Report - Loddington Culvert, Northamptonshire, July 2020

[TranKmasT]

Great pictures.
I must get myself down a culvert sometime. It must be nice sometimes to just chill and take you time experimenting with exposures, compared to rushing around a building expecting to be caught at any minute.

 

[Down and beyond]

Great pictures.
I must get myself down a culvert sometime. It must be nice sometimes to just chill and take you time experimenting with exposures, compared to rushing around a building expecting to be caught at any minute.

Being underground and relaxing exploring is a differnt feeling all together if I might add this in without spamming chills thread

 

[chills]

Great pictures.
I must get myself down a culvert sometime. It must be nice sometimes to just chill and take you time experimenting with exposures, compared to rushing around a building expecting to be caught at any minute.

Funny fact, all my photos are done on my iPhone11 with a damn steady hand. I always find drains, culverts and underground a good chill. Nothing better in my mind!

 

[Down and beyond]

Same style as me mate iPhone good enough isn’t it !!

 

[TranKmasT]

Funny fact, all my photos are done on my iPhone11 with a damn steady hand. I always find drains, culverts and underground a good chill. Nothing better in my mind!

I forget how good top end phones are these days, especially with the multiple lenses they have.

 

[Punk]

Nicely done lads and nice pics. That's a lot of jizz lol. Wonder why the change from stone to brick - maybe another track was added so the culvert needed extending?

I am guessing the stone is a lot older and original I suspect the hole tunnel was all once stoned lined possibly the brick is a rebuilt section , the stone floor in the photos shows a lot more wear than the brick floor so I am guessing some has been re built , on the join line the different materials
Have not been keyed in if was built at same time I would imagine they would of tied them in great overall construction

Most of the culverts under the Great Northern Railway change to stone close to the centre.
Could be a cost cutting exercise maybe

Marefield culvert 20 odd miles away also has a change from stone to brick. Can't be bothered to figure it out myself lol but if the lengths of stonework / brickwork are similar and the same way round it would suggest the culverts were extended rather than relined. Maybe nearby bridges were also widened? It gets confusing tryna work out what lines were added to / closed down / reused or bought by various railway companies from years ago

Marefield Culvert, Loddington Culvert, Black Spinney Hill Culvert, The Tilton Dodger Culvert, and Marefield South Culverts are all on a 15 mile stretch of track. Thankfully all within ten minutes drive for me ftw.

All of it is on the Great Northern Railway. As is Ingarsby Tunnel, Clawson Tunnel, Norton Tunnel and John O'Gaunt Viaduct.
@tallginge next time I see you, I'll show you the route and where all the culverts(that I know about at least) are

 

[CandGirl]

History:

Loddington Culvert is situated in the village of Loddington; located about 3 miles west of Kettering.

The brick and stone construction of the culvert was developed to carry the existing tributary of the Eye Brook under the GNR & LNWR joint railway line that ran from Nottingham via Melton Mowbray, and on to Market Harborough & Northampton, built around 1879. Passenger services were only around six per day in each direction, although it was more heavily used by goods traffic. The line ran on a high embankment passing Loddington.

I’m unsure why the culvert was constructed in this way as it’s unique and @Punk and I debated that it may have been due to cheaper materials during construction.

The explore:

After a full packed plan for the weekend, @Punk and I hit the culvert. Pulling up on a damp day, we donned our gear and as cars passed giving you that usual look of “WTF are you doing?” we headed towards the direction of the Brook.

Punk said he hadn’t visited this in a while, and the undergrowth was thick with stinging nettles and brambles. “Well this has grown” and picking up a stick, Punk led the way hacking at stinging nettles to forge a path. After a little while of trudging through boggy ground, we paused. “I’m sure it was around here somewhere” said Punk.

Well, after walking back on ourselves through more stinging nettles and being stung a few times, we saw the brick structure appear. Dropping into the Brook, I could tell this was going to be good. I like brick.

Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos of the entrance but there has been previous reports so if you are interested, please do check them out!

Looking back towards the entrance.

We headed into the brick section.

Soon side pipes featured calcite formations that Punk so elegantly described as “it looked like the pipe jizzed”.

Heading further into the culvert the section changed from brick to stone. I’ve never seen an example of this, and as mentioned earlier, unsure as to why. You can see a angled clear split as the tunnel changed.

The stone underfoot became uneven and had chunks missing from years of use carrying the water creating pools along the culvert.

Pushing further in we started to see the light and the material changed back to brick again.

After kicking up the water I got this shot to show the ageing state of the structure. Not only are the bricks shifting on the left, in the centre of the flow, a piece of the lip of the archway sits where it fell.

Heading back through I grabbed another shot of the calcite formation.

Obligatory posing shots..

And out into the wilderness and onto the next!

Wow I am in love with this one!