The Arches

Its been a rather long time coming. Ive sat at my computer trawling through report after report of people visiting the Arches. Saying to myself, right i'm going this week. Well fast forward to today and a good seven months had passed. Thanks to Userscott and Snappel, the Manchester draining scene was exploding again with new drains being found holding features that even Indiana Jones would tip his hat too.

So we made plans to visit the newest discovery "Hulme Flume" and as we were there we might as well do the Cathedral steps as well. Since the purple beast had recently gone through a service it no longer shook like a old mans hand when you reached speeds of 50+. With that in mind we made steady progress through the night arriving in Manchester in the early am. I had heard that the entrance to the steps was, well comical and sketchy as hell at the same time. And sure enough it was. Major cliffhanger and pigeon ninja skills were needed, but we soon found ourselves standing inside. Only took 7 months to get in.

The Steps are a series of Archs, passageways and vaults that were once used as landing station for boats on the nearby river although any sign of the old wooden jetty's now lay only in photographs as they had all rotted away and fallen to their watery graves. During the war the arches were converted into several air raid shelters with many of the doors, signs and warning notices still in place. Sadly there is now less of these then before due to "explorers" who felt the need to take them. We spent a good hour or so just walking around the winding and maze like passageways taking in the sights and getting a general idea on what it must have been like in its day. Then it was time for the cameras. For such a large site most of it was really un-photogenic but a few bits were still fun to shoot, such as the main corridor's and especially the old toilets (looks better then it sounds).

By the time we were finished the sun was gleaming through the vents and we decided it was time to leave unnoticed. A top site i just hope that it stays that way. But once an easier access is found. Wannabe explorers, chavs and scum will destroy the rest of it. My advice. Don't leave a site like this for 7 months, see it as soon as you know about it!.