{"id":411028,"date":"2025-09-09T17:50:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T17:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/411028\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T17:50:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T17:50:14","slug":"were-stranded-and-now-we-know-the-real-reason-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/411028\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We’re stranded – and now we know the real reason why’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boaters on the New Islington Marina are ‘trapped’ among a canal bed of cones and mattresses\"TheThe boats have nowhere to go (Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

Boaters living in the New Islington marina have been left stranded as their boats lay grounded on the Rochdale Canal – and now they say they know why.<\/p>\n

Residents have been stuck unable to move at the marina for more than a week as water levels have continued to plummet.<\/p>\n

Where last month there was free-flowing water seperating their boats, now lies discarded cones, a mattress and a washing machine on the shallow bed of the canal.<\/p>\n

The Canal & River Trust, the charity responsible for maintenance of the canal, has pointed to the nationwide water shortage caused by the exceptionally dry spring and summer this year.<\/p>\n

Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

But the boaters insist the issue is down to a leak, and say they have now found its source. Residents say that thanks to the low water levels, they have been able to track the flow of water from the marina, leading them to a section of the canal which appears to have a breach.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe area where residents say the canal is draining(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

“We’ve found where the leak is on Butler Street,” says Dave Marshall, 53, who has who has spent 15 years on the marina.<\/p>\n

“In maybe six months we’ll get water back into this canal, but I’ve been saying for the last six years that this canal is drinking water.<\/p>\n

“We can’t empty the toilet and we’re having to buy bottled water because we can’t get the boat to the tap. It’s an absolute nightmare.<\/p>\n

“We’re trapped, absolutely trapped.”<\/p>\n

M\u00e1rton Gy\u00f6rgy, who has been tracking the water, said: “The boats reached the bottom about a week ago, so we’ve kind of accepted that.<\/p>\n

“Water should be flowing towards the Piccadilly basin, but a small stream started to flow north, towards Butler Street.<\/p>\n

“It seems that there is a breach somewhere in the canal bed and it leaks at around a litre a second. I called the CRT and they said it’s not a breach.<\/p>\n

\"EllenEllen Davis (far left), with her neighbours (Image: Jason Roberts \/Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

“I’ve been a boater for a few years and I’m pretty sure that apart from global warming, lack of maintenance is a big issue as well.”<\/p>\n

With boats grounded, residents are worried about their safety and the damage that could be done to their homes.<\/p>\n

For them, being grounded means the dangerous chance of the base of wide-bottom boats being damaged by the debris on the bed of the marina, causing punctures.<\/p>\n

And those with v-shaped hulls are worried that their homes are at risk of tipping over once they make contact with the solid ground.<\/p>\n

Ellen Davis, 24, who has been living a the marina since March, told the M.E.N: “My boat is fully grounded and it’s not going anywhere.<\/p>\n

“There’s a gentleman in a boat who is an old man and he’s barely able to get out out of his boat. He’s not the only one.<\/p>\n

\"DaveDave on his boat(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of people on this marina who living sideways. They’re saying that we need to wait for rainfall, but rainfall is not going to fix this.”<\/p>\n

The Canal River Trust has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boaters on the New Islington Marina are ‘trapped’ among a canal bed of cones and mattressesThe boats have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,101945,16429,53432,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-411028","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-new-islington","13":"tag-piccadilly-gardens","14":"tag-rochdale-canal","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115175609510208086","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}