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Rochdale Canal Festival 2010 - Report

Thousands enjoy Rochdale’s free canal festival

More than 2,000 people in Manchester, Rochdale, Oldham and Calderdale turned out to enjoy the plethora of free activities on offer during the fourth annual Rochdale Canal Festival from 24th July – 1st August 2010.

The Worshipful Mayor of Oldham and Junior Mayor opened the week-long festival at Failsworth, Oldham on Saturday 24th July. During the following week over 100 young people took part in canoe and kayaking taster sessions and more than 200 people enjoyed boat trips along different stretches of the Rochdale Canal.

Lucy Rogers, Rochdale Canal Development Manager for The Waterways Trust, said: “It was a fantastic festival week, the different events and activities really brought the canal to life and showed people just what the waterway and its environment has to offer. We were delighted that so many people came along and took part in the different things that were going on.

“This year there were lots of new activities on offer including canoe sessions, lantern making workshops and an illuminated boat and lantern parade, all of which were a real hit with people coming along to the festival. The guided walks also proved popular, particularly the Underground tour of Manchester which we could have filled three times over! We have received some really positive feedback from people coming along to the event with many saying it was the best programme yet.

“I would like to thank all our partners and funders for their help in putting on the festival including British Waterways, Rochdale Council, Manchester City Council, Oldham Council, Calderdale Council and the Rochdale Canal Society. Funding has been made available through the South Pennines LEADER programme (Rural Development Programme for England), the Environment Agency, Oldham Council and Manchester City Council.”

The Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes.

The Rochdale is a Broad canal because its bridges and locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 ft width. The canal runs for 32 miles (51 km) across the Pennines from the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield Basin in Manchester to join the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire.

As originally built, the canal had 92 locks. Whilst the traditional lock numbering has been retained on all restored locks, and on all the relocated locks, the canal now has only 91 locks. The former locks 3 and 4 have been replaced with a single deep lock (Tuel Lane Lock), which is numbered as 3/4.

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