We made the journey down with Chris and Eileen making an efficient team working the locks together and one going on ahead to get the next one ready. We had 19 locks to work in 7 miles and it was raining.
At Shears lock (no.71), the pound below was drained because paddles were opened at the next lock down. (We are in naughty boy territory here!)
Fortunately the pound above was very full, level with the towpath in places,
so we flushed some water through the lock and Ian cleaned out the by-wash, to let more down.
Soon there was enough to get us through to the next lock. We had phoned BW to let them know there was a problem, but we thought we would be able to sort it out, they came out and saw what we were doing and were happy for us to carry on.
Coming out of this lock, it was a bit tricky to see just where we were going!
We got down into Ducie Street basin at about 1pm, not bad going considering. We had to wait for BW to come and unlock the last set of lock gates, he didn't expect us so soon.
The rain just about stopped as we tied up and the sun made an attempt to show through. So this afternoon we had a wander around this local area of Manchester spotting some interesting buildings....
The Wholesale Fish Market facade has been kept, with new modern office building behind.
It appears that the sign and the building it is attached to has been there for some time because George Makin & Sons had a Fancy Goods business here in 1888 (according to Google) The last part of the fire escape ladder is counterbalanced, not sure how it is released, maybe you just have to step out!
Love all these various styles, I wonder how many different roles they have fulfilled over the years.
Sorry, not a brilliant picture, but lovely colours, autumn is here.
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