MEMBERS of the Longdendale and Glossopdale Footpath Society caught the train from stations on the Hadfield line and made their way to Piccadilly Station. Meeting in Manchester they were soon off on an unusual walk through the city.
The first leg of their journey was across the Northern Quarter through Ancoats to Victoria Station. By Ducie Street and across the Rochdale Canal, down the back streets passing sites connected to Manchester's cholera outbreak of the mid-nineteenth ce
ntury.
One eye-catching terrace of houses was Anita Street, short of Sanitary Street, one of the first properties in the city to have water and mains sewage. On by Swan Lane and Sharpe Street to see the Ragged School, around Aspin Lane to view the River Irk then onto Victoria.
From Blackfriars the hike went onto the Irwell Bank and followed the river through Ordsall to the Salford Quays. Time for lunch or a visit to the Lowry or War Museum, then a return along the Bridgewater Canal.
The Bridgewater, a section of the Cheshire Ring of Canals, leads by Corn Brook to Castlefield. New buildings, exciting architecture, renovated mills and warehouses made for a vibrant landscape.
From Tib Lock there was opportunity to visit Barbarolli Square and the Touch Stone outside the Bridgewater Hall.
The Rochdale Canal's nine locks lead the ramblers through Canal Street with its exciting culture, finally to Dale Street and back to Piccadilly for the train home.
