If Manchester is known for just one thing, it’s its affiliation to music. Loving music, making music – we’re guilty of both. But there’s one thing, in particular, we do very well, and that is record shops – niche ones, vintage ones, and in this case, even floating ones.
Docking up on the scenic Rochdale Canal in Ancoats, just off New Islington Marina, Rubber Ducky Records has been operating from a yellow canal boat since late last year – after the first iteration of Rubber Ducky sank en route to Manchester after an unexpected run-in with an abandoned rug. And today, it’s garnered quite the fan base of electronic music lovers.
Stocking a selection of over 3,000 tracks ranging across genres such as house, techno, UK garage, electro, DnB, disco and trance, guests can book a visit to peruse owner Myles Greenwood’s carefully curated collection, all on board a boat that has a very Manchester history.
Once owned by a drag queen who used it for illicit activities after performing burlesque shows, the boat has been reimagined as a floating record shop and brought back to life once more following numerous rounds of crowdfunding. Forced to close back in April 2023, fans of the unique shop rallied around Myles, helping to raise a whopping £10,000 to fund the boat’s restoration and new stock.
Alongside over 3,000 new tunes to purchase, guests can also peruse a very special (and almost historic) selection of records which were rescued from the sunken boat and have been lovingly cleaned up for visitors to enjoy.
Additionally, guests can also browse and purchase from Rubber Ducky’s collection online, or keep up with exclusive pop-up events on land.
Rubber Ducky Records can be found on the Rochdale Canal just a stone’s throw from 10 Redhill Street, and is open Wednesday-Saturday. You can book to use the listening station here or purchase online here.
While the business is currently docked up in Ancoats, plans for the future include sailing across the UK’s canals, allowing more music lovers to enjoy Rubber Ducky. We have a feeling our pals at Secret Bristol will be pretty jealous of this one.