Stuck in the UK over Christmas I escaped from family - the Mrs comes from this part of the world - by exploring some of the culverted rivers in the valleys of East Lancashire.
The River Irwell starts a few kilometres north of Bacup up on the moors, and runs down under the town in a series of little tunnels with a couple of streams joining along the way, like so:
The underground (red) bits are about 1.8 km in total.
Not much more to say really except that some stretches have been reported before:
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Starting at the bottom and heading upstream…
…we come to an exciting junction - yes the bar is rather low in culvert-world.
Going right eventually leads to a bit of wasteland on the route of a former railway line.
The stream here, Trough Syke, carries on through some more (small) culverts but I didn’t bother going any further.
Back on the main drag and on through various sections…
…we pass one of the many cotton mills in Bacup originally powered by the river.
This one (Throstle Mill) looks a bit run-down.
And on…
…to another exciting junction, roughly under the roundabout in the centre of town, close to that derp bingo place (former Regal Cinema).
Heading right where the combined Oaken and Greave Cloughs join there is some variety.
It goes on a bit further, but I climbed out here, sort of in a garage forecourt, to get some lunch.
Back at the junction and going left progress was slow for a while - sitting on a rock for a breather my head was touching the roof.
But it eventually opened up and was then an easy sploosh through a few more sections…
…before the river heads under one more short bit then up the valley.
Here’s a picture of the source of the Irwell, since I had it, looking back down the valley.
It starts in a bog next to the remains of Deerplay Colliery, just over the hill from the source of the (Yorkshire) Calder.
The Irwell of course flows down through Manchester before becoming the Manchester Ship Canal and ending up in the Mersey Estuary.
The River Irwell starts a few kilometres north of Bacup up on the moors, and runs down under the town in a series of little tunnels with a couple of streams joining along the way, like so:
The underground (red) bits are about 1.8 km in total.
Not much more to say really except that some stretches have been reported before:
Report - - Rivières souterraines de Bacup - Feb 2013 | UK Draining Forum
Whilst in the area on other business we decided to have a look at the culverted river Irwell that was first reportrd by Chewy back in 2009, Actually it's quite a nice little mooch with variations throughout it's length.
Report - - The Culverts Of Bacup, Lancashire - May 2009 | UK Draining Forum
Decided to finally get to Bacup to have a mooch at the River Irwell Culverts. They take the river under the town centre for around 3/4km. A couple of brooks run into the main culvert via their own little culvert system. Mostly a mixture of stone and brick arch design. There's allso a...
Starting at the bottom and heading upstream…
…we come to an exciting junction - yes the bar is rather low in culvert-world.
Going right eventually leads to a bit of wasteland on the route of a former railway line.
The stream here, Trough Syke, carries on through some more (small) culverts but I didn’t bother going any further.
Back on the main drag and on through various sections…
…we pass one of the many cotton mills in Bacup originally powered by the river.
This one (Throstle Mill) looks a bit run-down.
And on…
…to another exciting junction, roughly under the roundabout in the centre of town, close to that derp bingo place (former Regal Cinema).
Heading right where the combined Oaken and Greave Cloughs join there is some variety.
It goes on a bit further, but I climbed out here, sort of in a garage forecourt, to get some lunch.
Back at the junction and going left progress was slow for a while - sitting on a rock for a breather my head was touching the roof.
But it eventually opened up and was then an easy sploosh through a few more sections…
…before the river heads under one more short bit then up the valley.
Here’s a picture of the source of the Irwell, since I had it, looking back down the valley.
It starts in a bog next to the remains of Deerplay Colliery, just over the hill from the source of the (Yorkshire) Calder.
The Irwell of course flows down through Manchester before becoming the Manchester Ship Canal and ending up in the Mersey Estuary.
