A Narrowboat To The Worsley Mines Along the Bridgewater Canal
Вставка
- Опубліковано 25 січ 2020
- In this video we take a Narrowboat along the Bridgewater canal to the Mines at Worsley. Worsley Delph to be precise. This is a fantastic narrowboat experience. A friend of mine took me on his canal boat to a place I find fascinating at the moment. Currently being obsessed with all mining activities in the Irwell valley in Manchester and Salford this was a real pilgrimage for me. The Duke of Bridgewater built the Bridgewater canal to take coal from his mines at Worsley into Manchester city centre where there was a real hunger for coal to fuel the Industrial revolution. He employed the skills of the famous civil engineer James Brindley. Brindley built the Barton Aqueduct in the 18th Century which was later demolished and made way for the Barton Swing Aqueduct a first of its kind. We travel over the Barton Swing aqueduct on our journey. At the mine entrances we see Worsley Delph and the thick toxic Ochre mud that stains the Bridgewater canal. We read some harrowing accounts of child labour. this was a fascinating journey and a tale of early coal mining in the 18th century. This turns into a great Urbex, Urban exploration.
- Розваги
My apologies the upload took hours. plus I was late
Hey, I look forward to every upload. I could google it but do you have a patreon or merchandise?
Good things come to those who wait
There is an inclined plane canal lock at Foxton in Leicestershire . it only worked for 11 years from 1900 to 1911 . Details and photos here Martin . www.fipt.org.uk/ .
Hello, Retro I will have merch this year and there is a paypal donation button on the channel header. Much appreciated
@@MrPsibar I used to live in Leicester and loved visiting Foxton locks
I'm in Pennsylvania, USA. Last weekend, some folks from Manchester came in my shop.
"Andy," they asked me, "How do you know so much about Manchester?"
*shrug* "Doesn't everyone?" XD
That's like when I am asked how I know so much about a certain Japanese marching band :)
As you cross the road at the 10 min mark you are going over the original stone arch that was incorporated into the "modern" brick arch carrying the canal! I bet you were as unaware of the fact as the owner of the mill that just above the gym was a porn studio! (I only read about it in the paper when it closed, Honest)!
The "lighthouse" is on the road I live on ..... The nice stone cottage was the Toll House for the road running to your right alongside the canal.
The canal itself was highly contaminated with Iron giving it the legendary Ocre colour! United utilities saw a good PR opportunity and installed a pump and reed bed lake to "clean it up"! As a kid I seemed to spend a fair proportion of my life in that water!
That black and white striped arched double door was the Royal Barge house ...... in case the royalty ever decided for a jaunt there! It is now just a front as somone built an actual house on the rear of it!
The underground canal had a 1 way section at the end so strictly there are 2 tunnels but only one entrance and one exit ;0) The entrance was to the right near the stonecutters workshop (now a house). The Coal Board decided it would be a good idea to brick those tunnels up to stop people (like me) getting in! All was well until the rising water (because they did not fit a drain in) forced methane gas up into the rock above and some pensioner unplugging their electric fire in Walkden blew themselves up! Needless to say the wall was removed! The canal system links through to Astley Pit via Mosley Common (Europes largest at one time) !
The incline plane is a simple device. You had two parallel runs going don a level. a rope connects the empty barge on a bogey at the bottom and hooks the other end to the full barge on the top. Release the brake and the 50 ton of coal pulls the empty barge up the slope! Later on the Duke (well his workers) cut a shaft down to the canal at Walkden and did the same trick with a vertical lift and a tank of water filled from a local surface source, dumping the water at the bottom!
The entrance to Worsley Delph was from above the canal up the path on the right into the woods.
In the archway next to the canal was a storage area used by the shop on Worsley Rd! Goods were unloaded from the canal and winched through a manhole in what is now the road itself!
