First explore of the year, woo! (Well, second actually as we did something else just before this, but still...) This is another previously unclaimed and unnamed Sheffield drain, so let’s call this ‘Unknown Pleasures’.
There’s little better than the feeling of unearthing something new, when research actually pays off rather than leading to a dead end. Recent obsessive map scrutiny has produced a few new possible leads, one of which is here at Kirk Edge Dike, where maps appear to show a small stretch of stream culverted under the road. Unfortunately, a quick recce later revealed that, whilst the stream is indeed culverted, it is unfortunately too shallow at this point to be accessible (good luck to anyone with a snorkel).
However, what wasn’t immediately evident on the map were the two stoopy but accessible tunnels nearby that guide the rest of the stream in either direction. So, a few nights after this discovery, me and @Esoteric Eric returned donning the wad0rz and made our way in.
So, this is a drain in two parts, one on either side of the road.
Part 1: heading upstream...
Looking back to the way in...
A fence post piercing the tunnel from above. Banging your head on this really hurts... I checked…
After a bit there’s a couple of beautifully decorated pipes... I was glad to be wearing a hat...
For a moment I wondered how such a massive lump of asphalt had made it down here, then realised and swiftly moved on…
After a while the tunnel bends to the right and gets too shallow to proceed… oh well, it’s nice to see some more Sheffield brick, even if it does involve significant back strain...
Back out
...and onwards to...
Part 2 (the best bit): heading downstream, into the beginnings of a sewer…
Falling over a wall and bypassing a fence that’s seen better days…
More brick tunnel, slightly less stoopy than in part 1...
Soon makes way for a 4ft rcp…
A small maintenance shaft.
More RCP...
It kind of smells a little bit like death + petrol in here. In normal circumstances it might have been time to call it a day here, but the noise of roaring water in the distance was spurring us on. With every step the noise became louder until the RCP ends and this comes satisfyingly into view...
A large concrete room… Water runs quickly down the central channel with steps to either side.
The air in here felt pretty shady, but we manage to persist with a few pics before bailing...
At the bottom of the steps was more 4ft, but this was as far as we went.
And out the way we came...
Once out we checked the nearby lids for a quicker way down, retracing the route above ground, for future reference....
Taking photos of @Esoteric Eric taking photos of shitty chambers...
There’s little better than the feeling of unearthing something new, when research actually pays off rather than leading to a dead end. Recent obsessive map scrutiny has produced a few new possible leads, one of which is here at Kirk Edge Dike, where maps appear to show a small stretch of stream culverted under the road. Unfortunately, a quick recce later revealed that, whilst the stream is indeed culverted, it is unfortunately too shallow at this point to be accessible (good luck to anyone with a snorkel).
However, what wasn’t immediately evident on the map were the two stoopy but accessible tunnels nearby that guide the rest of the stream in either direction. So, a few nights after this discovery, me and @Esoteric Eric returned donning the wad0rz and made our way in.
So, this is a drain in two parts, one on either side of the road.
Part 1: heading upstream...
Looking back to the way in...
A fence post piercing the tunnel from above. Banging your head on this really hurts... I checked…
After a bit there’s a couple of beautifully decorated pipes... I was glad to be wearing a hat...
For a moment I wondered how such a massive lump of asphalt had made it down here, then realised and swiftly moved on…
After a while the tunnel bends to the right and gets too shallow to proceed… oh well, it’s nice to see some more Sheffield brick, even if it does involve significant back strain...
Back out
...and onwards to...
Part 2 (the best bit): heading downstream, into the beginnings of a sewer…
Falling over a wall and bypassing a fence that’s seen better days…
More brick tunnel, slightly less stoopy than in part 1...
Soon makes way for a 4ft rcp…
A small maintenance shaft.
More RCP...
It kind of smells a little bit like death + petrol in here. In normal circumstances it might have been time to call it a day here, but the noise of roaring water in the distance was spurring us on. With every step the noise became louder until the RCP ends and this comes satisfyingly into view...
A large concrete room… Water runs quickly down the central channel with steps to either side.
The air in here felt pretty shady, but we manage to persist with a few pics before bailing...
At the bottom of the steps was more 4ft, but this was as far as we went.
And out the way we came...
Once out we checked the nearby lids for a quicker way down, retracing the route above ground, for future reference....
Taking photos of @Esoteric Eric taking photos of shitty chambers...
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