Mr Monkey walks the Rochdale Canal through Manchester

Trip date : 4th May, 2011

"It's interesting but not lovely"

Mr Monkey looking at the Eastgate Building from the north side of the canal Mr Monkey looking at a canal arm below the railway viaduct

While he was scurrying about on top of the Deansgate tunnel Mr Monkey trotted down a slope to Pioneer Quay on the north side of the canal. He studied the Eastgate building, a converted warehouse, then looked around Pioneer Quay. The canal arm beside the quay is interesting, as it started out as a tunnel behind the Grocers Warehouse carved into the soft red sandstone. It was crossed by the Rochdale Canal, and was then exposed to daylight when the Deansgate tunnel was shortened in the 1840s. Mr Monkey thinks that the arch in the water is the top of the tunnel from the Grocers Warehouse; it's very low in the water because the Rochdale Canal is higher than the Castlefield Basin. Mr Monkey did want to investigate further but he hadn't got a boat, the water looked wet, and the tunnel mouth was blocked by someone's large collection of empty lager cans.

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