Hardcore Drain, (Sewer Overflow & Culvert)
Forgot I hadn't posted this one...
Rewind 8 months, after being laid up for a further 4 months and stuck with crutches I was itching to get back into drains, or anything for that matter
The weather was decent so I decided to go and check on a couple of drain leads off my research list
It's quite ironic that some of the best drains are located in some of the worst ghettos, this was no exception!
As I arrived at my destination I decided to wear wellies, but having made it half way across the river I had breached big time and my feet and legs were now soaked - FAIL!
Back to the ghetto I got some strange looks wringing out my socks whilst balanced on one crutch
Deploying the wad0rs I headed back off yet again to said river, this time crossing was much easier although the local dog walkers couldn't get their head around a cripple wadering through your rivers LOL
Once across, the Outfall was much bigger than I expected, about 4 metres all told. As I walked through, it got much deeper and opened out into a pretty big concrete box, at this point I got the biggest whiff of 'fresh'
There wasn't much natural light so I switched on the head torch and WOW, 2 6ft RBP's, BUT then as I looked down I was stood in a sea of arse soup with stale turds floating about Yummy!
(Suppose that would explain the smell then)
I found a safe place to anchor one of the crip stix, and quickly whipped out the cree and set sail up the first RBP
As I stepped inside, it was obvious it was some kind of culvert, as the water was clear and none of the usual toilet peripherals draped about
It was a fair bit rocky for the first 100 yards, then it was just a matter of slippery brickwork to contend with
I must have walked about another 300 yards before it started to curve to the left
Eventually it straightened out and I carried on upstream for what seemed like an age before I could here what sounded like a weir in the distance
As I got closer the pipe appeared to be half blocked with steel supports and was backfilled with silt and rocks
Infact I had arrived at a small chamber/junction with a smaller 2ft RBP connecting in from the right
Ahead, the now blocked semi-circular RBP continued into the distance, it was 3ft at a push and I had no intention of stooping any further at this point until I'm properly fit...
I'll be back
I turned around and headed back to the Outfall so I could check out the other RBP
As I neared the Outfall, the smell of fresh filled my nostrils once again, without hesitating I made my way past the floaters that had gathered around
the second shit pipe. I stepped in and shone my torch about, looking for somewhere to place the tripod, the first thing I spotted was a rubber johnny swimming about
It was quite misty as most sewer overflows are intitially, so I mooched up a bit further and took the following shot looking back down the pipe
Similar to the other RBP it curved off to the left around 400 yards in
Again it was fairly slippy, so relied on the crip stick to keep me steady, I must have walked another couple of hundred yards before the brick appeared to end?
WTF as I switched on the cree
I was now stood in a rock blasted cavern which had opened up ahead, and a short distance in front of me was a 5ft RCP, confused? I was!
I stooped through the short RCP, obviously replacing an age old collapsed section, which was even more evident as I got to the other side
This was insane, I started off in a drain, I'm still in a drain, but felt like I had now been teleported into a cave
Whatever, this place was awesome and like nothing I have ever seen before, even the 'Cavern CSO' in Accrington wasn't a patch on this place and that was impressive!
Anyway, after I had got my head around it all I decided to carry on further upstream, as I stepped forward my stick dissapeared
I was now waist deep in festering sewerfresh, surrounded by fanny plasters and all manner of STD's
My wad0rZ now failed me, thats 2 pairs in 2 consecutive days FFS, I was now soaked, it was becoming uneven & rocky as fook and my foot started giving me jip, but I hadn't come this far for fuck all so I ploughed on
After what seemed like an eternity, the overflow took a sharp right-left turn
It went deeper again here and was starting to think that this ain't such a good idea solo, but as I shone my torch beyond the turn, I knew there was much more to see..
In the distance I could hear dripping water and the drain appeared to widen into what looked like another cavern. As I got closer I could see the water dripping down a shaft that was a good 15ft above
As I stepped under to take a closer look up, it was Game Over, I sunk upto my chest in what appeared to be some kind of sump, also looking ahead it was quite deep & stoopy so decided to call it a day.
I will be returning once my foot is a bit better and I have new wad0rs, as there is almost certainly much more to see
And I suspect some big screening chamber further upstream
It felt good to be back in drains
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