I do tend to prattle on about this .... I have kept this as short as I could, no mention of the first issue of overalls or the first ever strike! The history is deep here ;0)
Thanks Dave very informative. Great history
@Stig Martin Not sure about the winch, but the tunnels have a series of rings set in the walls so that a person with a belt and chain could hook on and propel the boat forward ... hopefully unhooking themselves before they got dragged off
@Stig Martin There is a pic of one of the workers who was convinced to dress up in her pit gear for a photo (she was in her 60's and lived in one of the now demolished cottages at Alder Forest)!
Cheers dave
@Stig Martin They also had a series of shallow wiers that they could put a boat through and let the next one open and wash the boat forwards!
My dad Eric was from Worsley, born in 1921. He used to help his mum scrubbing doorsteps. As an adult his toes were all bent and deformed because as a child his family couldn’t afford new shoes. I’m sure my Gran Florence would have done everything she could to have kept him from working at the Delph mines. No doubt some of my ancestors worked the mine. Thank you Martin for all your videos exploring our industrial heritage. 🙏
Absolutely brilliant, Martin. I think that Fred Dibnah visited the basin before it was 'beautified'. The ferrous deposits by the mine entrance look more like Heinz tomato soup than canal water! But doesn't that entrance portal just draw you in? I know that it's probably horrendously dangerous in there, but who, with any imagination would not want a quick look inside? I wonder if the little rooms in that bridge were for 'gatekeepers', who would tally all the traffic in and out of the basin and mine area?
Utterly fascinating. The trip there was worth it, too. Lovely. Thanks for sharing! Nice one.
What I was thinking with the wee rooms
The rooms under the bridge were storage / transshipment from the premiss above (through a manhole still visible in the road above)! The "gatekeepers" were in the building to your right as you look in the tunnel .... it has been many things over the years, from private house to art gallery to it's present use as an office!
There was a warehouse just visible in the video on the canal bend near the "Not Navigable" sign ..... it is now a home!
Worsley Green (back to back with the striped boathouse doors) was originally a factory for the mine ...... only the chimney remains, fitted with a decorative fountain ;0)
If you carry on further down the canal you reach an area called "Bottany Bay". This is where spill from the mine workings was dumped. It is said that getting that job was worse than being transported to Bottany Bay .... hence the name!
@@millomweb Yes it does! Locals in Walkden would have bets in the local pub with travellers that they could get to Ammerica without stepping 100yds on dry land! Check out one of the many maps of the canal system here narrowboatinfo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/UK-Canal-Map-769x1024.jpg
When I first saw that mine entrance, I wanted to see inside. But since seeing those chilling words about children down there, I'm glad it's sealed off. We surely lead blessed lives these days. Easy to forget sometimes but we do. When the most disturbing thing in life is the arrival of the power bill, we are lucky indeed.
Crossing the aqueduct @6:27 a perfect mirror reflection, what a surreal effect
Yeah it was good wasnt it Ian
You should start a petition to get that place open to the public.!
It's EVERYONE'S HISTORY, and everyone SHOULD be able to go and see it, whenever they choose.!
I'd LOVE to go up them tunnels, to see where they all went.!🤯!. You can see that there's a flow of water coming out from the tunnel, so there MUST be a stream or something feeding into it.!
LOVE THE VIDS.🥰..
KEEP'EM COMING.🥰..
RICH(UK).🥰🥰🥰.!.
Thanks so much for this guys. I was born in Davyhulme. Park Hospital My father was in charge of Barton Power station during WW2. My niece was married in Worsley just five yrs ago so we visited from Portugal. So many memories of Manchester ,but a sharp reminder of the shameful abuse of the poor, by the rich ,the indifference of powerful people to the torture of children Sadly not much changes in our world it just moves on to other poorer countries.
So glad you did this video Martin, and especially glad you hopped the fence for a closer look
Yeah I had to Chris
Martin Zero That area wasclosed off for health and safety which you clearly couldn’t care less about.
