River Roch work on track to be completed by March 2016

Date published: 30 October 2015

Work on uncovering the River Roch is on track to be completed in March 2016.

The multi-million pound scheme to uncover the river began in March 2015.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/94904/work-starts-on-uncovering-the-river-roch-in-rochdale-town-centre

Speaking to Rochdale Online, John Percival, Project Lead, said: “This has been a really interesting project. Everything about it has been interesting, from the history of the project to the ecology has been fascinating. We are on track to be completed on time and we should be finished by early-mid March.”

Your reporter was given the opportunity to go on a site visit today (Friday 30 October) and got the chance to see the Restoration/Regency period outer sections on display.

The bridge that is now visible was originally covered over in the early 1900s and has been hidden from view ever since. Work has been undertaken to restore the bridge to its originality as best as possible. Old stone has been used, as well as new stone, which will enable passers-by to see the old and the new together.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/96924/river-roch-bridge-visible

Sitting underneath those sections is an inner medieval section.

As work continues to unveil Rochdale’s hidden river, wildlife has already been spotted on site.

Mr Percival added: “We have already seen Brown Trout, a Wagtail has been spotted on site and some Bullheads. We have also seen Otter spraint on the other side of the river.”

Areas close to the Regal Moon side of the river are being flagged to make way for the new market. The market will be as close as possible to the river and there will be areas for people to sit and look out over the river.

There are also plans to stop the river from becoming filled with litter as staff from Environmental Management will have access to the river to clean anything out that shouldn’t be there.

Two sections of the River Roch, which were hidden beneath Rochdale town centre, are being uncovered. One of these sections lies underneath The Butts in front of HSBC and the other section is outside Barclays on The Esplanade.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/97439/progress-on-uncovering-the-river-roch-continues-apace

The project is funded by Rochdale Borough Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Environment Agency and the North West Regional Coastal Flood Committee.

The multi-million pound scheme to uncover the River Roch in Rochdale Town Centre
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