Length : 33 miles
Started : 13 October 1979
Finished : 26 January 1980 / 27 May 1995
Companions : (in full ?) Michael Smithson ( in part) Stephen Meehan, Ian Wilding, Barry Foster, Jenny Ransome, Reinhard (surname unknown)
Guide : None
This one is the joker in the pack. As you can see from the title there is some uncertainty as to where it should be placed chronologically , the reasons for which should become clear from what follows. But there is also a doubt as to whether it should be included at all which I will address straight away.
The reason there is no official status for this walk and no guide is quite simply that for a considerable part of its length the towpath is not a public right of way as shown on the definitive maps for the areas through which it passes. There are no notices, gates, wardens etc to delineate the non-public parts and indeed for 20+ years one long stretch in Manchester City Council’s domain was designated a linear park. It just means that in the legal sense this could never be counted an LMDP. The reality on the ground is that there is a continuous 33 mile long footpath with no one to challenge your use of it. That’s what makes it eligible in my book.
The towpath was identified by Michael Smithson and myself as the next “LMDP” to tackle after The Calderdale Way (the two intersect briefly at Todmorden). It was the only option we had there being nothing other than The Pennine Way around at the time and it was even nearer, at one point literally a stone’s throw from my house.
In fact we started it before The Calderdale Way was even completed. We were due to undertake Stage Four on XX October 1979 after a couple of weekends off due to Michael’s Sea Cadets commitments but a wet morning meant I was able to persuade Michael we should take the bad weather option of a trip to Manchester instead. The day began with a shock when going for the train, that being 14, I was liable to pay full fare so we took the bus instead. After an enjoyable morning and early afternoon exploring the museums the weather had brightened up so we rounded the day off with a short stroll along the initial city centre stretch of the canal from Castlefield (which took some finding) to Dale Street basin. In 1979 that was the only navigable section, a crucial (and apparently very expensive) part of the Cheshire Ring. I do recall finding the environs of Princess Street rather sinister in those pre-makeover days and the tunnel under Piccadilly downright scary but we went unmolested and it was a satisfyng round-off to an enjoyable day.
Stage Two happened the following week due to Stephen feeling he'd missed out on a good day out so we were off to Manchester again despite the improved weather. Having repeated everything from the previous week for his benefit I then proposed we did a bit more of the towpath knowing that we'd never be far off one of the bus routes for Rochdale. As may be guessed from the previous post Stephen wasn't 100% enthusiastic about this idea but he was in a minority so off we went.
Now comes the moment that accounts for the dating "controversy" . As we entered Dale Street car park we were summoned back by the security guard who refused to allow three teenagers to walk through the cars. When I asked how we were to get to "the canal" he gave us an alternative route by road. We soon came to a canal and after about a mile or two's walking along it we agreed to ask a man about the bus. After some confusion the truth dawned; we were actually on the Ashton Canal . Fortunately the canals follow a reasonably parallel course through East Manchester so he was able to direct us to the right canal and 15 minutes later we were back on track. Somehow Michael and I managed to get Stephen to agree to carry on for a bit and he was reasonably engaged by the linear park section through to Failsworth. We decided to go for the bus at Foxdenton and that is where Stephen's participation ended although he was certainly invited to the subsequent stages.
Michael and I decided with 14-year-old logic that those miles on the Ashton Canal "counted" as it wasn't our fault we'd been misdirected by a jobsworth, a typical injustice heaped upon us by the adult world and we'd actually done a longer walk than necessary. We didn't have to go back and do the section we'd missed.
One consequence of this particular "trip" was Michael asserting his right to choose the next one - a system that then stayed in place for the remaining lifetime of the Travelling Society. So the next week it was back to The Calderdale Way as told in the previous post. For various reasons Stage Three, Foxdenton to Littleborough, didn't take place until the Christmas holidays -Friday 28th December I think. It was a bitterly cold day with a coating of ice on the canal for most of the way and a treacherous footing in places. Canal walking wasn't really Michael's bag but he did enjoy the rural section around Slattocks and the chips we bought when the canal passed through the centre of Rochdale. So much so that he chose the next stage Littleborough to Hebden Bridge when his turn next came round, our first walk of the decade (5th Jan 1980).
This was familiar territory and much more scenically attractive than the previous Stages. The only problems were the occasional spots where the canal drains across the towpath and the stone blocks to be used as stepping stones were sometimes a scary distance apart. But we got across and completed the walk in record time.
There was no real reason why we couldn't have done the final stage Hebden Bridge to Sowerby Bridge the following week but instead I chose a short nature trail near Middleton which I'd already done. Perhaps it was an attempt to go for the middle ground between Michael and Stephen who never chose a walk and in fact it turned out to be the only trip Stephen ever went on that wasn't his choice under the rota system. More likely it was cold calculation on my part that if I didn't choose to finish the canal walk Michael would on his next turn and that would mean at least a five week respite before another of his "compass course" adventures which I'd come to dread. I know that doesn't reflect very well on me but I have long since accepted the blame for the demise of our friendship and you've just been given an insight into what went wrong.
Anyhow Michael did choose the final stage when his turn came round, a walk only marred by my new boots starting to rub against the back of my heels so I was more than usually pleased when we completed this one. We never, to my recollection , discussed going back to that missed section in Manchester and I don't want to de-recognise Michael's achievement particularly as he won't feature as a companion again so that is why this one remains as number 2.
I eventually did complete the full route over 15 years later when I was organising events for the Christian Social Group in Manchester. The plan was to do the 16.5 mile section between Castlefield and what I should at that stage call my parents' house (though I was still living there) in Littleborough where I (but really my mum) would put on a buffet. Members were free to do the full walk or join at intermediate points (my ETA estimates for these proved wildly optimistic). This meant I would complete the route incidentally; it certainly wasn't the main motive which was to repay some of the hospitality I'd enjoyed in other members' houses. Four brave members turned up to do the full walk (the party more than doubled at Castleton) and we still had problems at Dale Street car park. We weren't challenged at the barrier but the far exit was blocked by a ten metre security fence for some remedial works on the canal. Rejecting Barry's lunatic suggestion that we climb over we retreated to the road but this time I made damn sure we got on the right canal. Any joy at this belated completion was soon over-shadowed by my father falling ill that evening the start point for a process of deterioration that led to his death little more than two years later.
Now of course the whole canal is open for navigation (the linear park being consigned to history as the canal was re-filled) and new development at various points has changed the look of the route considerably. But it is still a route of two halves: urban Lancashire to Littleborough (though with nice stretches at Slattocks and Clegg Hall) then rural Yorkshire into Sowerby Bridge. Needless to say it is very easy walking throughout. Although featuring another canal the next LMDP would be quite different.
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