Where the hell has 13 years gone?
With things as they are at the moment, exploring has obviously had to be put on hold. The wonderful weather over the last couple of months has just rubbed salt into the wound as it would have allowed much draining to have been done, but that’s just sod’s law for you!
With time on my hands, I decided to look back though all the drains I have explored and reminisce. Over the years, I have met some great people, had some cracking explores, attended some legendary gatherings and made a number of friends. This would never have happened had I not somehow stumbled upon websites and reports from Siologen, Otter, JD & Stoop plus a few others.
I was absolutely fascinated by their photographs, so much so that I decided I really wanted to see these places first hand and experience the sounds, smells and atmosphere that can only be achieved by actually being there.
While leafing through my old reports, I naturally came to the very first one that I did, the Works drain which I realised was no longer on 28DL as I imagine all the links to the photobucket album broke years ago.
Anyway, armed with just a 3 megapixel camera bought in 2001 and sporting a pair of old trainers I set off with a friend to see what these places were really like. The following photos are of course appalling, but we all have to start somewhere!
After doing this drain, I was instantly hooked and had already made up my mind that I wanted to see more of what Manchester had to offer and perhaps what also lay below other cities. I’ve never looked back and can only hope that the next 13 years will be just as much fun.
The following text is as written back in 2007, enjoy the terrible photos:
“My first drain explore but certainly not the last!
I’ve become more and more interested in exploring drains in the last few months after seeing what wonders lay beneath the ground thanks to the efforts of some very busy people on this site and elsewhere.
So on Saturday 15th September, a friend and I decided to explore ‘The Works’. We waded across the river in trainers with the old trousers rolled up. The water was not really that deep and came no higher than our knees. The worst part was getting through the stinky thick mud just outside the outfall.
The outfall itself was very impressive with ornate stone as the finish. Once inside the tunnel begins to take a turn to the right. Something immediately noticeable is the fantastic condition that the two tone red and blue brickwork is in considering that it is about 110 years old.
The water level here was only 3 inches deep which made progress very easy.
The tunnel now took a left and shortly after that snaked to the right again.
Shortly after that there is a manhole shaft to the left hand side of the tunnel. The shaft appeared about 10 meters up to ground level.
Soon after this the tunnel floor was increasingly covered with bricks and rubble in amongst which was this micro-machine car that was wedged between two rocks. The rubble continued for a bit and then the water got much deeper due to being built up behind it. The water here was a bit scummy and about 2 feet deep. Getting through that was a bit of a pain as there was the occasional rock or brick at the bottom trying to trip you up!
During the deep section the tunnel became lined with concrete and a small lower section was made from iron. Finally the water became shallow and up ahead was this interesting junction.
The left hand side was bricked up and looked like it might never have actually been used, although it would be nice to know if it did originally lead anywhere.
Moving on, the tunnel became covered in nice iron oxide deposits and the rusty water got a bit muddy. To the right a jet of water squirted from the tunnel wall.
Straight ahead the tunnel ended in a huge staircase containing about 12 stairs which were about 18 inches high and 3 feet deep. The stairs were heavily encrusted with calcium carbonate deposits and the ceiling above had a number of stalactites
At the top was a huge chamber filled with the sound of rushing water, immediately ahead there were 2 small tunnels and to the left was another staircase with very steep steps. At the top of the steps was a shaft to a manhole about 15 metres up.
To the right was a full view of the room which another drain called Inhospitable flowed through. The water in this drain was slightly turdy and relatively fast flowing. A rusty bridge is provided to cross to the other side of the room. As you can see there were nice and relatively modern stainless steel handrails provided in this chamber.
As could be seen from the debris wrapped around things, the water at some point gets very high!
It is in this room that a gate can be closed to divert the flow through the works drain. This would be a manual operation as we soon found out that the manhole shaft contained a side tunnel above this room which housed the gear that appeared to require the strength of 2 people to operate the gate below.
I climbed the manhole shaft to the top in the hope that I might get the cover open but no such luck. The cover was about 2 inches thick and jammed solid – it would have been nice to know just where this was located above ground.
From here the return journey to the outfall was much quicker than the entry as we knew what to expect.
So all in all it was an excellent explore that’s given me a taste for more – so to speak”.
