Great project.
Are you going to put it back into operation and run it, like restored railways?
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MyFrontFellOff ; his mouth full of teddies, urinating defiantly, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 20:25,
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The plan is to restore it fully
But with this economy...
I wrote the Wikipedia article, which explains the canal's history and why it fell into disuse. It boils down to a fuckoff massive breach that occurred over 70 years ago. It was never repaired and thus the canal slowly became obsolete.
It starts at the Irwell near Granada TV in Manchester, heads up past Salford University, through Agecroft, under the M60, and meets up where the above footage was filmed. Then it heads in one direction off to Bolton, and in the other to Bury.
We've spent ages chopping trees down, but if we just leave it, they'll grow back. So we want to clear that bridge (water beyond there), build a new dam, and flood a big section. It'll be prettier, nothing will grow back, and it'll keep the canal in people's thoughts. There's plenty of sections still in water so it isn't bone dry, but the more dry sections we can flood, the better.
I read that the opening ceremony for the Olympics cost £27M. That's about what it'd cost to get most of this canal back open. It runs through some fairly deprived areas, but also some utterly stunning countryside.
£27M for something that lasts a few hours, or £27M for something that's been around since 1791. Go figure.
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Pew Pew Pew! Lasers! wannabe Gong Farmer, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 20:37,
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I wish you all the best with this
Is it too late to have canal restoration declared an Olympic sport?
Also, I think this has to be restored, as a priority www.penninewaterways.co.uk/mbb/mbbc34.htm
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MyFrontFellOff ; his mouth full of teddies, urinating defiantly, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 20:54,
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That's where we're working
Right at the top of those locks.
There's a new bridge going in shortly, once that's there then we can start digging those locks out.
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Pew Pew Pew! Lasers! wannabe Gong Farmer, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 21:11,
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Good on you.
Nice to see someone doing something rather than sitting about whingeing/saying it's someone else's job.
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DrPrunesquallor is determined to post more as of, Sun 15 Jul 2012, 20:57,
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It's not really fair to make a direct comparison
Obviously the project is worthy, but it doesn't bring in billions of pounds of tourist revenue.
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Lord Keeps meaning to procrastinate., Sun 15 Jul 2012, 23:46,
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I vote for the latter.
A navigable waterway for leisure use is an excellent benefit for any urban or rural area, in addition to being one of the few things I miss out here. I'm formerly from HI, so water sports were a part of my life, albeit somewhat minor compared to most residents. To the north of me, some Denver residents obtain their fishing licenses and you can see the occasional urbanite flycasting the Platte River near the downtown area.
I just checked that on the global maps: that does look lovely and I wish you and the society all the best in getting it done. Can they take or use donations? I can't really physically help from Colorado and would enjoy giving what little I can towards that effort.
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Felis Concolor, Mon 16 Jul 2012, 5:51,
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