North Western Storm Relief
(aka Labywrinth)
Enjoyed in the good company of @TheVicar
I finally got around to finishing this lot a few weeks ago so time for some reportage. The North West Storm Relief (NWSR) was one of the first drains I saw under London. TheVicar and I completed the mid/ upper section last year but the downstream end still needed seeing and naturally that lead to the Hammersmith Storm Relief, Serpents Lair and the Brook Green Storm Relief.
I’ve included a map or I’m sure to lose ya. We’ve not walked the full length of the extension further up the Ranelagh so this report will start from a chamber known as Shelf Life because of the enormous fungi growing above the drop shaft. The blue, purple and turquoise lines on the map highlight what is described below.
The North West Storm Relief was built between 1925 and 1928 soon after the North East Storm Relief (Deep Ochre) had been completed. Construction of the Hammersmith Storm Relief started in 1922 with the commencement of the pumping station. They were both completed by 1928
Shelf Life Junction on the Ranelagh Sewer. The Ranelagh’s much older than the chamber and isn’t intercepted until near Hyde Park where there is also a Storm Relief. Because it’s such a long distance before it’s intercepted or relieved it used to regularly cause flooding further upstream. The brickwork in the drop shaft appears to be different to the brickwork in the rest of the chamber, suggesting it didn’t use to have one – just the tumbling bay.
The concrete pipe on the left starts at another chamber also on the Ranelagh and runs parallel below it to this junction. It’s a modern extension to the NWSR. I’ve walked up it to about half way and gave up.
Further down the harder wearing Staffordshire Blues start on the invert.
At the top of this tumbling bay is a 5ft (I think) RBP. I’ve walked up that a fair way as well but gave up in the end. Kicking myself now as I wouldn’t mind seeing how it interacts with the older and smaller Mid Level Interceptor. I’ve been unable to find another way in to it at that end frustratingly.
Next we came to what is known as (or remembered by me as) Anatomy of a Junction No.2. JD explains it in much more detail here but essentially the 1928 North Western Storm Relief intercepts the 1904 North Kensington Storm Relief which in turn relieves the 1864 Mid Level No.1 Interceptor. Immediately afterwards the NWSR drops down a long flight of stairs and continues towards the Thames. This was as much as I’d seen on my own so TheVicar and I donned our studded wadorz and carefully made our way down. Somehow we made it down without incident.
The pipe coming in from the left on the pic above is the older 5’ NKSR. 50m up this is a pair of tumbling bays. The one on the right leads to ladders and an easylift. The one on the left leads to the Mid Level No.1. This is the smallest I’ve seen it here at barely 5’ – it’s tiny. Still, Thames Water decided to add another oak dam board, allowing more flow to remain in the interceptor before it’ll overflow.
In 1904 the LCC decided it needed a better way of dealing with heavy rain after several floods across London and a law was passed to permit the construction of several storm reliefs across the city. Among others, the North Kensington Relief took overflows from the Mid Level No.1 to the Counters Creek sewer relieving other sewers on route. It’s course is immediately blocked here by these oak boards and flow is diverted into the NWSR which flows from right to left. It crosses paths with the wavy NKSR three times in total – once more in a similar fashion to this
From the bottom of the long tumbling bay back in the NWSR
Further down we see the NKSR again, this time coming in from the right and going out to the left. It starts to get a bit clever here – well the Engineers at the time did. The dam board you can see in the pic below diverts the constant but minimal flow into the NKSR. Storm flows crash over the weir.
This is about as far as the Vicar and I got to, we turned back shortly beyond this big lump. We’d been hoping to see the NKSR again as the map shows it crossing for a third time. We’d not seen it so we stood on top of this seemingly needless concrete ramp thing thinking where the heck does the NKSR go? Perhaps it passes underneath and doesn’t interact that’s why we’ve not seen it? Well, I was standing on it. The concrete ramp is the NKSR but instead of passing underneath the NWSR it passes straight through it. I’d never seen two drains ‘clash’ at similar levels before. Obviously abating storm flows don’t make it over the weir and were there not a short 9” drain away pipe linking the NWSR to the NKSR (partly visible at bottom right of pic) a stagnant pond would remain between the dam board further up and this concrete ramp.
