Manchester, Rochdale Canal 1983
more: Rochdale Canal today
There's a sentence in Paul Gallagher's book mentioning that one of Noel's fashion phases included wearing a donkey jacket everywhere, which is the jacket canal workers wore.
Manchester United football fan in Donkey Jacket Iain SP Reid - c. 1976
"The coolest thing about them was that you couldn't buy them anywhere. They were issued by councils and utilities to workers, so you either had a manual labour job, or had a mate who nicked one for you." - A West Londoner, remembering the donkey jacket boom
Patrick Grant, Founder, Community Clothing:
First worn by workers building the Manchester Ship Canal in the late 19th century [the jacket] got its name from the ‘donkey’ engine, a small steam engine used to replace the work formerly done by horses or donkeys. Popular throughout the 20th century with everyone from miners to construction workers, they disappeared when hi-vis safety jackets took over. Typically made of super hardwearing heavy wool cloth with an abrasion-resistant leather shoulder and yoke (later versions which had synthetic shoulders).
Donkey jackets worn by pickets during the 1984-85 miners strike.
Rochdale Canal was mostly closed except for a section in Manchester by 1952, as per the Rochdale Canal Act 1952. However, Rochdale Canal Lock 84 is located in Manchester and the canal basically parallels Whitworth Street; it does run in its course about a block away from India House Whitworth Street.
Is it the canal Noel was maybe envisioning when writing the words to The Masterplan? (It might be Salford Quays or just the ocean idk)
Take the time to make some sense Of what you want to say And cast your words away upon the waves
Be that as it may, if you go to Rochdale Canal today, you may see the Words Cast No Shadow reflecting back at you from the water.
Manchester Evening News | 24th May 2024:
Next time you're walking over the footbridge to Ancoats marina take a look at the Rochdale Canal below. If it's a clear, still day you'll probably be able to make out the words 'Cast no shadow' on the surface of the water.
The phrase, as any music fan will know, is lifted from the Oasis song of the same name. And in a clever design trick it's stencilled in reverse on the underside of the bridge, so that it reflects onto the canal.