@@MartinZero Small fences are there to be hopped over... big ones to be climbed! ;-) Great video Martin - fascinating stuff.
Love this video. I went here in the '70s when it was overgrown and hard to interpret. They've done a great job of smartening the place up, and you've done a great job of telling us the story.
More about the tunnels please!
Thank you very much Stephen
What a great clip. When you read the accounts of conditions in the mine, it is hard not to begrudge the Duke's family their wealth. There would be a whole season of documentaries on the development and the operation of that mine. I have to say thank you for all the glimpses of Manchester's history that you give us. Videos like this add to my awe of the magnitude of the industrialization of Britain. Much gratitude to Dave for instigating this video with the offer of the narrowboat trip.
Thank you very much. I agree with what you say and yes big thanks to Dave
I've referred close friends who emigrated to Australia from Manchester to your fascinating channel. They were somewhat bemused I could name Manchester's rivers and canals! lol. Hearing you read the stories of the children forced to work in the mines was gut wrenching. Those pit owners were despicable human beings . You bring history alive Martin.
Thank you and I agree. Thanks for spreading the word
Knew this area well Grew up in Barton and patricroft in the early 70's, one of the original arches on the aquaduct was was built into the wall at the beginning of Barton Lane where the canal crosses the road, there was the ship canal railway also ran under both bridges which ran from Salford docks to irlam, remember seeing a small steam shunter train going under Barton Bridge must of been1969 or 70, only a nipper at the time, seemed to be dissued after that, and Liverpool - mcr railway where its crosses the Bridgewater canal, where Queen Victoria boarded a barge to visit Worsley, grandad passed this info on to me long before the Internet
😊
More childhood memories for me from the late 1950s. I used to cycle down from Salford to the Barton swing bridges. There was an oil refinery and Barton power station at the south end of the aqueduct. The Bridgewater canal was filthy at that point. Me and a mate hitched a ride on the road bridge as it was swinging open, we were spotted and chased off, having to jump over the gap where the bridge met the road.
The motorway bridge you pointed out is the Barton High Level Bridge, it originally carried the M62 over the ship canal, but the motorways have been re-designated since. After the bridge was completed but before it was opened to traffic, pedestrians were allowed to walk across it, that was quite an experience.
I also visited Worsley Delph, at that time there was no attempt made to tidy it up, there were actual sunken barges still in the water, now represented by those sculptures you mentioned.
They tell us we should be proud of the Industrial Revolution but the truth is rarely told. It was Hell on and under the earth. This sort of story took place all over the UK. Thanks, Martin for a very informative video.
I had to pause “Vera” when the notification for this appeared. A very wise choice. Another great informative and entertaining video.
Thank you Jan
i am going to watch VERA in a while today monday on catch up jan cheers from trev
I could literally watch this channel for hours. Keep the vids coming!
Thanks very much Darren
I do watch for hours :)
My god Martin you've done it again. Spectacular!
The filming, sound track, and subject are spot on. Absolutely amazing! Thank you for all your hard work and please keep them coming.
Thank you very much Paul
Great film again Martin, I drive over that bridge at Wosley a lot, and the water is not as Red as it used to be, go back 15 years and it was Red-Red, and in 1974 me and my class had to get into the school mini busses and drive over from Wilmslow in the winter to see the red canal, as a class of 15 year old lads we got out looked over the side of the bridge and said, "Yep it's Red" it's cold sir can we get back in the bus.
Hi Martin, John from the mines here. The Delph is a scheduled ancient monument. One of only three in Salford. These key sites have to be protected. If access was allowed you might get kids, graffiting the quarry walls etc... Hence why there is no public access to the Delph itself.
John DCC protection and preservation is important. As is access. It’s a catch 22 or double edged sword (or some other saying of such)?
The artwork would suggest that public access was intended. It would not be possible to read the writing on the 'coal' from the bridge.
