Sunday 10 November 2013

Walk from Salford to Bolton along the Irwell about 12 Miles 9 Nov 13

I took the train to Manchester Victoria Station arrived around mid day, walked to Trinity Way then down to the pathway by on the right  hand side of the Irwell.
Looking up River whilst still in Manchester, just. The foot bridge is just around the corner and is in Salford. The river was running quite high but clear. The rocks by the nearside bank were put in this summer for the Environment Agency to to support the concrete and piling bank.
Looking back at the Trinity Way Bridge

The footbridge and the bottom of Boddingtons Slipway on the opposite bank.

The Old Boddingtons Slipway from the footbridge..

Up river from the footbridge, Broughton bridge in the distance.

I have fished this stretch and down from the slipway, but not this summer as the work to put all the rocks in was causing to much disturbance. Should be ok. again next season.
 Looking back at the footbridge and some of the wild life. Although it looks more like a canal than a river there are plenty of geese, ducks and the occasional heron, and plenty of fish to be caught.

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Looking up stream from Broughton Bridge 

Looking up stream to the Adelphi weir from the footbridge that let me get to Peel Park without going up and around the Crescent.
I am heading towards those BIG  Black Clouds.
Foot bridge to Peel Park looking down stream to the Crescent.
Up Stream towards Frederick Road Bridge. Peel Park on the left.
Footbridge to Peel Park, which is on the left.
Beautiful trees by a canalised river and the black clouds getting nearer. 
Frederick Road Bridge with the Cromwell Road Bridge in the distance.

The Cromwell Road Bridge. 

From here I had the choice of either walking around The Cliff which would bring me back to not that far from where I started or cutting across to the Littleton Road Bridge by Charlestown, which I did. 
 Looking up river on the Littleton bridge, towards the cliff on the right.

Littleton Road Bridge.
Littleton Weir with the last of the sun shine.
Hailstones covering the path
Lightening thunder hail and rain. Glad I took the short cut, it means I will get home earlier.
Heavy rain mixed with hailstones give me a soaking.
 A sewer over flowing due to the heavy rain.
 
When the river gets very high, and it does quite often, it overflows into the Salford Village sports fields, via the gap in the far bank. As the river goes down again the flood  water drains back into the river through the one way  weir at the top of the picture. Must make an awful mess of the sports pitches, better than flooding houses though. Sorry I didn't take a better photo of the top end.

Agecroft Bridge, the river is starting to rise and colour from the heavy rain.

This also the Agecroft Bridge, part of the bridge is for vehicles and this part sewer or maybe water pipes.
Agecroft Bridge through the trees looks very different than the view from down river.

Views up and down river from the foot bridge in Drinkwater Park. the river is definitely on the rise, lots of rain up river.

More dirty water flowing from pipes into the river, could be sewer overflow or water from the roads, but this is quite some way from any roads.

 
 At last I reach the M60 Motorway Bridge and have a rest out of the rain which has not stopped for the last hour.

    From here to Giants Seat the path was mostly mud and water, with more water coming down all the time. So I stopped taking photos and concentrated on keeping my feet and the rest of me as dry as possible, as I still had a long way to go.
   From the Kearsley Road I joined the canal to Nob End then up the locks to what's left of the Bolton stretch of the canal above Mosesgate Country Park  and on to Leverhulme Park.
   Getting nearer to home and it was still pouring with rain, drowned rat comes to mind. Breightmet to Harwood and home arriving at a quarter past five. Five hours of walking mostly in the rain, the last bit in the dark, very glad to be home.
   I will have to to do the bit from the motorway to Little Lever on another day, when it's not raining.









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