Many streams drain from the long ridge of high ground that forms Ilkley Moors. Some drain south into the River Aire. Others drains north into the wharfe. One of those that drains into the Wharfe runs through the centre of Ilkley.
As it enters the town, it runs through a narrow strip of landscaped gardens and into a 3 feet square culvert entrance.
The entrance really is as small as it looks and I didn't think it was possible to do a through trip, but when I realised that the culvert would run under the main street of Ilkley, it was too irresistible to walk away from.
I couldn't find any details of it's exploration anywhere, so I called it Steam Punk Passage, after one of it's internal features. Because of it's steep gradient. I did an upstream explore. It was another solo explore and was done (I think) way back in the summer of 2011.
The outfall in on the south bank of the river, immediately downstream from the road bridge. It leads to a very nice stone tunnel.
Next is the feature which gives the culvert its name. A 3 feet diameter pipe made from iron tubes which are riveted together. It looks like something out of a steam punk film.
I've no idea how long this section was, but by now I was feeling a bit isolated. At this point my camera got wet and died.
The culvert gets a bit more serious now. The steam comes out of a smaller (estimated 30 inches diameter) inclined slippy plastic tube. It is a struggle to get up this. While it is not long, you're laid flat out in a stream and it seems a very isolated place.
It couldn't get any worse could it? Yes, it does. The next section is another section of plastic pipe which is almost horizontal. It is set about 9-10 inches below the lip of the previous section, so its always going to have its airspace reduced by about a third. I was lucky(?) to do the culvert with low water levels.
After that a chance to stand upright to view the next obstacle. A climb up a vertical waterfall. From memory, its about 3 feet wide , with side walls and maybe 8 feet high . Easy using a hand and foot on each side. Less easy when you're carrying a tripod with one hand.
After the waterfall, I recognised where I was, from a previous look at the infall. All that remained was a long crawl through a 3 feet square stone culvert to the infall. I had some photographs of this from a previous trip
High water levels are going to cause a problem in this culvert.
I've put together a small website to host my photographs. There are more photo's at http://www.urbanredux.uk
As it enters the town, it runs through a narrow strip of landscaped gardens and into a 3 feet square culvert entrance.
The entrance really is as small as it looks and I didn't think it was possible to do a through trip, but when I realised that the culvert would run under the main street of Ilkley, it was too irresistible to walk away from.
I couldn't find any details of it's exploration anywhere, so I called it Steam Punk Passage, after one of it's internal features. Because of it's steep gradient. I did an upstream explore. It was another solo explore and was done (I think) way back in the summer of 2011.
The outfall in on the south bank of the river, immediately downstream from the road bridge. It leads to a very nice stone tunnel.
Next is the feature which gives the culvert its name. A 3 feet diameter pipe made from iron tubes which are riveted together. It looks like something out of a steam punk film.
I've no idea how long this section was, but by now I was feeling a bit isolated. At this point my camera got wet and died.
The culvert gets a bit more serious now. The steam comes out of a smaller (estimated 30 inches diameter) inclined slippy plastic tube. It is a struggle to get up this. While it is not long, you're laid flat out in a stream and it seems a very isolated place.
It couldn't get any worse could it? Yes, it does. The next section is another section of plastic pipe which is almost horizontal. It is set about 9-10 inches below the lip of the previous section, so its always going to have its airspace reduced by about a third. I was lucky(?) to do the culvert with low water levels.
After that a chance to stand upright to view the next obstacle. A climb up a vertical waterfall. From memory, its about 3 feet wide , with side walls and maybe 8 feet high . Easy using a hand and foot on each side. Less easy when you're carrying a tripod with one hand.
After the waterfall, I recognised where I was, from a previous look at the infall. All that remained was a long crawl through a 3 feet square stone culvert to the infall. I had some photographs of this from a previous trip
High water levels are going to cause a problem in this culvert.
I've put together a small website to host my photographs. There are more photo's at http://www.urbanredux.uk