Ahh ok, fair enough
@@chrismatthews2579 There is a viewing platform for the public. This is where the miners lamp, mine truck and newspaper are. I was just answering Martin's question in the video which relates to access to the lower part of the Delph where the crane is.
@@MartinZero I'd of done the same and hopped over the fence. In fact I did last year 😂 got some great photos of the restoration work 👍🏻.
There is, in Stretford, another "Brindley Stone Aqueaduct". It carries the canal over a private road that runs from Stretford to Chorlton. It was built as a scale model, for Brindley to test his design for the "real" stone aqueaduct.
It is still there today, still intact, still carrying the canal, but so many people don't realise what they are looking at. Its identical in design to the "real" one, just smaller.
The inclined plane (there are photos available of it in the Manchester Library Archives), consisted of 2 slopes, and a capstan at the top around which a chain ran. That way a loaded boat could be slid down one slope, the mass of which pulled on the chain, that in turn hauled an empty boat up the other slope.
That section to the side, with the "side tunnels", was actually the Dukes Stables, where he kept the horses that were used to tow the boats down the canal.
Hi Martin I’ve drove over that bridge at the Delph hundreds of times but never thought there would be rooms underneath, I’m loving this series around salford because it’s right on my doorstep. I’m hoping to bump into you one day whilst out and about. Thanks for the video 👏👏
Thanks very much. You could well bump into me
There are some really great people in this community. How good of Dave to take you on his boat for this great video. Top man!
Yes I am very grateful to him John
What a great video. Really kind of Dave to let you see the landscape from his narrowboat. I could happily live in that lighthouse. ❤💛💚
Yes me too. Looks very cosy. I am very grateful to Dave
Martin to see the conditions the miners women and children worked especially the trappers you need to take a trip to the National Coal Mining Museum in Yorkshire. You will love it.
Great video as always.
Good to see and hear you again Martin.
The Duke of Bridgewater was a hero to the poor of Manchester letting them have coal for heating cheap.
Thank you Mr James Brindley for building the canal for the Duke.
Keep safe and dry.
Unbelievable! The canal boat ride seemed fun. The Swing Bridge is Amazing. Simply amazing. Tragic coal mining stories.
Fascinating once again! The slow moving cinematic shots that the camera caught due to the motion of the boat looked quality mate! And that recess was ancient!
Cheers Pal. I am currently fascinated with the place
The Clifton suspension bridge is ment to have hollow base just recently found
Good work martin
Martin this video brought back to happy memories of fishing in Worsley as a kid back in the 70s. I just couldn't understand how the fish could see my bait it just bewildered me. The flight of steps in front of the black and white building in Worsley were specially constructed for the visit of Queen Victoria so she could board a boat. The foot bridge also in Worsley was locally know rhubarb bridge. Keep up the great work.
Brilliant brilliant work Martin - the mines are fascinating... absolutely terrible working conditions and I can see why Marx and Engels were so motivated, the duke of Bridgewater would have lived like a king while those children slaved underground.
Absolutely Justin
Bloody brilliant as always. 😎👍
Cheers Curb
I nearly choked on my brew when you came out with that fantastic phrase......".He was Built like a brick shit house" :-)
Chris Hales a commonly used term in our house 😂
@@chrisfinchgolf199 Yep. Me mum has always used it!
Manchester has always had great 'sayings'...."A Face like a smacked arse" being one of them, and, "As thick as a Gurkha's foreskin, and twice as heavy" being another. It's a little known fact the H.R.H. speaks with a Manchester accent when she's away from the camera's....I wonder who she's got in mind when she utters these little ditties?
Big shout to Dave for helping Martin make another belter video. Loved that aquaduct, nice music, Daves a lucky man to have that boat.
Thank you, yes very grateful to Dave
@@MartinZero and we are grateful for all you do Martin, I realise the input it takes to make these vids and get to the locations. Pls dont get UA-cam burnout....🙏🏻😉
Thanks Martin that was very good, can't help thinking about the poor little souls that had to work there.
