Sniff, Sniff

Whats thats smell?, can it be?, London Baby!

The Finale

The final stage on our 'Epic' 08 road trip. After climbing the Newport Lift Bridge our adrenaline was through the roof. We certainly were not going to be getting any sleep any time soon so we headed towards the Transporter Bridge.

Built in 1911 by Sir William Arrol & Co it was designed to carry passengers and cars from the south bank in Middlesbrough to Port Clarence on the north bank. While its not the highest structure we've climbed it still boasts 850 feet (260 metres) long and 225 feet (69 metres) high and during its working lifetime it was the tallest structure of its kind in the world.

Access to the bridge can be a little tricky and can result in a very watery ending if you make any mistakes. But we soon found our way heading up onto the maintenance walkway which spans the bridge. I think we did the bridges in the wrong order at the end of the day. Although i was impressed with the Transporter bridge, after climbing the Newport lift bridge it left a lot to be desired not nearly as impressive in my mind.

Nevertheless we took some photos for good merit and after seeing the sun about the break decided it was time to end our adventure.

A trip finally worthy of the brand 'Epic'.

Lift This

I've always wanted to climb a bridge. Mainly for the views but also to take in the sheer construction wow factor that comes with it. This trip therefore started with the aim to climb bridges. Two in fact. The Newport Lifting Bridge and the Transporter Bridge located in Middlesbrough.

"Opened on the 28 February 1934 by the Duke of York , the Tees Newport Bridge spans the River Tees a short distance upriver from Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge , linking Middlesbrough with the borough of Stockton-on-Tees , England . Designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson and built by local company Dorman Long , who have also been responsible for such structures as the Tyne Bridge and Sydney Harbour Bridge , it was the first large vertical lift bridge in Britain

Constructed around twin 182ft (55m) lifting towers, the 270ft (82m) bridge span, weighing 2,700 tonnes, could be lifted by the use of two 325 H.P. electric motors at 52ft per minute to a maximum height of 120ft (37m).

In the event of motor failure a standby 450 H.P. petrol engine could be employed to move the bridge, but should both systems fail it was possible to raise or lower the span manually using a winch mechanism. It was estimated in 1963 by Mr R. Batty, long time Bridge Master at Newport Bridge, that "it would take 12 men eight hours" to complete the movement by hand"

As we drive into Middlebrough we looked at the map as the bridge should be around here somewhere we turned a corner and bang. There is was lit up in all its glory. We decided to have a quick "drive by recce" to see what access would be like. To be honest a little bit to easy. You had two options. Brave the savage external single ladder which ran along the side or climb the interior caged ladders with platforms ever two meters. It was a clear cut choice.

We parked up and within half an hour found ourselves surveying the bridge from the top!. Finally i had conquered a bridge and i have to say it was well worth it. Photography proved to be a little problematic from the top as on the ground were huge halogen blasters illuminating the bridge which caused horrible amounts of flare in the photos. Either way we spent a good hour and a half walking around the top and along the middle lift sections.

From the top we spotted our next target the Tee's Transporter Bridge. So after we had shot all we needed to we headed down and on to our second objective.

Draycott

After saying farewell to the brummies we headed to derbyshire to take a look at one of Dweebs recommendations. Draycott mine. As far as i am aware this was originally a train tunnel which had to be closed due to a cave in near the north entrance. A mining firm saw this as an opportunity and purchased the tunnel from the rail network. They then proceeded to sink audits and new faces off the side of the train tunnel and thus a new mine was formed.

Entry is totally comical and sketchy as hell but we soon found ourselves at the first audit. Down we went. Flooded, to the roof. Err. Since none of us had seen or heard of this place we wasn't too sure if this was the norm or we had made a mistake or.....A long list of questions arose.

We headed back up and further into the train tunnel. Another audit came into view, so in we went. This one was a bit better it still contained tracks, intact walls as well as a fully loaded coal truck perched perilously on a steep hill, ready to fall into the waters below at any moment.

We took a surprising amount of time photographing this junction alone and after a quick look at a watch realized almost 2 hours had gone past. Since we had to be in Middlesbrough in a few hours we high tailed it back to the car.

A further exploration has been set for a later date

Take A Chance

The first site on the Birmingham leg of our journey. While it wasn't the biggest of sizes it made up for that with detail and construction. We were looking at the old Chance Glassworks, but more importantly a smaller section many would pass up and ignore. Housed under a burnt out shell of a building is a series of passage ways and arched tunnels which used to contain some of the old kilns

The arches were extremely impressive and if this was a drain much wet pants moments would be had. We spent a while photographing the different tunnels and the old sections where melted glass had stuck to the walls before meeting up with Dweeb and Raddog in the main building for a further look.

