Manchester

Stayed on a boat, and spent lots of time walking the canals

In Manchester, we stayed in a canal barge for 3 nights. Interesting place, though it took some extra work (had to turn on the generator regularly, the toilets required more work than a regular toilet, etc). The owners had just completed it very recently, in April, so we were some of the first visitors.
Our construction project at the Musuem of Science and IndustryA canal-side view
Kenny really enjoyed running around the outside of the boatNearby locks.
I saw dozens of people at various scenic locations, sketching and painting. I talked to one of them. Apparently it's the international convention of Urban Sketchers.
At the John Rylands library, built in the Victoria era to look Gothic
We watched this boat go down a lock. There were about 70 plus locks on this canal - the Rochdale canal. That's lots of work for each one of them!
Taking a walk along the Rochdale Canal - at the Alan Turing memorial
Towards the last part of our walk along the Rochdale Canal, around the Victoria Mill Park - a not-so-nice neighborhood
This building stood out as a landmark for miles around
Breakfast on the bargeKirkstall Abbey, near Leeds. I thought this would be deserted, but it turns out it's in the suburbs of Leeds, and was very crowded. There was a market going on while we were there
One section of the abbey had been made into a weird little playspace
The main road to Leeds once ran through the ruins of this abbey
These odd little sinks with drains were everywhere around the main cathedral. Don't know what they were