I just needed to check that there was a similar size hole coming into the top of the NKSR – so I did.
Counters Creek & North Kensington Relief
After they’d gone (and the oil had loosened the lid sufficiently) I went down. I walked downstream first to where I expected the 5’ NKSR to connect to the Counters Creek. Instead I came across a rather dull concrete chamber, some oak boards and a 2' square hole (I think) beyond which the flow dropped down a 10' shaft. It didn't have ladders, so I’d have to get out and go around to another lid. First though, I went wandering (stooping) upstream. Being a storm relief there’s not many connections but sure enough there was a 9” hole in the soffit approximately half way between the bends. If there’d have been someone in the NWSR at the time we could’ve probably had a conversation. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of the 9” pipe coming in and the concrete chamber at the end - they're not much to look at anyway. I did pass this nice little side access though. Corbels!
It seems that the manholes sinking. This is how they used to date and monitor a crack in brickwork.
I got out of the NKSR, startled some lad and dropped into another nearby lid into the Counters Creek. This is looking upstream to an overflow from the Counters Creek and the original 5ft connection from the North Kensington Relief. Behind the timber boards 5m up the pipe on the right is the small, dull, concrete chamber I’d just been in.
Counters Creek overflow
What minimal flow there is in the NKSR drops down the 10’ drop shaft (no pic from this end either – soz) flows under the Counters Creek via its overflow (left hole), through these two holes and down another drop shaft to the Hammersmith Storm Relief Duplication Branch. More about that later
It's strange to think that this minimal flow has come all the way from Kilburn. It’s followed a very unlikely course
Right then, back to the NWSR. When TheVicar and I visited the upstream end and walked downstream we only turned back because we weren’t sure if we could get out at the other end or what the air quality would be like that far down. We knew that there’s a wall at the end of this relief rather than heavy flaps or a gate. We’d also heard about these flaps that form a water tight seal beneath the manhole lids – easylifts and split lids. From underneath they look like this – two hooks holding a hinged heavy-duty plate horizontal. From above ground after raising the easylift (or split lid) you'd see two handles which turn the hooks and release the ‘trapdoor’. If curiosity ever gets the better of you and you wish to see an open one don’t be stood on it when you turn the last handle. It drops like a stone and if yer not holding the chain when it goes (and I wouldn’t) it makes the biggest bang ever when it swings into the concrete shaft. It’s even louder at night as well Don't let Hammersmith flood, though 
To get into the downstream end we had to access it from a chamber known as Soup Kitchen and then stoop down a 4ft brick pipe for 30m or so with our faces perilously close to the foulest concoction of festering porridge you could imagine until we arrived in the main pipe. The pic below is looking downstream so you may wonder why it goes uphill……
…..Well a hundred meters further on the pipe ends at a 25ft brick wall. Essentially the last mile or two acts as an inline tank when storm water comes in quicker that it can escape through the minging 4ft pipe ^^^ If the storm lasts long enough the whole lot fills up (to the top) and goes over the wall and into the Thames. This explains the need for the heavy, water-tight flaps beneath all the lids at the downstream end. At that end the system acts like a syphon and the manhole accesses would otherwise be a weak link
Soup Kitchen
This useful but nasty chamber is at the other end of the 4ft brick connector pipe which drains the NWSR. When we visited this multi-level manhole chamber and the nearby 25ft wall we approached from Serpants Lair (Hammersmith Pumping Station) where all the flow eventually ends up. For what is just a very large manhole chamber it’s filthy and the name Soup Kitchen is very apt. This is what we stooped through. Small steps = minimal splash
From above. Serpents Lair is away to the right (east)
Looking upwards
The Hammersmith Storm Relief has several branches this being the end of the Western Branch which launches storm flows from 12’ up the shaft (from left of pic above) to join storm flows below. It relieves the Stamford Brook Sewer but we’ve not been up it.
