I'll try and keep this concise, as I'm sure many of you are already familiar with this place from older reports.
History:
Once a tributary of the Thames called "The River Walbrook", used by Romans as a freshwater source for settlements in the days when London was known as Londinium, later became undrinkable/unusable due to the expansion of the city, with residents using the river for waste removal.
By the 15th Century, the lower reaches of the river began to be bricked over to mask its smell, and by the 16th Century, the entirety of its course was covered.
Fast forward to the 1850s when Bazalgette's sewer system was implemented, the underground river would be integrated into the rest of London's new drainage networks, and diverted to serve the extensive London Bridge Sewer network.
Today, whilst still acting as a sewer, the tunnels also house a variety of cabling providing utilities to the square mile.
August:
I'd been intrigued by this particular sewer after seeing a handful of reports from 9 years ago, and the fact it looks somewhat more photogenic than many others in the capital.
My first dip into its waters was originally meant to be in the company of @TheVicar, however, due to our schedules not coinciding, I'd see him join me at a later date.
Instead, I was joined by my good friend @James Cross and our mate Lukas who was in town at the time back in August, after all, I'd promised to show him a drain or two...
The date had arrived, and with some hesitation to proceed due to the rainfall we had earlier in the day, we began to make our way into the city. Fortunately, the forecast would go on to be on our side for the night, and so we continued to embark on our trip beneath the streets.
** Apologies for no DSLR shots, only had my phone on me for this one! **
Admittedly, this first trip didn’t see us get all that far due to the conditions underfoot becoming softer and softer making it increasingly difficult to move forward, combined with the height of the ceiling getting progressively lower in parts.
After what had felt considerably longer than what was in reality only 2 hours, our enthusiasm began to wane, and so we decided to turn back after having a group vote.
However, I had unfinished business with this one, and so plans of setting a date for a revisit were soon underway.
October:
A couple of months passed, and after eventually arranging a date with @TheVicar, it was time for round 2!
We decided to congregate in a nearby pub for a general catch-up, finalise plans and work out our route to the floodgate we wanted to see. One swift pint later, and we soon had the waders & hi-vis on ready to go down.
We dropped in near Moorgate using the same lid I did in August, and began to head downstream towards the Thames, making our to the point myself and the others turned back at last time.
I'd stressed to @TheVicar the difficulties I experienced in that particular section, but ultimately if we were to reach the floodgate the only option would be to soldier on through it as best we could... and that's precisely what we did.
Shortly after that last photo was taken, we ran into obstacles... the very same boggy, sludgey terrain as last time.
However, with some determination and gentle stepping, we managed to surpass it and found ourselves in a much more contemporary-looking section of the sewer.
This would continue for a fair stretch, with a couple of off-shoots branching from it. However, we decided not to deviate from the original plan and press on to the floodgate.
The floodgate
I must admit, seeing a floodgate in person for the first time was certainly an experience. I dread to think how much water was being held back just metres from where we stood!
As the night began to come to an end, satisfied with what we'd seen and photographed, we started to push any immediate lid we saw from beneath in the hope we'd be able to save ourselves the slog back. Unfortunately, this wasn't to be as no lid wanted to budge a millimetre even. Now resigned to fate, we began the long trudge back to Moorgate.
All in all, this was certainly one of the more photogenic sewers I've seen in the capital, and well worth the return trip despite a somewhat off-putting first attempt.
Apart from anything else, it was a great excuse to hang out with some cool people as always...
Until next time ~
History:
Once a tributary of the Thames called "The River Walbrook", used by Romans as a freshwater source for settlements in the days when London was known as Londinium, later became undrinkable/unusable due to the expansion of the city, with residents using the river for waste removal.
By the 15th Century, the lower reaches of the river began to be bricked over to mask its smell, and by the 16th Century, the entirety of its course was covered.
Fast forward to the 1850s when Bazalgette's sewer system was implemented, the underground river would be integrated into the rest of London's new drainage networks, and diverted to serve the extensive London Bridge Sewer network.
Today, whilst still acting as a sewer, the tunnels also house a variety of cabling providing utilities to the square mile.
August:
I'd been intrigued by this particular sewer after seeing a handful of reports from 9 years ago, and the fact it looks somewhat more photogenic than many others in the capital.
My first dip into its waters was originally meant to be in the company of @TheVicar, however, due to our schedules not coinciding, I'd see him join me at a later date.
Instead, I was joined by my good friend @James Cross and our mate Lukas who was in town at the time back in August, after all, I'd promised to show him a drain or two...
The date had arrived, and with some hesitation to proceed due to the rainfall we had earlier in the day, we began to make our way into the city. Fortunately, the forecast would go on to be on our side for the night, and so we continued to embark on our trip beneath the streets.
** Apologies for no DSLR shots, only had my phone on me for this one! **
Admittedly, this first trip didn’t see us get all that far due to the conditions underfoot becoming softer and softer making it increasingly difficult to move forward, combined with the height of the ceiling getting progressively lower in parts.
After what had felt considerably longer than what was in reality only 2 hours, our enthusiasm began to wane, and so we decided to turn back after having a group vote.
However, I had unfinished business with this one, and so plans of setting a date for a revisit were soon underway.
October:
A couple of months passed, and after eventually arranging a date with @TheVicar, it was time for round 2!
We decided to congregate in a nearby pub for a general catch-up, finalise plans and work out our route to the floodgate we wanted to see. One swift pint later, and we soon had the waders & hi-vis on ready to go down.
We dropped in near Moorgate using the same lid I did in August, and began to head downstream towards the Thames, making our to the point myself and the others turned back at last time.
I'd stressed to @TheVicar the difficulties I experienced in that particular section, but ultimately if we were to reach the floodgate the only option would be to soldier on through it as best we could... and that's precisely what we did.
Shortly after that last photo was taken, we ran into obstacles... the very same boggy, sludgey terrain as last time.
However, with some determination and gentle stepping, we managed to surpass it and found ourselves in a much more contemporary-looking section of the sewer.
This would continue for a fair stretch, with a couple of off-shoots branching from it. However, we decided not to deviate from the original plan and press on to the floodgate.
The floodgate
I must admit, seeing a floodgate in person for the first time was certainly an experience. I dread to think how much water was being held back just metres from where we stood!
As the night began to come to an end, satisfied with what we'd seen and photographed, we started to push any immediate lid we saw from beneath in the hope we'd be able to save ourselves the slog back. Unfortunately, this wasn't to be as no lid wanted to budge a millimetre even. Now resigned to fate, we began the long trudge back to Moorgate.
All in all, this was certainly one of the more photogenic sewers I've seen in the capital, and well worth the return trip despite a somewhat off-putting first attempt.
Apart from anything else, it was a great excuse to hang out with some cool people as always...
Until next time ~
