Back 9 - Storm Overflow, Lancs

Ojay/Camera Shy...

Having previously failed this week due to inclement weather I wasn't to be put off and decided to head back out and check on moar new leads..

Now they say things come in 3's, so tonight it was case of sewer overflow/Utilities fail before we managed to actually see something fresh before turning in for the night.

In the end this place turned out to be as much as farce as the past week had been, lady luck certainly not being on my side ATM!

Local victim for the night being Camera Shy, (having read this might wished he had stopped in for the evening).

Packing a broken tripod, and leaving my gloves and 'appropriate' grid key in the car we struggled on no less.


Again nothing special here other than a screened overflow/storm tank come CSO complete with a newly installed in-line Vacflush system upstream..

Sometimes I wonder if the pikey's are more clued up than half the 'so called drainers!

As depite being a relatively new system it's evident this place has been arse raped very recently for metalZ

Needless to say UU have been on it and replaced the majority of internals with alternative recycled shite :D

After Efforts with heavy liddage we were in...

Looking down 8ft from the manhole

(Mid level inspection gantry)

A further climb of 12ft to this screening chamber

Lower right, a 3ft RCP, allows the sewer to exit at capacity to the brook below

(For some reason Camera Shy didn't agree with me crawling up this)

Looking back up

Now, if I had paid attention earlier gloves would have been a good thing..

SO for my punishment I had to climb down the last section (a good  15ft) of festering shite to the trunk sewer below..

Here it runs RIGHT to LEFT

Through a 4ft RCP via a concrete box section,

which makes up the majority of the storm tank

Also my so called epic D7000 threw it's hand in, so I had to switch my memory card over to CS's camera to complete the set here..

(Piece of shit)!

Outta here

R.I.P DHL

The Gas Chamber

All I need is the air that I breathe...

Essentially a storm overflow/CSO, the last inline before it hits the WwTW near a small town just outside Manc.

Nothing too special but glad to finally locate the lid after 12 months of searching.

Whilst out to check on another couple of leads that got rained off earlier in the week, the heavens opened once again!

Despite this I decided to crack on and have a look upstream from where I was the other day... FAIL!

The water was fast flowing and deep, I decided to bail until we have some kind of drought :p

Having received yet another soaking I wasn't to be dettered, infact I managed to spot something else of interest nearby, a night time visit in order for that one..

A short drive later and I decided to check on another lead I had put on the backburner, infact the last time I attempted this one I couldn't locate a suitable manhole  due to the rather overgrown vegetation that has taken a hold here.

I was just about to give up and then I spotted it, hiding beneath a patch of brambles & nettles!

So with a bit of landscaping of my own managed to shift what I could and jar the heavy lid up.

A cloud of bad air rushed out so I decided to leave it 10 mins to air before I headed on down, once inside it wasn't much better so I grabbed a few shots and pissed off home...

There's something very wrong with the word MANHOLE

Once down a large screen,

 behind which a storm overflow and 2ft channel which serves as part the overflow weir

The channel runs at an incline from left to right,

 carrying any overflow down and through barely a 2ft RCP

(Sadly no way through, I did later locate the overflow into the nearby brook,

 it was grilled with no way through)

Climbing over the screens which serve the overflow weir, you can see the sewer as it flows left to right through the CSO chamber

At either end it was barey 4ft and due to the bad air I had no intention of going upstream, (downstream leads to the works)

>LEFT<

>>RIGHT<<

Shaw Lodge Mill (Chimney), Halifax

Ojay/Stepping Lightly/Blinker...

Some History

The chimney itself, built in 1855 became a listed building in April 2007 as an integral and essential part of the mill complex.

Constructed entirely from stone stands at 219ft (including base).

"The mills were founded in the 1820s by John Holdsworth and remained in the ownership of the same family until 2005, at their height employing 3,000 people.

The main product woven at the complex was moquette, used for covering seats on trains and buses worldwide.

It was a prestigious company and a world leader in its field.

The last loom fell silent in September 2008."