(aka Labywrinth)
Enjoyed in the good company of @TheVicar
I finally got around to finishing this lot a few weeks ago so time for some reportage. The North West Storm Relief (NWSR) was one of the first drains I saw under London. TheVicar and I completed the mid/ upper section last year but the downstream end still needed seeing and naturally that lead to the Hammersmith Storm Relief, Serpents Lair and the Brook Green Storm Relief.
I’ve included a map or I’m sure to lose ya. We’ve not walked the full length of the extension further up the Ranelagh so this report will start from a chamber known as Shelf Life because of the enormous fungi growing above the drop shaft. The blue, purple and turquoise lines on the map highlight what is described below.
The North West Storm Relief was built between 1925 and 1928 soon after the North East Storm Relief (Deep Ochre) had been completed. Construction of the Hammersmith Storm Relief started in 1922 with the commencement of the pumping station. They were both completed by 1928
Shelf Life Junction on the Ranelagh Sewer. The Ranelagh’s much older than the chamber and isn’t intercepted until near Hyde Park where there is also a Storm Relief. Because it’s such a long distance before it’s intercepted or relieved it used to regularly cause flooding further upstream. The brickwork in the drop shaft appears to be different to the brickwork in the rest of the chamber, suggesting it didn’t use to have one – just the tumbling bay.
The concrete pipe on the left starts at another chamber also on the Ranelagh and runs parallel below it to this junction. It’s a modern extension to the NWSR. I’ve walked up it to about half way and gave up.
Further down the harder wearing Staffordshire Blues start on the invert.
At the top of this tumbling bay is a 5ft (I think) RBP. I’ve walked up that a fair way as well but gave up in the end. Kicking myself now as I wouldn’t mind seeing how it interacts with the older and smaller Mid Level Interceptor. I’ve been unable to find another way in to it at that end frustratingly.
Next we came to what is known as (or remembered by me as) Anatomy of a Junction No.2. JD explains it in much more detail here but essentially the 1928 North Western Storm Relief intercepts the 1904 North Kensington Storm Relief which in turn relieves the 1864 Mid Level No.1 Interceptor. Immediately afterwards the NWSR drops down a long flight of stairs and continues towards the Thames. This was as much as I’d seen on my own so TheVicar and I donned our studded wadorz and carefully made our way down. Somehow we made it down without incident.
The pipe coming in from the left on the pic above is the older 5’ NKSR. 50m up this is a pair of tumbling bays. The one on the right leads to ladders and an easylift. The one on the left leads to the Mid Level No.1. This is the smallest I’ve seen it here at barely 5’ – it’s tiny. Still, Thames Water decided to add another oak dam board, allowing more flow to remain in the interceptor before it’ll overflow.
In 1904 the LCC decided it needed a better way of dealing with heavy rain after several floods across London and a law was passed to permit the construction of several storm reliefs across the city. Among others, the North Kensington Relief took overflows from the Mid Level No.1 to the Counters Creek sewer relieving other sewers on route. It’s course is immediately blocked here by these oak boards and flow is diverted into the NWSR which flows from right to left. It crosses paths with the wavy NKSR three times in total – once more in a similar fashion to this
From the bottom of the long tumbling bay back in the NWSR
Further down we see the NKSR again, this time coming in from the right and going out to the left. It starts to get a bit clever here – well the Engineers at the time did. The dam board you can see in the pic below diverts the constant but minimal flow into the NKSR. Storm flows crash over the weir.
This is about as far as the Vicar and I got to, we turned back shortly beyond this big lump. We’d been hoping to see the NKSR again as the map shows it crossing for a third time. We’d not seen it so we stood on top of this seemingly needless concrete ramp thing thinking where the heck does the NKSR go? Perhaps it passes underneath and doesn’t interact that’s why we’ve not seen it? Well, I was standing on it. The concrete ramp is the NKSR but instead of passing underneath the NWSR it passes straight through it. I’d never seen two drains ‘clash’ at similar levels before. Obviously abating storm flows don’t make it over the weir and were there not a short 9” drain away pipe linking the NWSR to the NKSR (partly visible at bottom right of pic) a stagnant pond would remain between the dam board further up and this concrete ramp.
