Visited with a Non-Member
I was hesitating if to post this or not as it's such a small explore but oh well we all start somewhere, so this will be my first Report.
After a long day of exploring small storm drains/culverts in the area, we thought this may be a good ending spot. I did take photos of one of the drains before this one but all the photos came out unfocused or overexposed
, will revisit them soon!
This culvert or bridge (I'd say more a bridge) carries Petty's Brook under the Reading-Basingstoke Line and was constructed between 1846 and 1848. The railway was constructed by GWR with engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Hence the name of Brunel Railway Bridge underneath the same track only 300m away). Originally the line consisted of broad gauge tracks, but with Basingstoke's station being standard gauge it was ordered to be changed to standard gauge too or pay a fine of £200 each day. Instead it was changed to mixed gauge tracks in December of 1856. Petty's brook starts at the East side of Basing Wood, flowing through various industrial estates before joining with a second manmade branch from the South of Chineham. This second branch mainly exists as a conduit for surface water, this flows out of a storm drain which also takes flows from various small springs. Both branches meet only a couple hundred metres downstream of this bridge. The brook winds its way through housing estate before flowing past Basingstoke STW and into the River Loddon.
We spent a good hour under there, with the occasional rumble of trains from the tracks above. We were mainly experimenting with lighting and light painting.
Behind the bridge lies this curious structure. I don't know what it's for but I imagine it's something to do with flood defence, as behind the wall was a heavily silted forest with scum lines on the trees which were about thigh deep. We both walked around this area for a while before finding what looked like a "shallow ditch", I confidently strode across it first before sinking knee deep in this disgusting oily mud which left an awful lot of gravel or sand in my wellies. In the wall was a small outlet with what looked like a metal penstock inside which was lifted about half way to allow the brook to flow through. I guess in times of flood this penstock can be lowered to allow the brook to flood the area behind the wall instead of becoming a torrent and a potential hazard to the nearby housing estates.
In a few spots the brickwork has been repaired and bolts have been added for stability.
The concrete kerbs on either side of the tunnel were added probably sometime in the 1980s when the brook was modified, the kerbing makes it so the brook flows a bit faster so it can't deposit as much silt. I imagine the bottom of the tunnel was originally just stone brook bed.
One of the many photos of our light painting.
All in all enjoyed the day. Although the tunnel was quite featureless, it was made up in the sheer amount of brickwork and light painting opportunities.
Thanks for Reading (Get it?)👍
I was hesitating if to post this or not as it's such a small explore but oh well we all start somewhere, so this will be my first Report.
After a long day of exploring small storm drains/culverts in the area, we thought this may be a good ending spot. I did take photos of one of the drains before this one but all the photos came out unfocused or overexposed
, will revisit them soon!This culvert or bridge (I'd say more a bridge) carries Petty's Brook under the Reading-Basingstoke Line and was constructed between 1846 and 1848. The railway was constructed by GWR with engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Hence the name of Brunel Railway Bridge underneath the same track only 300m away). Originally the line consisted of broad gauge tracks, but with Basingstoke's station being standard gauge it was ordered to be changed to standard gauge too or pay a fine of £200 each day. Instead it was changed to mixed gauge tracks in December of 1856. Petty's brook starts at the East side of Basing Wood, flowing through various industrial estates before joining with a second manmade branch from the South of Chineham. This second branch mainly exists as a conduit for surface water, this flows out of a storm drain which also takes flows from various small springs. Both branches meet only a couple hundred metres downstream of this bridge. The brook winds its way through housing estate before flowing past Basingstoke STW and into the River Loddon.
We spent a good hour under there, with the occasional rumble of trains from the tracks above. We were mainly experimenting with lighting and light painting.
Behind the bridge lies this curious structure. I don't know what it's for but I imagine it's something to do with flood defence, as behind the wall was a heavily silted forest with scum lines on the trees which were about thigh deep. We both walked around this area for a while before finding what looked like a "shallow ditch", I confidently strode across it first before sinking knee deep in this disgusting oily mud which left an awful lot of gravel or sand in my wellies. In the wall was a small outlet with what looked like a metal penstock inside which was lifted about half way to allow the brook to flow through. I guess in times of flood this penstock can be lowered to allow the brook to flood the area behind the wall instead of becoming a torrent and a potential hazard to the nearby housing estates.
In a few spots the brickwork has been repaired and bolts have been added for stability.
The concrete kerbs on either side of the tunnel were added probably sometime in the 1980s when the brook was modified, the kerbing makes it so the brook flows a bit faster so it can't deposit as much silt. I imagine the bottom of the tunnel was originally just stone brook bed.
One of the many photos of our light painting.
All in all enjoyed the day. Although the tunnel was quite featureless, it was made up in the sheer amount of brickwork and light painting opportunities.
Thanks for Reading (Get it?)👍
. I have about 4 torches which I've dedicated to the underground stuff, Fenix LR40R, PD40R v3.0, HM71R and the good ol' Fenix CL28R too. I have done a lot of the underground stuff before, but actually plan on taking photos of it now. I'm popping to Fareham in about an hour to do a culvert I found last year but only as a recce mission as it's a moderate length 
.I will bring the camera and extra lighting when I next visit!
