New Islington Marina.

New Islington Marina was opened towards the back end of last year and has 32 permanent moorings and 10 visitor moorings. Some of the permanent moorings have been taken up and have electric hook-up and water.

This arm is not yet open.

Taken from where we were moored.

Well designed and quiet.

Looking towards the sanitary station and Rochdale Canal.

The sanitary block was designed by John Lee from ARCA it’s a cocoon of wood, standing on recycled tyres and insulated with straw that not only provides the necessary washing facilities but a communal place to sit round a log burning stove and free Wi-Fi.

Elsan, there is pump out but it is not working yet.

Shower Room.

Washing Machines, which require tokens, which can be bought for £2 and do one wash.

Bathroom.

Log Burner.

You can buy your Electric Cards etc in the eco friendly block. It is all very well designed.

The park area will be wonderful once nature really takes over, already there is a local Heron, Swans and their cygnets. I saw a few Butterflies, House Martins and a couple of Dragonflies, so mother nature is taking hold slowly. I look forward to seeing the marina in a few years time when it has grown and there are more boats using it.

Keith and I have enjoyed our weekend in the marina, we paid £5 a night, and used the electric to within an inch of its life, what with washing, drying and hoovering. At 2pm, after I got back from shopping in Aldi we moved off of our weekend mooring and out beyond the bridge to the visitor moorings, where we will stay over night. In the morning we want to make an early start.

This morning whilst we enjoyed the morning sunshine, bikes were coming and going along the road behind the marina. So me being nosey spoke to a couple who were having a break from cycling and asked them what it was all about.

It turned out that it was Manchester's Sky Ride. Sky Ride gives the local community bike rides that offer a great way of getting out and exploring their local area. Roads in Manchester were closed between 9am and 5pm so that people could cycle around the city freely. The route started in Castlefield, on to Deansgate, and then on to the National Cycling Centre - home of British Cycling.You can either use your own bike or hire one free for the day. There were volunteers handing out water and offering assistance when it was needed, as I witnessed a couple of people fall off their bikes.

I watched hundreds of people cycling past in costumes or just the hi-vis tops, some were wearing helmets and others did not see the need, I hope they do not fall off.

People of all ages, were taking part as well as many children from all age groups. It was a splendid sight to see.

It was very clear that people were enjoying themselves, the couple I spoke to said they had done it every year for the past 4 years and did not know that New Islington Marina existed, so they had seen something new. They also told me that there is at least 20,000 people taking part, which is fantastic. I bet some people only get their bikes out once a year for this event.