This report is the result of multiple visits by and with multiple people. Credit to @WB and @Kaplan who started looking at this brook this years ago, and @Esoteric Eric and @tallginge who have more recently been supreme drain companions in the quest to get into this previously unexplored section. This drain earns itself the name ‘Nice ‘n’ Steady’ as that’s what it is in the main - a nice, steady wander. Unless it’s raining, of course, but more of that later… You’ll have to humour me with the two part report btw, but this one has taken a while and I pretty much enjoyed every bit - finding somewhere new and not knowing what’s coming next is always best.
This is the culverted Carr Brook; a largely buried watercourse in Sheffield. It begins near Manor Top, continues under the Parkway, through Darnall, heading under the canal towards the outflow by Brightside Weir in the River Don. The Brook itself flows for about a total of about 5 miles. The main, largest section that forms the basis of this report is approximately 2 miles in length, downstream from Darnall to the Don.
The Upstream Section
I’ve already done a report on this but for the sake of completeness here’s a few pics taken on a return visit with @tallginge. This section of the Carr Brook reminds me most of a mini version of Masticator in Leeds, as it drops in and out of mini culverts along its course. I did visit the more upstream section of this but only found a Morrison’s shopping trolley wedged in an untraversable RCP, so this is as good as that bit gets…
p00p machine, always good...
‘Nice ‘n’ Steady’ (Part 1)
Earlier visits, by us and others, have halted at the mid section due to an immovable obstacle in the form of a metal grille. Previous attempts to locate a way in here have resulted in unwanted attention, such as the time some lads started trying to sell me and @tallginge some recreational narcotics:
(Seeing us in our waders) ‘Hey lads, fishing’s cool! Want to buy some ganja?’
‘No thanks, you’re alright mate’...
A few weeks later, @tallginge headed back and found a way in. We arranged to meet and both piled into the Mystery Machine for a closer look, arriving to find that some inconveniently located building work was underway right next to the proposed access place. Of particular concern was the seemingly immovable site foreman, stood less than two metres from our access point. As he didn’t look likely to be shifting anytime soon we thought ourselves invisible and somehow slipped in undetected just behind his boots. Success!
The first bit is a st00p. As you can see, it’s handy to ascertain the size of a drain in relation to the unit of measurement known as a Tallginge (TG). This section was about two thirds of a TG, although thankfully the drain soon opened up to be a whole TG for a lot of its course.
Small RCP made way for a chamber and then a small boxed section...
Thankfully this soon opened up into brick pipe with a nice brick curvature...
Intermittent concrete and brick sections, like further upstream...
Much of the rest of the tunnel featured double tunnels going in and out of chambers. This one here has the flow heading into the largest tunnel, with an overflow on the right. Not seen much like this in Sheffield before...
This was further down the overflow pipe on the right. Would be possible to go further but not happening on this occasion...
Unless I have my photos muddled, this is looking back on where we came out... Having gone in a left hand pipe we ended up emerging from the one on the left. This means either the pipes cross, or this is another overflow or stream joining in... Neither is an obvious option and will need further investigation if we want to know for sure... For now, though, onwards...
Two become one... Note the bolt holes suggesting that something is missing here from the end of the pipe...
Back to two again... This was the brook splitting here for a short while, joining up again on the other side...
Tallginge on lighting duties somewhere overhead...
We stopped to lick the yellow slime before moving on..
Just about standupable (for reference, I'm just less than one TG in height)...
Another overflow - really like the brick on the right from the overflow. Here we continued along the overflow rather than the main pipe as the overflow was more sizeable...
Inside the overflow. This is under the canal - the small pipe above featured really fast running water...
Pipes getting grimy here...
This first section took us a while and both having plans for later in the evening we made our escape, locating a convenient exit point that would enable our reentry without having to renegotiate the boots of a site foreman.
When it rains…
The next visit involved us two plus @esotericeric. Unfortunately it had been raining all week, but we thought it would be interesting to take a cautious look to see what the brook does when it’s full of wet stuff. Answer: it flows fast! From the relative safety of a side overflow pipe we watched the brook flow past in two sections...
'Zoinks!'
Realising we weren't going any further on this occasion we made our way out for a pint or two at a conveniently located establishment...
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