That lighthouse is so cool, I love that!
Yeah its a corker
@@MartinZero I paused at 10:51 to look at the "Ghost"? in the window ;-) ;-)
Thanks for another fascinating video Martin, loads of history in that area, enjoyed the trip over the swing bridge, well done!
Thanks very much Tony
About 30 years ago I used to go exploring the old canals and industrial engineering around Manchester. I spent a fantastic afternoon with the Barton Aquaduct keepers who actually swung the bridge for me and showed me how the pivot and canal trough seals worked - the latter involving a quite terrifying climb down to a narrow ledge directly over the ship canal. The whole bridge is actually lifted on a single central hydraulic ram before it swings. Well worth it if you can get someone to give you access.
Brilliant Martin and good on the Canal Boat Guy for taking you on a nice day out.
It cheeses me off tho when its saying no public Access...🙄😔WHY, because some Numpty with money thinks they own everything once they buy a piece of Land..It should be outlawed.
Can't get over some of the youngsters stories Amazing Little uns for sure..
Thanks for doing this video I've been here many times 😃 - liked fully watched
Thanks Nathan
That drawing was mad, looked scary for the horse looked like it could fall in. Also that boat looked bigger than a canal boat had a sail on.
Yes fantastic
i worked for the Manchester Ship Canal company 1978 and was told by an engineer that there was a small study done to see if tourist barges could travel a small way into the tunnel. as a tourist attraction. Found to be too dangerous and uneconomic. What a shame, could have brought millions of pounds to the area.Brilliant video, you are saving Manchesters Dark History from being lost.
That would have been so good. Thank you 👍
Beautiful water and sky footage. The children's stories turned my stomach. Thanks for reading them.
Thanks Ralph
These children were the foundations of our society that we live in today
Great video Martin I drive past Worsley Delph once a week but never really noticed, I can't understand why it's closed to the public H&S I suppose. The most poignant thing we're the stories from those poor kids what a truly dreadful life they led. As much as I admire the Victorian's inventiveness and ingenuity the way they treated those kids was shocking. It makes you feel ashamed.
Anyway thanks for the vid, it really makes you think.
Thanks Darren, yes the Georgians and the Victorians brilliant but cruel
Darren Martin I’ve been to the delph. There are viewing areas to see the tunnel entrances.
Wonderful film! I went along the canal in a narrowboat from Worsley to Eccles and back for my birthday couple of years ago. I actually grew up alongside the Bridgewater Canal, right next door to Sale station
I can only imagine,
Drifting across that aquaduct,
In a relativley peaceful glide, surrounded by familiar landmarks,
But from this new perspective...
Mustve been one of the most serene snd surreal moments a person can have in life.
I hope you guys soaked it in,
And get to enjoy that feeling again sometime.
Ive bookmarked this area at the back of stretford for a good long invedtigative dog walk,
Just spotted it a few weeks ago on maps, after bussing, training, tramming, and driving past it my whole life.
And now here it is on a zero vid.
Lovely
Cant wait to have a look now its spring.
Thankyou
Thanks Bob, well worth a look
Go on then happy days. Iv thought of this for ages I fish around the corner.
Beautiful place
Another amzing video. These make UA-cam so amazing. Would love to get your autograph for my collection :)
Keep these vidoes coming. Thanks and all the best for the new year.
Canals are so amazing
Regards Jamie Cave
Thank you Jamie, I am very flattered
I am glad that Jamie, like myself, loves your videos. I am a Nigerian prince with a lot of money to move to the UK. Would also like have your signature, sorry autograph, and your bank details just for sentimental sake.
Channel 5 series 'Digging up Britain's Past' featured the Industrial Archeaology of Worsley yesterday evening ! I'm keen on mining history and realised that when I worked in Horwich, commuting there from Birminghan every Monday, I drove past Worsley on the M60 and I never stopped to look !