We wanted to look at the old bunker which was under the building but the pikies had stashed a pallet of bricks over the entrance. We tried to remove them but the noise disturbed the beast and we were forced to flee post haste.

End of London

Finally some big industry again! "Stewartby London Brickworks". It feels like an eternity since i last explored anything truly expansive that wasn't an empty asylum. I saw a photographs of Stewartby a few months ago but as we all know that girls loves her photoshop so it was a tad difficult to decide whether it was worth the trip or not.

Fast forward 2 months, the trip to the north had been set and we had a day free to make plans. Stewartby?. Why not. After a quick visit to show Dsankt and Hount the wonders that is west park we exited off the M1 and down towards the village of Stewartby. What an two sided coin of a place to live. Overlooking the 4 massive chimneys and large brickwork buildings must have been a site to be seen, or on the other hand a smoky nightmare of pollution. The brickworks itself only closed down earlier this year (2008) so many of the buildings and equipment still stood as it was last left.

Access couldn't be easier its a simple case of walk in. But to be fair after walking around a thief would have trouble finding anything of value anyway. We aimed to make our way from the back of the complex by the brick stores over towards the main chimneys and soon to be found the railway goods depot.

Stewartby was a treasure chest of industry and construction from the stone catacomb style arched passages under the machines to the large belt rooms, the brickworks had something for everyone including a few trinkets for the eagle eyes adventurer.

We must have spent 4 hours of so just wandering along the raised walkways in many of the kiln and processing buildings before heading over to the railway. Now used to store cargo trains it was previously used for the export of finished brick with one of the conveyor trains rusted into place on one of the tracks.

We eventually called it a day, we still had many miles to travel to our main objective. The trip was on.

Something Fishy?

Just testing out a lens im borrow from a friend. !80 view fish. Its quite nice don't think id buy one myself though. Needs to be used with ptgui or a program like that to sought out the distortion. Anyways a picture i took with it.

Train Sleeping Hobo

Would it be fun?, hmm. I heard the idea floating around recently of "riding the iron rail". Ie jump on a goods train and see where you go. Just like in the movies.... right?

Wrecking Ball

Well well well then. When people heard demolition crews were on site at Cane Hill everyone said "it'll take years". Unfortunately for us, in the 2 weeks the firm have been on site the mortuary was demolished, the laundry as well as several other buildings and corridor's. Not only that but many of the other parts are already ready to go.

Time is really up for Cane Hill, if you want to see it id go within a month max!.

Autobots

Prime was first discovered by Userscott and Stepping lightly whilst on there quest for Manchester's underground crypts and chamber, but surprisingly enough they never really thought twice about the monster tunnel we stood in. It was always just a means to an end.

Running for roughly 1km underneath Manchester and passing straight under Victoria station prime boasts several features from days of old such as old cattle bridges and more importantly a morgue shaft. Ie where the dead cattle were loaded onto the barges after having the meat sold.

The infall is a large weir bringing the water flow down two meters before sending it along the tunnel. The only problem here is there is a large quantity of water and even the slightest bit of rain sends it into overdrive meaning crossing the flow is nigh on impossible.

We had two trips down here but sadly due to severe negligence on my part all pictures from the first trip were lost!, although i have a feeling they might surface in later years when a wayward traveler stumbles across the memory card.

But the question is now, which one is the winner?. Megatron?, or Optimus Prime?.

If the milk turns out to be sour

Manchester never ceases to amaze me. Just when you think youve seen something incredible, something new pops up out of the blue and smacks you in the face like a wet fish. So what do we have for your culinary delights today then?.

Lock Stock, and apparently two smoking barrels. Named due to its presumed double pipe outfall. The currently explored section of Lock Stock include one huge overflow chamber for a trunk sewer and a smaller relief tunnel which runs about 200 meters before hitting another sewer running across and sumps underneath it.

The arches and supports in the main chamber are a smooth curved red brick supported by large iron poles. There are also several penstocks to control the flow of the sewer and release water from the relief tunnel but they are all pretty rusted. We had a little wander around, taking pictures here and there before heading back topside.

Plans are in action to find a way into the southern reaches but for now, this is where the journey ends