Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.
Today myself and Angela took a 7 mile walk along the Bridgewater canal from Dunham Massey to the Timperley Tram stop and then back.
There were, as predicted, quite a few people taking advantage of the lack of rain to stretch their legs. The first section we walked was quite muddy.
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The Bridgewater canal was commissioned by the third Duke of Bridgewater and is often said to be the first true canal in Britain. It was built to service his coal mines at Worsley transporting the coal to Industrial Manchester.
Leaving the countryside the canal entered the suburbs.
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Despite the weather forecast saying that there was 0% chance of rain we had a small shower – trust Manchester to rain when it shouldn’t! We passed a house with some colourful flower pots.
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As we continued along the towpath we passed a couple of nicely designed apartment blocks that looked great and gave a nod to the boats that ply their way along the canal.
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What was interesting was the contrast between the new apartments and an old Industrial building along side it. The canal has had a number of these old units converted into apartments where the facia adjacent to the canal is kept. This is a great idea and a reminder of the areas Industrial heritage.
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We took a small detour from our walk and visited McDonalds at Broadheath to get a coffee 😊. We had a nice Latte – impressed with the quality.
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We passed an old Industrial building used by Linotype Machinery that used to make ‘line casting’ machinery for the printing industry- this was cutting edge in its time.
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It was interesting to see an old crane used for putting timbers into the canal in the event of a breech or if maintenance is required. I wonder if anybody maintains the crane?
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Before too long we had completed our walk and arrived home to a glass of mulled wine – well, it is Christmas!
Weather permitting ,we hope to do other sections of the canal this week- from Timperley tram stop to Sale water park and from Sale water park to Salford Quay’s.
Happy Walking!