The Location
Having previously visited this quite a lot around 10 years ago, the purpose of this visit was really to try out a new gadget I'd bought - an endoscope - with the idea of peeking through various manholes and hatches to see if I could attempt to map the exact route of the river. Alas, being a bit over eager, I completely forgot it...
The Explore
With my bags packed, the river depth checked, access points checked on Google Street View, and batteries replaced - off I went. Now before I go on I feel I need to tip my hat to those of you talented lads and lasses who manage to take good photographs in the must dull of surroundings: I'm not one of you, and quite quickly my dSLR went back in my bag!
Entering through one of the less-blatant entrances, I dropped in between two branches of bog standard precast concrete box culvert. Crouching down this section of piping made me envy dwarves in a way that I haven't since the desperate teenage years where Snow White looked quite appealing...
This is where I began to hear the familiar - if still unnerving - sound of traffic going over manhole covers. Even though it's to be expected, there's still part of mind that immediately thinks I'm going to bump in to other wanderers lurking down there.
Veering off near where the river flows in to nearby gardens, I began the journey towards the Ravensbourne's hidden treasure: a brick-built stretch of tunnel that signals the start of a branch that - I'm led to believe - eventually joins the South East London drainage network. Never having had much luck researching drain-related topics, I'm not sure about the specifics of this. (Although, having previously spent far too long following the boring and small stretch of precast, it's not something I'm particularly open to investigating myself..!).
After a deceptively long trek, one which had me longing for a dinghy or a paddle board, I eventually found the light at the end of the tunnel: a stretch of brickwork that runs under a train station, and likely therefore belonging to an older era - one where workmanship extended belong precast concrete.
Alas, a cold December afternoon was clearly the prime time for gardening work to be carried out along the exposed inspection chamber of the river... meaning that my plans of making the most of the natural lighting were scuppered.
With light gradually fading above ground, I called it a day - something which sounds incredibly bizarre to many, but I've always been quite paranoid of light leaking through manhole covers. (The last thing I'd want is to make it look like there's a light-show beneath the manhole: that's how you get infested with YouTubers looking for underground nightclubs after all...)
And, talking of YouTubers, no report is complete without the mark of a true "ruthless explorer" - the silhouette looking in to the distance. (I mean, if I didn't take those kind of photos, what would I use for thumbnails when I start my spooky YouTube channel?!)
Conclusion
Cheers for sticking through the report - it may not be the most interesting, nor the most photogenic, but it was a fun 90 minute stroll around a location I've not visited in over 10 years: as much a reminiscence as a photo-shoot. I think I only covered around 700 meters in the end - in part because I was avoiding too much stoopiness, and because I had intended to re-visit with a friend to take some "proper shots"... then Tier 4 happened.
Having previously visited this quite a lot around 10 years ago, the purpose of this visit was really to try out a new gadget I'd bought - an endoscope - with the idea of peeking through various manholes and hatches to see if I could attempt to map the exact route of the river. Alas, being a bit over eager, I completely forgot it...
The Explore
With my bags packed, the river depth checked, access points checked on Google Street View, and batteries replaced - off I went. Now before I go on I feel I need to tip my hat to those of you talented lads and lasses who manage to take good photographs in the must dull of surroundings: I'm not one of you, and quite quickly my dSLR went back in my bag!
Entering through one of the less-blatant entrances, I dropped in between two branches of bog standard precast concrete box culvert. Crouching down this section of piping made me envy dwarves in a way that I haven't since the desperate teenage years where Snow White looked quite appealing...
This is where I began to hear the familiar - if still unnerving - sound of traffic going over manhole covers. Even though it's to be expected, there's still part of mind that immediately thinks I'm going to bump in to other wanderers lurking down there.
Veering off near where the river flows in to nearby gardens, I began the journey towards the Ravensbourne's hidden treasure: a brick-built stretch of tunnel that signals the start of a branch that - I'm led to believe - eventually joins the South East London drainage network. Never having had much luck researching drain-related topics, I'm not sure about the specifics of this. (Although, having previously spent far too long following the boring and small stretch of precast, it's not something I'm particularly open to investigating myself..!).
After a deceptively long trek, one which had me longing for a dinghy or a paddle board, I eventually found the light at the end of the tunnel: a stretch of brickwork that runs under a train station, and likely therefore belonging to an older era - one where workmanship extended belong precast concrete.
Alas, a cold December afternoon was clearly the prime time for gardening work to be carried out along the exposed inspection chamber of the river... meaning that my plans of making the most of the natural lighting were scuppered.
With light gradually fading above ground, I called it a day - something which sounds incredibly bizarre to many, but I've always been quite paranoid of light leaking through manhole covers. (The last thing I'd want is to make it look like there's a light-show beneath the manhole: that's how you get infested with YouTubers looking for underground nightclubs after all...)
And, talking of YouTubers, no report is complete without the mark of a true "ruthless explorer" - the silhouette looking in to the distance. (I mean, if I didn't take those kind of photos, what would I use for thumbnails when I start my spooky YouTube channel?!)
Conclusion
Cheers for sticking through the report - it may not be the most interesting, nor the most photogenic, but it was a fun 90 minute stroll around a location I've not visited in over 10 years: as much a reminiscence as a photo-shoot. I think I only covered around 700 meters in the end - in part because I was avoiding too much stoopiness, and because I had intended to re-visit with a friend to take some "proper shots"... then Tier 4 happened.
