I’ve a real soft spot for this drain as it was the first one I did 15 years ago back in 2007.
It had been a few years since I last set foot in here so it was great to return. This time I met up with concreteJungle to retrace old footsteps but also venture into the previously overlooked downstream section of Inhospitable beyond the P37 penstock.
Entering the beautiful outfall into the River Irk we made our way up the two tone brick tunnel.
I’m beginning to feel my age a bit now but so is the upper red brickwork in parts. Some of the bricks at the top of the tunnel nearer the outfall are spalling which was not the case about 10 years ago.
After a couple of twists and turns we came to the section that contains a lot of rubble and debris. On the first and each subsequent visit here I have noticed a tiny model toy car, a Micro Machines Lamborghini Countach embedded in the calcite that binds the stones and rubble together.
This is the photo I took of it from my original 2007 report, it had quite likely been in the drain since the 1980s when these were very popular.
Moving on from here it was a short walk through the deep water that backs up behind the debris, then past the junction with the blocked off tunnel and up the stairs which I swear have got bigger since I last climbed them.
Reaching the familiar penstock chamber is always enjoyable and the long dry summer had made the flow of the Moston Brook about as low as I had seen it which was a bonus.
Looking upstream:
Looking downstream:
Now it was time to duck under the penstock and make our way downstream. I think we had always overlooked this section as being very stoopy and ankle twistingly rocky underfoot. After a short distance, we were not wrong about our preconceptions. It was stoopy and rocky but we were here to get it done anyway.
There wasn’t much to see for a while other than where a couple of CSOs joined, one of which appears to discharge a continuous flow of sewage into the brook despite it being dry and sunny for several days.
After a while, the rocks lessened and the water deepened and before the tunnel opened up to a much larger diameter.
It was good to straighten our backs and take a quick break here before progressing. This bigger section of drain didn’t last long before the tunnel diameter shrank a little to a very respectable 6.5ft.
It was interesting that there was not a single rock or stone in this section. It soon become clear why. The tunnel was heading downhill slightly and a bit further on, the decline became much steeper as a sharp right turn came into sight. From here we had to be very careful as it would be easy to fall over on the rather slippy brickwork.
After cautiously rounding the bend, the end was immediately upon us. One wrong slip here would end quite nastily so after a quick shot of the view, we carefully made our retreat back up the tunnel.
These two photos show the end of tunnel from where the water drops from the outfall into the ruins of what I think used to be an old mill:
On our way out of the drain, the little Lamborghini was finally rescued and got cleaned up a bit. It now sits on my mantelpiece as a little souvenir.
Thanks to concreteJungle for a pleasant afternoon of Manchester draining.
It had been a few years since I last set foot in here so it was great to return. This time I met up with concreteJungle to retrace old footsteps but also venture into the previously overlooked downstream section of Inhospitable beyond the P37 penstock.
Entering the beautiful outfall into the River Irk we made our way up the two tone brick tunnel.
I’m beginning to feel my age a bit now but so is the upper red brickwork in parts. Some of the bricks at the top of the tunnel nearer the outfall are spalling which was not the case about 10 years ago.
After a couple of twists and turns we came to the section that contains a lot of rubble and debris. On the first and each subsequent visit here I have noticed a tiny model toy car, a Micro Machines Lamborghini Countach embedded in the calcite that binds the stones and rubble together.
This is the photo I took of it from my original 2007 report, it had quite likely been in the drain since the 1980s when these were very popular.
Moving on from here it was a short walk through the deep water that backs up behind the debris, then past the junction with the blocked off tunnel and up the stairs which I swear have got bigger since I last climbed them.
Reaching the familiar penstock chamber is always enjoyable and the long dry summer had made the flow of the Moston Brook about as low as I had seen it which was a bonus.
Looking upstream:
Looking downstream:
Now it was time to duck under the penstock and make our way downstream. I think we had always overlooked this section as being very stoopy and ankle twistingly rocky underfoot. After a short distance, we were not wrong about our preconceptions. It was stoopy and rocky but we were here to get it done anyway.
There wasn’t much to see for a while other than where a couple of CSOs joined, one of which appears to discharge a continuous flow of sewage into the brook despite it being dry and sunny for several days.
After a while, the rocks lessened and the water deepened and before the tunnel opened up to a much larger diameter.
It was good to straighten our backs and take a quick break here before progressing. This bigger section of drain didn’t last long before the tunnel diameter shrank a little to a very respectable 6.5ft.
It was interesting that there was not a single rock or stone in this section. It soon become clear why. The tunnel was heading downhill slightly and a bit further on, the decline became much steeper as a sharp right turn came into sight. From here we had to be very careful as it would be easy to fall over on the rather slippy brickwork.
After cautiously rounding the bend, the end was immediately upon us. One wrong slip here would end quite nastily so after a quick shot of the view, we carefully made our retreat back up the tunnel.
These two photos show the end of tunnel from where the water drops from the outfall into the ruins of what I think used to be an old mill:
On our way out of the drain, the little Lamborghini was finally rescued and got cleaned up a bit. It now sits on my mantelpiece as a little souvenir.
Thanks to concreteJungle for a pleasant afternoon of Manchester draining.