I just needed to check that there was a similar size hole coming into the top of the NKSR – so I did.
Counters Creek & North Kensington Relief
After they’d gone (and the oil had loosened the lid sufficiently) I went down. I walked downstream first to where I expected the 5’ NKSR to connect to the Counters Creek. Instead I came across a rather dull concrete chamber, some oak boards and a 2' square hole (I think) beyond which the flow dropped down a 10' shaft. It didn't have ladders, so I’d have to get out and go around to another lid. First though, I went wandering (stooping) upstream. Being a storm relief there’s not many connections but sure enough there was a 9” hole in the soffit approximately half way between the bends. If there’d have been someone in the NWSR at the time we could’ve probably had a conversation. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of the 9” pipe coming in and the concrete chamber at the end - they're not much to look at anyway. I did pass this nice little side access though. Corbels!
It seems that the manholes sinking. This is how they used to date and monitor a crack in brickwork.
I got out of the NKSR, startled some lad and dropped into another nearby lid into the Counters Creek. This is looking upstream to an overflow from the Counters Creek and the original 5ft connection from the North Kensington Relief. Behind the timber boards 5m up the pipe on the right is the small, dull, concrete chamber I’d just been in.
Counters Creek overflow
What minimal flow there is in the NKSR drops down the 10’ drop shaft (no pic from this end either – soz) flows under the Counters Creek via its overflow (left hole), through these two holes and down another drop shaft to the Hammersmith Storm Relief Duplication Branch. More about that later
It's strange to think that this minimal flow has come all the way from Kilburn. It’s followed a very unlikely course
Right then, back to the NWSR. When TheVicar and I visited the upstream end and walked downstream we only turned back because we weren’t sure if we could get out at the other end or what the air quality would be like that far down. We knew that there’s a wall at the end of this relief rather than heavy flaps or a gate. We’d also heard about these flaps that form a water tight seal beneath the manhole lids – easylifts and split lids. From underneath they look like this – two hooks holding a hinged heavy-duty plate horizontal. From above ground after raising the easylift (or split lid) you'd see two handles which turn the hooks and release the ‘trapdoor’. If curiosity ever gets the better of you and you wish to see an open one don’t be stood on it when you turn the last handle. It drops like a stone and if yer not holding the chain when it goes (and I wouldn’t) it makes the biggest bang ever when it swings into the concrete shaft. It’s even louder at night as well
Don't let Hammersmith flood, though
To get into the downstream end we had to access it from a chamber known as Soup Kitchen and then stoop down a 4ft brick pipe for 30m or so with our faces perilously close to the foulest concoction of festering porridge you could imagine until we arrived in the main pipe. The pic below is looking downstream so you may wonder why it goes uphill……
…..Well a hundred meters further on the pipe ends at a 25ft brick wall. Essentially the last mile or two acts as an inline tank when storm water comes in quicker that it can escape through the minging 4ft pipe ^^^ If the storm lasts long enough the whole lot fills up (to the top) and goes over the wall and into the Thames. This explains the need for the heavy, water-tight flaps beneath all the lids at the downstream end. At that end the system acts like a syphon and the manhole accesses would otherwise be a weak link
Soup Kitchen
This useful but nasty chamber is at the other end of the 4ft brick connector pipe which drains the NWSR. When we visited this multi-level manhole chamber and the nearby 25ft wall we approached from Serpants Lair (Hammersmith Pumping Station) where all the flow eventually ends up. For what is just a very large manhole chamber it’s filthy and the name Soup Kitchen is very apt. This is what we stooped through. Small steps = minimal splash
From above. Serpents Lair is away to the right (east)
Looking upwards
The Hammersmith Storm Relief has several branches this being the end of the Western Branch which launches storm flows from 12’ up the shaft (from left of pic above) to join storm flows below. It relieves the Stamford Brook Sewer but we’ve not been up it.
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Cracking photos again.
Tried on multiple devices too so don't think it's just me.... I'll add an appreciative comment when they're back up!
