at work, and nice to see the Rochdale Canal in use again, something I thought would never have happened just 20 years ago. |
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