Made Of Stone

River Irk Culvert...

Around 400 metres this was quite an interesting culvert, constructed entirely of stone it was apparent it was very old from the outset.

I narrowly missed being stung by some angry wasps on the way in here too.

Once I reached the infall I was relieved to be inside, it was a little stoopy to begin with as I made my way under the stone arch

I chose to test drive the new Aldi wellies, which again with hindsight was a bad idea, especially as there are some really deep bits along the way.

Navigating the first stretch was tricky, as no sooner could I stand straight, there was a deep bit which had been blocked with washed up debris.

Luckily there was a large piece of corrugated roofing that I managed to scramble over to avoid a soaking.

The next section was quite long and easily 6ft which made a refreshing change.

Ahead there was a small weir, with a fairly deep sump below, clearly no match for the wellies I had to pack up and traverse round the age old crumbling stonework to avoid the drink.

Relieved to be across I took this shot looking back..

I continued downstream, where the culvert changed direction ever so slightly here and there, with a couple more deep sections along the way.

Eventually I could see daylight, a sign that I had reached the outfall, which was just beyond this coit.

Although it doesn't look it, this final stretch was around 4ft and had silted up, so I left my gear behind and took only my camera to grab a quick handheld of the outfall.

(Excuse the poor quality, as I was literally sinking into the mud whilst attempting this shot)

I decided I would go back the way I came rather than head out here as I didn't fancy getting stuck!