Mersey Basin Campaign Blog

Rochdale Canal Festival 2009 - full events listing

 

Yippee, full event listings are now available for the Rochdale Canal Festival, which gets underway two weeks on Saturday. You can download a copy of the flyer here....Download RCF09_Events flyer

Manchester Music Venues walk - RCF 09

Okay, so it might not quite be up there with THAT gig, but everyone who's anyone will surely be heading for the great Manchester Music Venues walk, taking place as part of the Rochdale Canal Festival 2009 on Tuesday 14th July.

The four-mile walk will take in the canal as it passes through Manchester city centre, and many legendary Manc music haunts, from the Bridgewater Hall to the Roadhouse.

The walk starts at 11am, meeting at the main entrance of Manchester Town Hall in Albert Square.

Why not prepare for the walk by listening to HEARMANCHESTER.COM / UNSUNG a unique audio portrait of the city's musical heritage, which finds music journalist and punk legend John Robb talking to some of Manchester's unsung musical heroes, from Tosh Ryan of Rabid Records (The Buzzcocks, Slaughter and The Dogs), and discovering the city's jazz and hip-hop scenes, as well as unearthing a few unexpected anecdotes about the father of the Halle Orchestra and his postman........

Hearmanchester.com at the Big Chip Awards

Check them out! http://www.hearmanchester.com, our audio portraits based along the Rochdale Canal in Manchester city centre was shortlisted in three categories at the Big Chip Awards last night, and the project was lucky enough to receive special commendations for both 'Best Public Sector Project' and 'Best Use of Visual Design'. The awards were presented at a glitzy ceremony at Manchester's Palace Hotel, and I think star-studded would be the appropriate term for an event which was hosted by Terry Christian AND featured a special performance from comedian Bill Bailey, fresh from the stage at the Palace Theatre, where he's been performing his stand-up show for the past few nights. We had fun with our friends from Stardotstar, who developed the project, as well as the photographer, Graeme Cooper, Andrew from 257 Design, who created our beautiful Hearmanchester bollards, and our project partners from Marketing Manchester, thanks everyone for a great night.....

Visit the Big Chip website for information about the other award winners, and no doubt a beautiful picture of us in our finery at some point....

And don't just take the judges' word for it, jump on Hearmanchester.com, and take a walk along the Rochdale Canal with punk legend John Robb.

Orange RockCorps Volunteers Gave, Got Wet and Got Given!

On a very wet Sunday June 7th, 46 volunteers braved the weather to come down to a site adjacent to the River Medlock to do their bit for the environment.

 

In partnership with Mersey Basin Campaign, Groundwork and Orange RockCorps an event was organised to help clear as much of the fly-tipped rubbish as possible from out of the bushes next to the river. Volunteers also helped to clear the paths, cut back vegetation and help remove some of the Himalayan Balsam that has started to take over the site.

Yuck! What a mess!

Volunteers were recruited via a scheme called Orange RockCorps, which was started in the US and is now into it’s second year in the UK. The aim of the scheme is to encourage people to have a go at volunteering, particularly young people. RockCorps recognised that a lot of people may wish to try volunteering and either don’t know who to contact to get started, or don’t know how to go about the activities involved in volunteer work. In light of this, RockCorps started going out to various organisations to find activities that could use a big group of volunteers. Volunteers could then sign up for events through the website and were offered the incentive that, if you give four hours of your time to help make a difference, you get given a ticket to an exclusive gig at the Royal Albert Hall! You can’t win yourself a ticket, you can’t buy yourself a ticket, you have to earn your ticket.

 

This year the scheme has been extended to include events in Manchester as well as London, with a companion gig at the Manchester Apollo. Acts have already been announced for the Manchester Apollo gig on July 13^th and include Lady Gaga, N-Dubz and The Enemy! Not bad for free (well not exactly free, but still cheap at the price for doing 4 hours work!).

  Everyone hard at work

Down by the River Medlock, everyone got soaked whilst they were signing in but the rain managed to hold off while they were working until the end of the event (where it started again with a vengeance!). Orange RockCorps supplied all the volunteers with t-shirts, ponchos and gloves (which were theirs to keep) as well as providing snacks and drinks during the event and pizza to celebrate afterwards!  

 

All the volunteers made a real effort and for some people it was their first time volunteering. Between the whole team, they filled a skip to overflowing with cleared rubbish and vegetation. Some of the weird and wonderful items collected included: a fridge, a mattress, loads of old carpet, tyres and hubcaps, a plastic dog house, a broken TV and loads of general litter such as cans, bottles and plastic bags.

After – such a difference!

Could that skip be any fuller?!

 It really was a great event making a real difference to an area with few resources. I’d like to say a few huge thank yous to the various partners involved. Firstly, thanks to Orange RockCorps for recruiting the volunteers and supplying all the extras, incentives and equipment (basically all the hard work!). Thanks to Groundwork for their support on site visits and helping out on the day. Thanks to Manchester City Council for kindly donating the skip and disposing of the waste. Thanks to the Ardwick Centre for very kindly letting us use their car park and toilets. And finally, thanks to all the volunteers who weren’t put off by the rain and who came down and made a real effort. Thanks for all being so enthusiastic and I hope you all have an amazing time at the gig!

 

There are still volunteering events going on in Manchester (and London) so if you would like to have a go, sign up on the Orange RockCorps website: www.orangerockcorps.co.uk

Go on, give and get given!