Thanks Malcolm I need to watch that programme
The reflection over the aqueduct is stunning. When you said built like a brick shithouse reminds me of my Dad he always use to say that hahaha 🤣
Since those openings under the bridge seemed to run off a towpath, could they have been stables for barge horses?
Barges were hauled out of the water up and down inclined planes, there are remnants of an inclined plane and a description at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum.
Possibly Chris. Or some sort of office
@@MartinZero I immediately thought of offices. the mine would need clerks to check loads out of the mine and take or give payment depending on the terms for the boat, plus there is a window. Windows were taxed in those days you didn't have a window. unless it served a purpose, it was a luxury.
Chris Matthews Well there are rooms under the bridge so there is you’re answer.
I think the industrial revolution started at worsley, certainly for mcr.
Nik Eastwood Black Country just down the road 👍
Thanks for this video again, Martin. I've been once at the Barton Swing bridges and I was the utterly lucky person to see them turning. It was fascinating. The other thing about those accounts from children. I know this, I learned about this when I learned history. I learned about workhouses "families" torn apart, and so on. But I always put this to a very-very-very deep corner of my mind, because every single time I hear about it I relive the suffering of these - and probably many millions or at least hundred thousands - children. You make me wanting to go there again. Thank you.
Thanks Daniel
I used to have an odd fear of canals as a kid. No idea why but now i'm fascinated. Discovered this channel a few years back and it was a canal based video. Stuck by ever since :)
Thank you very much Joseph. I appreciate it
“And the guy who owned it was built like a shit brick house”😂😂too funny so much architecture along that route👌🏻
He was Connor. Nice bloke though
Martin Zero aw great! where would we without these sorts of storys😂life would be boring anyway!
Martin, I only recently found your videos and I have to say I love them all, I've binge watched so many over the last few days. I love Manchester and history and your method of presentation is so good. I was at Manchester beer festival on Friday and got to finally see inside the old Central station. Wanted to see this for years as I research everything made by the Victorian Iron founder Andrew Hanyside, he made Central Station and as it happens also Barton swing road bridge & Barton Swing Aqueduct which is in this video at 05:56, I visited this place in 2015 for my Handyside blog :
friargatebridge.blogspot.com/2015/09/barton-swing-aqueduct-barton-upon.html
Thanks
Andy
Wonderful information and I loved the last little short video on the swing aqueduct in use, especially the gates that hold the water in place as the bridge operator lines it all up and opens the canal. Thank you for adding to the experience!
Fantastic journey guys full of interest. The reflections in the water going over the swing bridge made it look seriously weird. A big thanks to you all and to Dave for the canal trip.
Thanks John
Only just able to watch, its a strange thought realising that relaxing cruise, the nice houses and gardens was once like the busiest motorway or freight rail line now.
I cant imagin sending / leting my 7 year old daughter in this mines.. Hard..
Yes , unthinkable now
Built like a brick shithouse hahah classic Manc words reminds me of the old days u dont hear it used much now
Still commonly used in Australia.
Though I have seen this once prior,the stories of children so young just get me ,and though I love the fancy buildings of the era it is the hard working people I always dwell on. And I love the aqueduct, so this was just incredible.
Brilliant video Martin. Told my wife that we are going to Manchester for Holidays this year not Benidorm .What a great city the History is Amazing
Yeah sack Benidorm off Eddie 😀
Is it possible to find the remains of the original viaduct
It would require further investigation Martin
Martin Zero Pocket park is worth a look, you can see the start of the original aqueduct.
Martin Stallard ua-cam.com/video/QRGhHIVQQPQ/v-deo.html
People decry slavery ( quite rightly ) but complete miss how people & very young children (who weren't supposed slaves) were treated. The modern day education system is tainted
i agree.
