A locking job before Pride.

We’ve still been mooching about Manchester for last couple of days.

We found the oldest riverside pup in the city (on the River Irwell) a day or so ago but yesterday evening was the eve before Pride and we enjoyed the atmosphere in Canal Street as the crowds grew bigger and bigger, waiting for the first group performances of the weekend.

Compare Amy Lamé and Anthony Cotton opened the weekend on stage.

On the main stage, among others, The Feeling were fantastic and on stage in Sackville Gardens, Rewind, a very talented boy band, gave us a good evening.  There were some heavy showers of rain which dampened things a bit but on the whole it was a great first evening.  Here are a couple of shots of The Feeling taken with a phone, sorry to say, as we didn’t have the camera.

Today we got up early and took the tram to New Islington where we met up with Ian and Karen on nb ‘Tacet’ to help them down the Rochdale 9 and into Castlefield Basin. They kindly gave us breakfast at 8am before we started the journey down.  It’s great to see them again since our last meeting on the Kennet and Avon Canal earlier in the year

The first lock of the day – Doug, Karen and Ian on the boat.

Getting to Canal Street – we were about half way down and the rain was holding off well.

All the flags are out in readiness for Manchester’s biggest weekend. 

We got down the flight in a very reasonable hour and a half and ‘Tacet’ was safely moored in Castlefield by 10:15.  The main Pride Parade starts today at  1 o’ clock so we’re getting ready for the celebrations to start. Just hope the weather holds!