Explored with @cattos mc budget
I first found out about this culvert after seeing some photos of it on a lesser-forum some time ago, I eventually got around to doing a recce visit in April 2024 to scout out where the outfall was. I was initially put off after seeing the size of the outfall and I ended up forgetting about it for a while, it wasn't until recently when I stumbled upon the photos I took of it that I felt up to doing the challenge of actually exploring it.
This culvert carries a small stream which used to be known locally as the "Gutter" underneath Tilehurst, Reading. The stream and its many smaller tributaries were culverted post-WW2 when much of Tilehurst was developed. Nowadays, only some of these streams emerge aboveground, either for very short distances or in odd places.
The culvert has quite an odd layout, we gained access from the old original outfall of what used to be a short culverted section underneath a railway and a former sidings. The stream has since been rerouted to join the Thames further downstream via a larger sized RCP as the culvert also serves as a surface water runoff drain, and I presume the old smaller culvert wouldn't be able to handle the heavier flows. The old culvert is still connected though, it's been extended with RCP to join the current modern culvert, possibly now taking the role of an overflow or ventilation duct?
We all caught the train to Reading, my mum and sister were off doing something else whilst me and @cattos mc budget caught the next train to Tilehurst. Once there we walked along the River Thames for a while, passing anglers and narrowboats before getting to where I remembered the outfall to be. It was so ridiculously overgrown that we spent about an hour and a half literally tunnelling our way to it through chest high nettles and brambles, the worst part is that I was wearing shorts so I got stung all over! Props to @cattos mc budget as he basically did all of the "weeding".
The outfall is only about 2.5ft tall and 1.5ft in width, this was what initially put me off but because we'd spent so much time weeding we weren't going to give up that easy...
Looking back towards the River Thames, its clear that this doesn't run often as it seems to just go over the Thames Path via a washed out channel instead of under it in a dedicated culvert or bridge whenever this thing does flow. There was also a strong breeze coming from the culvert which felt quite nice on such a hot day!
The brick tunnel heads south for about 75m, the railway above is quite high speed and the tunnel is shallow beneath it so the thunder of passing trains would startle us and it would make the whole thing vibrate.
Size comparison, it was so tight in there that we could only just about turn around!
After a very tight capped shaft the tunnel changed to a more stronger looking brick construction.
Eventually after passing a couple frogs and another shaft the tunnel changed to a 3ft diameter concrete pipe in quite a nice looking brick chamber.
We followed this for about 100m before we finally arrived at the actual culvert which was greeted in a roomy chamber. It looks as if the pipe opposite used to carry on behind the camera but has had a segment removed and it now drops into the stream, it's all a bit confusing and I just can't wrap my head around this...
Once in the proper culvert we were given a choice of either upstream or downstream, we headed downstream first as we could see a chamber in the distance and we assumed the pipe would get bigger.
Inside the chamber we could see daylight in the distance and the pipe changed from 4ft to 5ft. The smaller pipe with little flow was ridiculously slippery and smelt like chemicals so we stayed away.
The pipe heads at quite a steep gradient into a small sump to slow the water down. Prominent watermarks caused by the Thames appeared on the walls and started getting higher and higher the further we went towards the outfall.
Eventually the pipe drops into a 2.5ft concrete box which carries on a short distance towards the Thames.
Unfortunately it got a bit too deep so we couldn't go far but we could actually see some angler's floats just outside, we stayed quiet as we didn't want to alert them and become the next urban myth.
We turned back the way we came and headed back to the first chamber, after having a break we carried on upstream. The culvert carries on in 4ft RCP for the rest of the explore which gets quite boring as there's basically no other features apart from manhole chambers, but at least none of it was slippery!
A short stoop later and we found ourselves in this cool little manhole chamber with the shaft going up and to the side. A lot of the pipework had fractures / cracks on the roof upstream from here which was a little unnerving...
After passing many manhole chambers we started to hear what sounded like a weir in the distance, we were getting really worn out now as the stoop forces you to bend your knees in a really odd way and wearing a backpack made it worse. Because I was carrying the camera and lighting equipment as well, @cattos mc budget volunteered to carry my backpack for the rest of the explore, just to make the agony fair.
Finally we arrived at a small slide, the plywood wasn't there in the photos I saw of the culvert pre-visit and it looks as if it's been deliberately placed as it seems to fit into place perfectly.
Above the slide, this marked the end of the explore as the potentially featureless stoop ahead stretched far beyond my little PD40R's beam could for an unknown distance. We were absolutely shattered now so we turned around and headed back out the way we came.
It's definitely not my favourite explore, but it was a good day out none of the less and it was nice to finally satisfy my curiosity of what lurked beyond that old outfall. There's definitely more to come from Reading drain-wise and there's some pretty old brick / stone built culverts that could be future explores, especially now as the water levels are dropping!