Also THIS

"The project to develop the chimney at Shaw Lodge Mills into a training and educational facility for Active Heritage.

This will provide sustainability and security as to the future of the Chimney

Shaw Lodge was identified in a survey of the best surviving examples of the Yorkshire textile industry, thus meriting a II* grade across several buildings"

_______________________________

I did recently say no more chimney climbs, but for some reason the lure almost seems impossible to resist.

(That and I needed a 'high' fix AND a break from sewers).

This being no exception as Squirrell had spotted it a while back now, sadly the usual suspects were working away and I assumed it would have been de-laddered after so long..

Up popped an excellent report a good few weeks on, and I made my mind up I wanted to have a closer look.

S.L was about so we met up and set about a plan to scale it one tea time.

NOTHING is impossible, and for sure credits to Bigjobs & Co for some "outside the box thinking" on this one.

After a carefully prepared stimulating drink, we packed some minimal kit and met up with our good friend Blinker as soon as the weather was favourable.

The biggest surprise on this one was the sheer size of the base itself (None of them are ever laddered for obvious reasons).

With some minor modification to our equipment and some epic climbing from S.L we were on top of the base standing next to the ladders.

Now I have made comments in the past about how 'shoddy' steeple-jacks rigging can be, well I'm fully aware they tie the ropes off to stop them flapping about etc, but I mainly refer to the safety line.

I mean has anyone ever just lashed it round some scaff and a rickety ladder and attempted a fall ?

SO staring up a 219ft chimney, a quick gulp and up we go.

I decided some sort of a safety device would be favourable, but in the end it was more a faff, slowing the job down so to speak, so off it came!

The top section through onto the crow's nest was a bit of a squeeze with the rucksack, but other than that we were all up in no time really.

Although the sky was fairly clear and there was minimal wind, the views were if I'm honest not that spectacular or inspiring.

I also managed to break my tripod on the way up, so all the shots were taken by wedging what was left of it here and there in order to grab a few pics for posterity.

20 mins of fannying about and we free climbed it back down.

Hands, feet and a brain are more than enough to stay safe in these situations ;)

Props to S.L for skills, a carefully prepared caffeine potion that kept me pissing into the next morning and Blinker for coming along and keeping us safe.

From Dusk til Dawn...

"Friggin in th riggin"

Looking towards Halifax

Sowerby Bridge & beyond

Safety First

Back down

Revolver, Manchester

Roll out the drains...

There has been quite a bit of new stuff in Manc turned over since LittleMike & Co dropped the baton a few years back now, this being no exception.

Credits to TheVicar for finding this in the first instance (despite him never actually making it down) AND concreteJungle for getting it done in the first place.

Believe it or not I had actually glimpsed at this a while back now and dismissed it as a shitty concrete culvert, how wrong was I..

Despite getting a soaking and caked in mud attempting to limbo under the 'low concrete bridge' I actually enjoyed this place as much as when I first saw CJ's pics!

(Just goes to show any holes a goal, and maybe sometimes I need to just stop being a lazy c**t).


Essentially a 2 bore concrete box which carries the culvert underneath the carriageway for approx 300m, both infall & outfall are grilled preventing access.

Above the culvert and within the structure an access corridor for the utilities below which is home to a 2m trunk sewer, complete with CSO and stepped outfalls to the watercourse which passes underneath.

The only other redeeming features were an inspection chamber for plant/man access near to the infall and a watercourse exiting through a 5ft RCP just to the left of the outfall.

Infrastructure never ceases to amaze me, and equally as amazed to see as many features packed into such small space.

The following pics will better depict this system...

This manhole drops you into the culvert near to the infall

Climbing down a makeshift ladder swinging from a rusty peg certainly was an education

(Hindsight is a gift, a ladder would have been much easier later on) 

The first thing that struck me was the high watermark (above 6ft this isn't somewhere you would wish to end your days), it's also heavily silted yet teaming with fish.

After trudging downstream in lets face it a concrete coffin which wasn't too inspiring, I could eventually see daylight obscured by another concrete structure ?