My history lessons were full of this kind of exploitation, and all the museums I've ever been to (Black Country, Ironbridge, National Trust stately homes, maritime museums in Liverpool and Greenwich, and so on...) go into these practises in detail. In this video, someone chose to pay for and make those inscriptions for posterity. Its simply not true to say that people miss the terrible conditions people of all ages, genders, etc. were forced to work in. There's nothing tainted about modern day education, and when one facet of human suffering receives attention it does not detract from any other.
@@peterspencer6442 As regards to suffering, it puts history in context, that's my point. I wonder if you have heard about drag queen story time in primary schools, and what you think about that? Interested in what decade you were educated ? 1960s then yes, but from the mid 1980s on no, that's when the indoctrination started.
everything modern day is tainted. too PC.
get bans on Facebook for almost nothing.
ppl cry wolf for almost anything
I was looking for the meaning of 'delph' and seconds after not receiving a great deal of helpful responses online, you stated what it meant - many thanks! On these videos you see the history that is all around you and we are oblivious.
Thanks Richard
First class video - worthy of a TV broadcast. Well Done!
Thanks Mandii
One of your best presentations. This was part of my old play areas as a child. You’ve brought back many memories from the early 1960’s for me. Keep up the good work
Thank you Phil
Another entertaining half hour well spent brought to us by our brilliant history teacher Mr Zero, I hate it when that black screen comes up at the end. Learning so much thanks to you Martin.
Thank you very much Bob
I just love these videos so much history to learn. Far better than the TV or idiots lantern as my dad used to call it.
When I was 12 years old we lived in Turkey. The Boy Scouts of America has a summer camp on the Sea of Marmara. We had 2 person sailboats. One day the wind was blowing against the shore and we had a protective jetty that made it almost impossible to get a sailboat into open water. I was the only one to get my sailboat out of the protective water. I had not been taught tacking yet however I taught myself the principles without knowing the terminology. I used my compass and licking my finger and sticking it up in the air to determine the angle I should point my boat to fill my sail with wind.
The other kids I think were afraid of their boat just like I believe you were. I wish I had the money to visit Manchester. Never got there when my father was stationed RAF Croughton Air Force Base
Rev George
Dear sir, I was most unamused by the lack of clay pipe retrieval in your latest video.... I lived in Roe Green in the 90's so this was pure nostalgia for me. Martin, you go from strength to strength.🇯🇪
Thank you Ivan. Iam sure I will find that clay pipe bowl at some point
Another great video, the stories from the children are heartbreaking, just thinking my 4 year old grandson would be starting to work down the pit, truly awful.
Another fine video Martin and a real eye-opener regarding the plight of working children back in those dark days. I have a 7-year old daughter and it is upsetting to think of a little girl as small and young as her being forced into the dark for such long periods!!
Great video as usual. I live about 5 minutes drive from there. Have yet to visit the Delph but pass it every day. Looking forward to another video soon.
Thanks very much Geoff
well 3 men in a boat not the THAMES this time but the BRIDGEWATER CANAL that was fantastic and a big thanks to dave for the transport on his wonderful boat so interesting that is martin thanks to you and the team from trev and christine down south
Martin, this was superb.
I have loved all things underground, mines, caves and potholes since I was a kid.
I have read many books relating to mines in my local area and how youngsters were treated terribly as in Bridgewaters mines.
A truly fascinating subject.
I couldn’t help thinking about putting a small camera and light on an RC model boat just to try and see what was up inside the mine entrance.
More like this please Martin.
Thanks very much Keith. Yeah its an idea but that mud infiltrates evertything. Really difficult
What a video Martin.....the foundation's/beginnings of the industrial revolution right on our door step 👍
Yep, it all started at Worsley or Worsley powered it
Another fine film. You colour in the history of these places so well.
The stories of the children workers. Poor little buggers.
Keep up the great work mate.
Thank you Nick
Enjoy every episode you make. It's a world of Difference for me living in Australia with a very new industrial country. I enjoy every bit of old country England you show in your videos. If I'm ever in your neck of the woods I would love to tag along for the day!
