The Ashton flight

From Portland basin where we joined the Ashton canal, there is a drop through 18 locks on the way into Manchester. This section of canal used to have a fearsome reputation as it passed through some of the poorer parts of Manchester, with drug dealers under bridges and feral children trying to board boats.

Fortunately those days are long passed and we had no problems. The only kids we met were friendly, helped with a lock and were interest to know more about the boat. The journey was interesting but the Ashton canal is very much a typical city waterway with views of factories, offices and some dereliction although nearer the city centre there is much evidence of regneration. One point of interest near the canal was Manchester City's very modern stadium.

The flight was hard work as each paddle is secured with anti-vandal locks which have to be unlocked prior to use and relocked afterwards - as there are 4 paddles on each of the 18 locks this does add to the work. We got into our current moorings, near the city centre at 15:20 after 7.5 hours continuously on the move.