Medlock Culvert & Big Humpty
We planned a trip out to town, and decided to go to a couple of the drains in Manchester while waiting around to check a lead when it got dark. First stop was Medlock Culvert, probably one of the easier drains in the City. Kinda reminiscent of the river Croal walk in Bolton, the sheer size of the place surprised me. I was hella glad that i'd just bought myself a new Lenser, my old P7 certainly wouldnt have illuminated the place alone. Spent a couple of hours in here, mooching and messing and checking out the various little outfalls within the culvert.
Then on and up to Big Humpty, after mooching (and slipping due to slight drizzle all day :mad ) for what seemed like forever, the large, egg shaped tunnel loomed ahead and the excitement began again. Not much to see but a nice section and walk up the river. It felt eerie in the park, we didn't see a soul the whole time and when deciding to leave, we were going to come back the way we came and catch the bus back to the City Center, but turned around to find some tracksuit-wearing nike ninja's walking up the river towards us... with rather large sticks. Sure to say we decided to make our way through the tunnel and climb up the steep embankments on the other side - not nice but the adrenaline made it a bit easier. Quick sip of the lucozade and a saggy rollup and on we were with our journey!
The river medlock runs through big humpty and the culvert, along a stretch named the 'Red River' after the brickwork... a stunning place to take a stroll. The culvert had a couple of nice features, such as an overflow coming down some steps, a small corridor leading to a manhole ladder and a downpipe which appeared to be dumping soapy water. There were a few other small pipes jutting from the walls, spewing all sorts of sh*te (and smells) out but nothing too bad.
All in all, worth the trip!
Medlock Culvert
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Big Humpty
Cheers for looking!
ha. 
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