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Canalchester

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Keaveny’s canals

Keaveny’s canals

Manchester is falling back in love with its canals as the city regenerates along the twin ribbons of the Rochdale and Ashton canals. Right now, your support is helping to revive these blue and green urban spaces, giving city dwellers more outside space to enjoy, connecting up more of Manchester and making city living better for everyone.

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“I think with Manchester, we’re really in it for the long haul,” muses James Long, North West urban engagement manager. “It’s not going to come overnight, but it is happening. It’s really exciting to see.” As James explains, the regeneration of the canals is part of a wider city renaissance, encompassing new city-centre housing developments, transport links and improved local services. He tells us: “The number of people living in city-centre flats has just exploded, but these developments are still very built-up. Especially in lockdown, the canal has given people their only outside space where they can sit, relax, walk, run or cycle. That’s why we’re working so hard to make Manchester’s canals cleaner, greener and safer.” The ‘cleaner’ part comes from our workboat. It’s a familiar and reassuring sight as the team and volunteers pick litter, remove graffiti and steam-clean the towpath. Recent works on

© Biomatrix Water

Lock 83 in the Northern Quarter uncovered over 100 tonnes of debris. Yet the cleaner canals get, the less litter is dropped as local people want to protect it and spend more time on the towpath. The ‘greener’ part is where ecologist Tom King is involved. “Manchester is quite tough,” says Tom. “It’s all brick and concrete. So we have to make our own green space, putting floating reedbeds on the water, building planters on the towpath and adapting the planting to the conditions. We’ve built fern gardens in shaded areas between tall buildings. We’re bringing trees into the city, by planting them on top of the floating reedbeds and putting in fruit trees on the towpath to attract Manchester worker bees to the blossom. People will be able to pick an apple off a tree when they are fully grown.” To deliver the vital safety part, James and his team are working hard to install barriers, rescue equipment and signage. Most importantly, they are actively talking to students, young people and bar customers to help keep them safe. These are the first three crucial steps in reviving blue and green space in our cities and already they are showing results. New towpaths are providing a tranquil route through the city centre, making them an ideal walking, cycling and commuting route. Audio walking tours, telling the story of how the canals helped build Manchester’s rich industrial heritage are in development. And James is keen for the canals to mark the city’s cultural heritage too: “This is a city of innovation, so we want the canals to be a venue to celebrate that.”

Month by month, year by year, Manchester’s canals are changing along the Rochdale Canal from Ancoats up to Newton Heath. And there are even more ambitious plans along the Ashton Canal, linking the city centre to the Etihad Stadium and the new housing and entertainment arena being built nearby. There’s even talk of restoring sections along the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal. So how long does James think it will be before the revival of Manchester’s canals is complete?

“In ten years’ time, Manchester and its canals will be unrecognisable. It’s all happening.”

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