Rochdale Canal, Castlefield — Victorian Railway Viaducts

25 September 2019 · Manchester

Castlefield's canal corridor runs straight toward a stack of Victorian railway viaducts, their red-brick arches layered one behind the other under a broken overcast sky. The Rochdale Canal holds the whole scene in reflection — the cloud, the ironwork, the overgrown towpath wall — doubling the depth of a composition that already pulls the eye from foreground to mid-distance to arch to arch. Industrial infrastructure built for speed and commerce; the water beneath it moves at a different pace entirely.