The Breach is 'a short culverted section of the Sough Dike outfalling in to the River Don, in Oughtibridge, near Sheffield. The infall has concrete reinforcement but the primary construction is stone. The water has worn a channel through the middle with many holes and water leaking in from all sides. Erosion is so bad that in the middle there is a large pool too deep to pass.’
(Info courtesy @Esoteric Eric on his blog)
The few reports online from here (notably the ones from @Muttley and @WB, who claimed naming rights in 2011) approach from the outfall. However, on this occasion I entered from the infall, walking up to the breached section and then back. Getting down to the entrance is just a short descent / stumble down a bank, straight into the running water - strikingly coloured orange by (presumably - correct me if I'm wrong) iron deposits from nearby historical Ganister mining.
Moving in to the tunnel from this end, it’s easy to put a foot wrong in the initial murky bit, but once through it’s fairly steady going.
Once inside, the tunnel floor itself is more stable for the first bit, with a slight descent throughout. Entering the tunnel, there’s some nice original stonework that hasn’t been concreted over...
.... and a very rusty ladder, leading up to a filled manhole.
A bit further on is another opening on the other side, again leading up to a wider shaft, ladder and a cover (presumably up to the factory above).
This side pipe has collected loads of iron deposits - there’s another opening above here but leaning in to look up I found my hand and arm sinking into the filth, emerging the colour of Donald Trump's fake tan.
The breach itself. Deeper and longer than I expected, with the massive depth-testing stick stuck in the other side.
Returning the way I came...
After a half hearted attempt to find the outfall (turns out I was very near) I found myself back at the car and decided I’d seen enough for now. Really enjoyed this one - some great colours in the tunnel itself and longer and more varied than I was expecting.
Full set here...
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