First of all thanks go to Keïteï for reminding me that this wonderful drain is still accessible without having to use a car as a barricade, albeit a bit tricky especially when it comes to lifting a >45kg lid with your head from below.
For the last couple of years I'd been wanting to get back down to see this sewer overflow but since the original (and very discreet) way in had been sealed, it was always going to be a bit more tricky.
Finally the day had arrived for my third visit to this spectacular piece of Victorian engineering where I was accompanied by concreteJungle.
From our entry point we headed up to the main trunk sewer overflow where the brickwork is simply amazing. We then worked our way downstream past the two other sewers each with CSO chambers that are also stunning pieces of engineering. These sewers cross below the Hulme Flume tunnel at 90 degrees to it which makes for nice 4ft tunnels joining the main one. We then headed down to the very end where the deadly festering sump of filth resides. I am equally fascinated, disgusted and frightened by this thing that lies beyond the twin jamrag laden chains. Here the tunnel dives deep into the abyss and the ceiling vanishes in to the shitty soup - death would be a certainty to anyone foolish enough to overstep the finishing line of Tampax, Always Ultra and Kotex. Surely one of the very nastiest ways to kick the bucket!
Before very long the lower end of this tunnel just prior to the sump will be butchered to meet environmental targets in order to make this CSO less of a menace II society. This is long overdue as currently, when there is more than a little rain which in Manchester is somewhat of a regular occurrence, the flume carries the overflow from the 3 trunk sewers and empties the contents directly into the River Irwell / Manchester Ship Canal.
Here there are also two small 300mm sewers that have been incorrectly connected to this CSO tunnel instead of a main sewer therefore permanently dumping their shit into the river. Nice!