Around 140m from the outfall a 'low concrete bridge' obstructs the culvert, and with less than 1ft above the water line I had no choice but to man up and almost swim under it with my kit-bag miraculously avoiding the drink.

On the other side the concrete swerves to the right, daylight leading the way to the impassable grill defending the outfall.

I free climbed up to what concreteJungle described as a window above the culvert, a ladder would have been much easier!

Scrambling over some herras fencing strategically placed no doubt to satisfy the H&S bods I now found myself in a utility passageway.

To the right a spot of sunbathing by a padlocked gate

(for one minute I almost forgot where I was)

To the left the passageway curved off into the distance

The other side was a ladder up to a small cross section, with another ladder down into a CSO

Here, a sewer enters through a 2m RBP on the right, passes through the CSO via a concrete barrel and exits via a smaller 1m RBP

>RIGHT<

>LEFT<

The overflow weir comprises of a concrete channel with 5 slots which step down to the culvert below, this runs parrallel to the section I entered.

(These can be seen in both the pics above & below)

I climbed down beyond the slots into the other culverted section below, in the distance can be seen the other side of the low concrete bridge.

The sewer as seen further up, curves beyond the 1m RBP and travels through the bridge via 2 cast iron pipes.

Daylight creeps through the other side as it curves back towards the infall it was waist deep and heavily silted.

Underneath the low concrete bridge was nowhere as deep and silted as the other side, yet there was no way out via the grill so I had to make my way back the way I came.

Outta here

WORK 6, Manchester

Ojay/Troubleuk...
Essentially one of Manchester's intercepting sewers, and little brother of the much larger Davyhulme twins..


This started with a snippet of information I stumbled upon a couple of years ago now whilst looking for something else.

Infact it was this construction pic & further linkage that provided further reading and reeled me in

With very little information to go on it's literally taken me all this time (on and off) to locate a suitable/safe entrance.

Most access points are within busy roads, and the ones that aren't are without rungs or the step irons have corroded away.

After wandering the streets and lifting numerous lids, with only glimpses of what lay below I had practically given up!

Just a few days ago whilst rooting through some scraps of paper for leads I spotted a comment relating to a particular lid I had never been able to lift.

Mainly because it's in quite a busy location and a well traversed route by the POLICE.


Constructed circa 1911, (Largely a 9ft brick pipe) this interceptor recieves flow from other connecting transverse sewers along the way to the WwTW.

Some of the upstream sections have been replaced/modernised over the years with concrete, with a number of inspection shafts and a detention tank thrown in.

Yesterday I got this burning desire to go and check this lid, and with the weather kinda on my side, although not favourable for such a system potentially.

I drove past earlier yesterday and luckily things had changed (temporarily) so I decided to seize the opportunity..

The rain subsided so back I went, waiting for the POLICE and the local chavs to stop circling about and down I went .

(A big thanks to Troubleuk who ultimately was my wingman above ground in case anything went wrong) cheers fella

50ft down into a huge split level inspection chamber/detention tank

(Pic looking down to the half way landing stage, the manhole a good 15ft above my head and another 35ft to the interceptor below)

Down to the first landing stage

 THIS

Here a mid level sewer flows from left to right and drops down through a cast iron pipe to the main interceptor below.

(The smaller sewer is also visible through the square griddle to the right of the above shot  ^)

On the far side and beyond the brick barrier which serves as an overflow weir for the mid level sewer is another ladder which descends a further 25ft to the intercepting sewer below.

The ladder in the foreground takes you closer to the mid level sewer

HERE

It was foul in the very sense it was grim, and had recently overflowed during yesterdays downpour, causing a build up of turdage and sanitry products.

It also sported a frothy head, which is usually associated with a cold beer which I now yearned for.

Just after taking this pic I headed upstream through the st00py 5ft RCP, but soon retreated as both my leaky wellies & my nostrils were no match for this shit-pipe!