With things as they are at the moment, exploring has obviously had to be put on hold. The wonderful weather over the last couple of months has just rubbed salt into the wound as it would have allowed much draining to have been done, but that’s just sod’s law for you!
With time on my hands, I decided to look back though all the drains I have explored and reminisce. Over the years, I have met some great people, had some cracking explores, attended some legendary gatherings and made a number of friends. This would never have happened had I not somehow stumbled upon websites and reports from Siologen, Otter, JD & Stoop plus a few others.
I was absolutely fascinated by their photographs, so much so that I decided I really wanted to see these places first hand and experience the sounds, smells and atmosphere that can only be achieved by actually being there.
While leafing through my old reports, I naturally came to the very first one that I did, the Works drain which I realised was no longer on 28DL as I imagine all the links to the photobucket album broke years ago.
Anyway, armed with just a 3 megapixel camera bought in 2001 and sporting a pair of old trainers I set off with a friend to see what these places were really like. The following photos are of course appalling, but we all have to start somewhere!
After doing this drain, I was instantly hooked and had already made up my mind that I wanted to see more of what Manchester had to offer and perhaps what also lay below other cities. I’ve never looked back and can only hope that the next 13 years will be just as much fun.
The following text is as written back in 2007, enjoy the terrible photos:
“My first drain explore but certainly not the last!
I’ve become more and more interested in exploring drains in the last few months after seeing what wonders lay beneath the ground thanks to the efforts of some very busy people on this site and elsewhere.
So on Saturday 15th September, a friend and I decided to explore ‘The Works’. We waded across the river in trainers with the old trousers rolled up. The water was not really that deep and came no higher than our knees. The worst part was getting through the stinky thick mud just outside the outfall.
The outfall itself was very impressive with ornate stone as the finish. Once inside the tunnel begins to take a turn to the right. Something immediately noticeable is the fantastic condition that the two tone red and blue brickwork is in considering that it is about 110 years old.
The water level here was only 3 inches deep which made progress very easy.
The tunnel now took a left and shortly after that snaked to the right again.
Shortly after that there is a manhole shaft to the left hand side of the tunnel. The shaft appeared about 10 meters up to ground level.
Soon after this the tunnel floor was increasingly covered with bricks and rubble in amongst which was this micro-machine car that was wedged between two rocks. The rubble continued for a bit and then the water got much deeper due to being built up behind it. The water here was a bit scummy and about 2 feet deep. Getting through that was a bit of a pain as there was the occasional rock or brick at the bottom trying to trip you up!
During the deep section the tunnel became lined with concrete and a small lower section was made from iron. Finally the water became shallow and up ahead was this interesting junction.
The left hand side was bricked up and looked like it might never have actually been used, although it would be nice to know if it did originally lead anywhere.
Moving on, the tunnel became covered in nice iron oxide deposits and the rusty water got a bit muddy. To the right a jet of water squirted from the tunnel wall.
Straight ahead the tunnel ended in a huge staircase containing about 12 stairs which were about 18 inches high and 3 feet deep. The stairs were heavily encrusted with calcium carbonate deposits and the ceiling above had a number of stalactites
At the top was a huge chamber filled with the sound of rushing water, immediately ahead there were 2 small tunnels and to the left was another staircase with very steep steps. At the top of the steps was a shaft to a manhole about 15 metres up.
To the right was a full view of the room which another drain called Inhospitable flowed through. The water in this drain was slightly turdy and relatively fast flowing. A rusty bridge is provided to cross to the other side of the room. As you can see there were nice and relatively modern stainless steel handrails provided in this chamber.
As could be seen from the debris wrapped around things, the water at some point gets very high!
It is in this room that a gate can be closed to divert the flow through the works drain. This would be a manual operation as we soon found out that the manhole shaft contained a side tunnel above this room which housed the gear that appeared to require the strength of 2 people to operate the gate below.
I climbed the manhole shaft to the top in the hope that I might get the cover open but no such luck. The cover was about 2 inches thick and jammed solid – it would have been nice to know just where this was located above ground.
From here the return journey to the outfall was much quicker than the entry as we knew what to expect.
So all in all it was an excellent explore that’s given me a taste for more – so to speak”.
