Entire Rochdale Nine towpath closure

Published: Monday, 11 June 2018

IT IS not only the section of the Rochdale Nine towpath by the bars in Manchester that is being closed-off at night but its entire length.

As reported in narrowboatworld it is being fenced off at night to stop any further drunks from stumbling in the waterway and drowning as so many have in the past, Keith Gudgin reports.

queerEntire flight

Though it was expected that only the section near the bars of Canal Street would be affected, the entire flight from Lock 92 at Castlefield to Lock 84 at Dale Street was hastily blocked-off over the week-end in view of the Park Life event that took in the area by the canal.

It has not yet been decided if the towpath will be permanently closed at night, but with the call from parents that their sons be protected from themselves after getting drunk, it seems most likely.

Another drowning

However the towpath closure was not in time to save yet another drowning that occurred the week-end before when on the Saturday night Orlando Nyero who was celebrating his 19th birthday disappeared with his body being later discovered in the same stretch of waterway as the last victim, Charlie Pope.

It is estimated that a total of 86 people have drowned in the Manchester canals since 2007.