Articles

Reunion May 2010

Friday Afternoon, 21 May

Uppermill

The whole reunion started on Friday afternoon, when we met up at the Kingfisher in Greenfield.

To anybody who has not visited the area for a few years, it is very striking that the entire canal has been restored, transforming it from the weeded, decaying area that it was into the amazingly picturesque environment that it is now. 

The Kingfisher and the immediate vicinity typify this - a new pub/restaurant beside a new marina, and the canal itself leading (in our case) to Uppermill and beyond.

We had asked people to try to arrive at 1.00, ready to start walking at 2.00.  Whatever else these people learned at Greenhill, they learned to be punctual - by 1.00 the party was already in full swing, and several of the people doing the swinging had not met up for nearly 50 years.

Our first, and very pleasant surprise was that Bernard Dowd was there.  He had said that he would try to make it, but was doubtful.  In the event, he arrived with his wife Norma and their grand-daughter, and walked with us.  We were all pleased to see him, but nobody more so than Keith Sudds, who of course served with Bernard for many years in the Oldham Police force.

We don't seem to have photographs of everybody, but we did manage to catch one of Jean Wild, after 50 years looking just like Jean Wild, and seen here with Linda Robinson......

The walk from the Kingfisher to Uppermill is one that few of us had taken previously, and the whole of the walk was quite delightful, particularly in view of the very good weather which blessed the whole weekend....

At Uppermill, the canal itself goes under the road, but the "towpath" crosses the start of the High St. as the A670 enters Uppermill from the Greenfield side.  Over a decade ago, when this part of the canal was being restored, this point was one of considerable difficulty for the engineers.  Previous generations, considering the canals "dead", had strengthened the bridge by the simple expedient of pouring concrete into the lock!  This all had to be dug out, the bridge strengthened, and the lock restored.

These photographs show what a good job they made of it....

The photographs also show just how well-eqipped some of the participants were, and the astute reader will perhaps gain an impression of some of the difficulties involved in trying to keep a group of ex-Greenhillians together when they have so much to talk about - it's a bit like herding cats! 

In either case, we all eventually retraced our steps to the Kingfisher and the cars.

This photograph is taken approaching the Kingfisher from Uppermill, and one can see the canal on the right, with the "turning circle" for the boats so that they can go through the (raised!) bridge and into the marina on the left.

The day was not yet done, of course.  From the Kingfisher, we made our separate ways to prepare for the evening meal at The Roebuck.......