AFSL - Big Blog Challenge

An interesting new blogging project I've just heard about, being run by the Manchester-based charity ACTION FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING. AFSL's role in life is to get people involved with and enthused about more sustainable ways of living, and to give their new blog a kick start, they've asked three brave volunteers to blog for them for two weeks about their own personal lifestyle change.

June's three bloggers are: Lucy Flintoff from south Manchester, who'll be reporting on her efforts to recycle as much of her home waste as possible for the fortnight; Michael Kelly from Failsworth, who's going to document his experiences of commuting on his newly purchased bike, and Sarah Ventress, a meat-eater who'll be turning vegetarian, and writing about how she manages to resist the lure of a bacon butty.

You can keep up with their adventures at: http://afsl.wordpress.com/

AFSL are looking for three more bloggers to take over in July, so if you're up for the challenge, contact ANNABEL BRADBURY

Rochdale Canal Festival '09 - face painting, bouncy castles and kayaks....

 

Just a few weeks now until the start of this year's Rochdale Canal Festival, so I thought I'd start giving you a taste of what's planned for the week.

The first day of the festival is Saturday 11th July, and it looks like being a packed day along the canal.

AT EALEES, LITTLEBOROUGH... there'll be a fun day, which is taking place between 11am-4pm, and will feature boat rides, bouncy castle, face painting, donkey rides, craft stalls, and music from Littleborough Public Brass Band, to name just a few attractions. No need to book, just turn up on the day.

IN MILES PLATTING... is the aptly named Miles Platting Festival, with arts and crafts activities, face painting, fishing, sports, photography workshops and refreshments available. No need to book, just stroll along and join in.

FEELING A LITTLE MORE ACTIVE? Then make tracks for Moston Brook, where you can participate in a guided walk along the Rochdale Canal to Queen's Park. The walk starts at 1.30pm and should finish at around 3pm.

ALTERNATIVELY... you could head for Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre, where there will be a family pond dip - see which creatures you can find and identify.

UP FOR AN ADVENTURE? Then book yourself in for a kayaking taster session at Hollingworth Lake - call 0161 242 8216 to book.

That's enough for now. Exactly a month to go until the Festival!

Wild Walk #12.5 with David Haley

Picture (c) Graeme Cooper 2008

Do you fancy yourself as the next David Attenborough, or perhaps the Northwest's answer to Captain Cook? Would you like the chance to explore our urban jungle from a new perspective? Then we might have just the event for you.

Ecological artist David Haley will be leading an exciting arts and ecology expedition through Manchester city centre as part of the Rochdale Canal Festival on Wednesday 15th July. Starting at midday from Deansgate station, and finishing up at Beswick St, the tour will provide an unrivalled opportunity to discover Manchester's wildlife. Participants will search the urban landscape for plant and animal habitats, and find out exactly who and what shares our city.

There will be time for drawing, photography and field studies to consider Manchester as a living organism. David, a research fellow at MIRIAD, Manchester Metropolitan University, promises us plenty of educational stuff, and serious bits (his words) for people keen on urban ecology, spatial planning, futures studies, art, science and community participation.

The programme for the walk is as follows:

12:00 Welcome at Deansgate station - introductions, health and safety, any questions

12:15 set off

1:00 Oxford Rd - break for drink, information, drawing, photography, observation and talking

1:15 set off

2:00 Piccadilly station - break for drink, information, drawing, photography, observation, talking and collecting.

2:15 set off

3:00 Finish at Beswick St

3:10 return via Ashton Canal

3:30 drop off at Piccadilly station

ROUTE

A brief view of the River Medlock and Bridgewater Canal will be supplemented by Castlefield Basin - one of the oldest transport interchanges in the world. We then follow the Rochdale Canal passed Oxford Road to Piccadilly Basin. From there we will walk to Beswick Street, then take the Ashton Canal back to Picadilly station.

SAFETY AND COMFORT

Clothing: comfortable shoes and clothes - waterproofs, hat, sunscreen

Tools: please bring portable drawing equipment, camera, binoculars if you have them

Water: please bring a bottle of water

Food: please bring a picnic lunch

Toilets: will be available at lunchtime

Access: the route is wheelchair / buggy friendly

Warning: beware what you're picking up

Children: under 16s must be accompanied by an adult

HAVE FUN!

If you'd like to hear an audio feature on David and his walks, please visit http://hearmanchester.com/green/

Coming soon to the Catalyst

 

Woo hoo! Mersey: River that changed the world is back on the road again! After 2008's non-stop schedule - which saw the exhibition visit Liverpool's Albert Dock, Sale Waterside Arts Centre, The Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port and Stockport Art Gallery - the multimedia extravaganza celebrating the River Mersey will be on view again for the summer of 2009.

Part of the exhibition has just been on a warm-up tour to Liverpool's John Lennon Airport (hmmmm, that got us all in the holiday mood), but in a few short weeks, the whole thing will be landing at Widnes' Catalyst Science Discovery Centre (just under the Runcorn Bridge) for three months. We're really excited about the exhibition's new home, and the folks at Catalyst have got some fun activities planned for the summer too.

As well as checking out Colin McPherson's Mersey travelogue photography, you'll be able to explore the centre's scientific displays and interactive areas, and get an unrivalled view of the river and bridge from the glass observatory on the top floor (I was there on Friday, and it's hard to drag yourself away). On top of that, you can contribute to the Mersey exhibition by leaving your own 'Mersey Memory' on a postcard for us.

I'll keep you posted as the installation goes ahead, but watch this space, or the Mersey project website to find out when the exhibition will open at the Catalyst.