Thanks for reading.
I first found out about this culvert after seeing some photos of it on a lesser-forum some time ago, I eventually got around to doing a recce visit in April 2024 to scout out where the outfall was. I was initially put off after seeing the size of the outfall and I ended up forgetting about it for a while, it wasn't until recently when I stumbled upon the photos I took of it that I felt up to doing the challenge of actually exploring it.
This culvert carries a small stream which used to be known locally as the "Gutter" underneath Tilehurst, Reading. The stream and its many smaller tributaries were culverted post-WW2 when much of Tilehurst was developed. Nowadays, only some of these streams emerge aboveground, either for very short distances or in odd places.
The culvert has quite an odd layout, we gained access from the old original outfall of what used to be a short culverted section underneath a railway and a former sidings. The stream has since been rerouted to join the Thames further downstream via a larger sized RCP as the culvert also serves as a surface water runoff drain, and I presume the old smaller culvert wouldn't be able to handle the heavier flows. The old culvert is still connected though, it's been extended with RCP to join the current modern culvert, possibly now taking the role of an overflow or ventilation duct?
We all caught the train to Reading, my mum and sister were off doing something else whilst me and @cattos mc budget caught the next train to Tilehurst. Once there we walked along the River Thames for a while, passing anglers and narrowboats before getting to where I remembered the outfall to be. It was so ridiculously overgrown that we spent about an hour and a half literally tunnelling our way to it through chest high nettles and brambles, the worst part is that I was wearing shorts so I got stung all over! Props to @cattos mc budget as he basically did all of the "weeding".
The outfall is only about 2.5ft tall and 1.5ft in width, this was what initially put me off but because we'd spent so much time weeding we weren't going to give up that easy...
Looking back towards the River Thames, its clear that this doesn't run often as it seems to just go over the Thames Path via a washed out channel instead of under it in a dedicated culvert or bridge whenever this thing does flow. There was also a strong breeze coming from the culvert which felt quite nice on such a hot day!
The brick tunnel heads south for about 75m, the railway above is quite high speed and the tunnel is shallow beneath it so the thunder of passing trains would startle us and it would make the whole thing vibrate.
Size comparison, it was so tight in there that we could only just about turn around!
After a very tight capped shaft the tunnel changed to a more stronger looking brick construction.
Eventually after passing a couple frogs and another shaft the tunnel changed to a 3ft diameter concrete pipe in quite a nice looking brick chamber.
We followed this for about 100m before we finally arrived at the actual culvert which was greeted in a roomy chamber. It looks as if the pipe opposite used to carry on behind the camera but has had a segment removed and it now drops into the stream, it's all a bit confusing and I just can't wrap my head around this...
Once in the proper culvert we were given a choice of either upstream or downstream, we headed downstream first as we could see a chamber in the distance and we assumed the pipe would get bigger.
The pipe heads at quite a steep gradient into a small sump to slow the water down. Prominent watermarks caused by the Thames appeared on the walls and started getting higher and higher the further we went towards the outfall.
Eventually the pipe drops into a 2.5ft concrete box which carries on a short distance towards the Thames.
Unfortunately it got a bit too deep so we couldn't go far but we could actually see some angler's floats just outside, we stayed quiet as we didn't want to alert them and become the next urban myth.
We turned back the way we came and headed back to the first chamber, after having a break we carried on upstream. The culvert carries on in 4ft RCP for the rest of the explore which gets quite boring as there's basically no other features apart from manhole chambers, but at least none of it was slippery!
A short stoop later and we found ourselves in this cool little manhole chamber with the shaft going up and to the side. A lot of the pipework had fractures / cracks on the roof upstream from here which was a little unnerving...
After passing many manhole chambers we started to hear what sounded like a weir in the distance, we were getting really worn out now as the stoop forces you to bend your knees in a really odd way and wearing a backpack made it worse. Because I was carrying the camera and lighting equipment as well, @cattos mc budget volunteered to carry my backpack for the rest of the explore, just to make the agony fair.
Finally we arrived at a small slide, the plywood wasn't there in the photos I saw of the culvert pre-visit and it looks as if it's been deliberately placed as it seems to fit into place perfectly.
Above the slide, this marked the end of the explore as the potentially featureless stoop ahead stretched far beyond my little PD40R's beam could for an unknown distance. We were absolutely shattered now so we turned around and headed back out the way we came.
It's definitely not my favourite explore, but it was a good day out none of the less and it was nice to finally satisfy my curiosity of what lurked beyond that old outfall. There's definitely more to come from Reading drain-wise and there's some pretty old brick / stone built culverts that could be future explores, especially now as the water levels are dropping!
Thanks for reading.