Thank you, you should come and visit
Thanks Martin and the rest of your team for the day.
Thank you Gareth
Thank you for sharing this, I live Southern California and I'm loving the history your sharing of places I'm not sure I'll ever see in person.
Fantastic video, some beautiful shots along the canal, and some excellent industrial history at the Delph. Those testimonials from the kids are just heartbreaking, especially the one who started when he was just 4. Superb stuff!
Thanks very much
Another belter our kid.,
Memory lane for me, i went to St Teresas school in Firswood in Stretford in the 70s, early 80s, and we went on a canal boat trip up to the delph in 1981 or 82 from the Patricroft bit . it still looks the same from 40 years ago. Us Stretford and Urmston folks know it as the Orange Canal for obvious reasons. I fished the Bridgewater canal from Sale all the way to Waters meetings, kelloggs and upto swing bridge, past kelloggs and the Traffic Centre. would have loved to have seen that bit on your journey, all the way to the Wides and past Sandbanks (trafford centre bit) up to the swinging bridge. Great memories, thank you for a wonderful journey and video... Plus i think i know that chap you went with on the boat. haha.. Keep up the great work :D
Really enjoyed that. Nothing like it in Australia. I think canals are just beautiful and also stonework of the bridges. Thanks so much for taking me along.
Linda McCaughey any canals down under?
Not at all, I so enjoy seeing them tho
I'm in Alabama and Love your videos, you make me want visit the UK. Keep up the good work
It almost looks like the troll was living under that bridge 😳😈🤣 wow nice find Martin ! The canal boat 🚣 ride was excellent as well!
Thanks very much Daniel
Hell yes! These videos are super inspirational. Took the wife out on our first exploration walk (just half an hour) locally the other day. We found the foundations of a late 1700s exotic bird house in the grounds of a local factory that used to be Globe ironworks.
Keep up the good work fella!
Hell of a lot of iron in that canal
Thanks and that sounds great
Thanks Dave for taking Danny and Martin to a truly historical part of Manchester. How desperately poor were they to have no other option other than to send small children into the black horror of the mines. It scares me just to think about it. Enthralling video Martin.
Cheers Greg
Thank you for showing all that Martin that was really interesting. I have family who live in Worsley and since I could remember as a little kid walking over that bridge and looking down at the mine entrance surrounded by orange coloured water always used to make me want to explore those tunnels. My mothers side of the family are from Eccles, Walkden, Worlsey and Bolton so I really enjoying watching your videos about the history of those areas. Every time I visit family with my Grandfather who was born in Walkden, we are always taken on a little history tour and shown the buildings and structures that my family built or helped build back in the day. Some of them still showing my family name somewhere hidden on the brickwork or the woodwork.
Thank you very much
The large, empty areas under the bridge are simply there to save on building materials. They may have been used for storage or something else in their time. Sometimes used as covered work areas where they could fix their boats etc, but their intended purpose was just to save money on materials and time.
Another great vid Martin. Keep 'em coming mate.😁😁😁😁😁👍
I’m from little Hulton and there’s meant to be miles of underwater canals would love to see that amazes me.
Wow what an incredible video, amazing how much history is around us! Thanks for sharing
You need a small model FPV boat, Martin to get into those small holes...
The Barton aqueduct regularly expands too much on a mad hot day, & seizes. Then the Fire Brigade has to douse it with water to cool it off, to shrink it enough to turn. Great fun when it's too big to close, the traffic build-up is horrendous.
I would love to explore England by Narrowboat. You miss so much when traveling the motorways or in the US here Highways and Freeways.
Martin, absolutely breathtaking videos 👍❤️👍
Another mint video, love this stuff.
I enjoy all of your videos and episodes but this one especially as interesting thank you so much to the foxes I will check out their Channel God bless you all safe travels.. certainly that area is closed because of the chemicals and whatnot seeping out of the mine
Thanks very much Katherine