At the far side of the landing stage,

 and beyond the brick overflow is another ladder to the main sewer below

At the bottom, a much smaller landing stage with steps down to the sewer, to the left the cast iron pipe to which the mid level sewer descends.

Expecting to see some age old brick pr0n, instead was greeted with this dull concrete affair :(

I made my way into the fast flowing fresh..

This is looking downstream

(You can see the sewer exiting through the iron-work, the lower landing and the interceptor as it races beyond the catch chain through 7ft RCP)

I first headed upstream for a good while, just endless RCP with manholes in the road chiming overhead - Nothing to See Here

Heading back to where I started I decided to head downstream in search of some brick, sadly moar RCP so concious I had left Trouble above ground far too long now decided to head back and call it a night

____________

SO earlier this evening I headed back to hit a manhole further downstream, luckily the scrub land provided good cover so off I went, again in search of some brick.

500m further downstream and bear in mind it was still raining, the noise just got ridiculous, suddenly another 5ft trunk sewer dropped in from my right.

(There was no chance of me getting my camera out on the way down, as I had my work cut out fighting the flow and the slippery pipe)

Now the sewer started to steer to the right, another 100 yards or so and my torch caught a glimpse of something.

That something being BIGFUCKOFF 9ft RBP.. Finally!

The flow evened out and it became less slippy, so whipping the camera out here wasn't questionable.

In the distance the sewer started to curve left,

 it wasn't long before it reached a large inspection chamber

I climbed up the steps to the side and went for a poke about, this is what I found:

a.) Looking down into the sewer

b.) A 10ft ladder upto a landing stage higher up the chamber

Here 2 cast iron pipes, possible storm drains ? which you can see exiting through the 2 round outfalls below into the interceptor (see pic further up ^)

Beyond the railings and looking down you can just about make out the sewer below

Making my way back down the ladders and into the sewer I headed downstream for a good distance, again with manholes chiming from the streets above.

Enough was enough as I wasn't prepared to follow it around town besides the air quality was poor and my lens was becoming a twat to de-mist.

I was more than happy with what I had seen of it already.

ENDS.

Bidston Deep Level Shelter, Wirral

Ojay/Camera Shy/Leaf...

Some Shizzle:

In 1941 there were proposals for two deep shelters, endorsed by the Civil Defence Emergency Committee.

One such shelter was Bidston Hill, completed in 1943 the project had cost a staggering £48,006.

950 tons of sand were removed from the tunnels which were blasted with explosives.

Finished by hand a series of tunnels 7ft wide and 6ft 6in high with an arched roof were constructed.

Although never seeing the scale of use it was intended for, tickets do exist and people did shelter here.

There were 2,213 bunks and 793 seats, as well as a canteen, staff dormitory, toilets, medical aid post and a ventilation shaft/emergency escape hatch.

Media attention shifted to Bidston in 2009 as officers searched for Gary Finlay,

who was wanted in connection with a brutal stabbing.

POLICE used diggers to excavate tunnels and air raid shelters in Bidston in their hunt for the murder suspect who had allegedly used the place as a hideout.

____________________

It was promptly sealed by the authorities, then became 'open' briefly in 2010.

Having missed the boat by a matter of weeks on this, I had since made a couple of re-visits to attempt a way in.

With no luck despite numerous digs etc, I literally wrote it off until I saw some pics recently...


After having spent a couple of hours down there, Leaf made his way to the entrance and all I heard was "Ojay it's sealed!".

WTF?

Seriously whilst we were down there, some tard had decided to 'seal' us in, with some effort from Leaf we managed to break free, just!

I'll give it less than a week and a metric fuck tonne of concrete will be thrown at it, and probably sealed for good.


Many of the original features have vanished over the years, as the local chavs/pikey's have had their day in here graffing it up and smashing it to smitherines (Wankers)!

80ft down - Emergency Escape Shaft

Distro board

This way, That way

Wonder whats through the hole?

Moar Tunnels..

W.C/Washroom - (a.k.a Bogs)

Take your pick

Entrance (SEALED)

"Ojay said it's sealed" ;)

Finally glad to have seen this