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

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!.

Countdown

Cane hill, easily without question the best asylum that england has to offer. Its characters and status isn't matched by anything else, in fact nothing even comes close. For several years time stood still in Cane Hill. While redevelopment plans were considered and rejected several times due to cost recently they were finally accepted. Whats to be saved?, the admin building, chapel and the water tower.

That in itself is shocking if you think of the size of the site. While other less impressive asylums have more saved and converted, why is it this one only has the bare minimum?, and only because the buildings are listed at that. I'm sure the contractors wouldn't shed a tear at demolishing it all.

Since the clock of Cane Hills life had been wound up again and was now ticking down, several explorers felt it was a good time to pay homage to a place that has greeted 100's of like minded people.

Time Machine

We have been sitting on this one for a while now, but due to a lack of transport we've never been able to get there. Well today was finally the day. Aided by the purple micra beast, myself Dsankt and Loops headed north in search of the Ramsey Culvert. Its most predominant feature, A triple tunneled chamber which also housed the device that once powered the clock sitting on the street above. Sadly due to the continual decrease in water flow the device became useless and places with a electrical power source.

Before the Fens were drained Ramsey was an island, isolated and safe, ideal for the world famous abbey and center for education that was once here. In the 1850s when the London, Kings Cross to Edinburgh railway was built Holme Fen was drained, this resulted in the drop of water in Ramsey and so the 'Arches' were built. The work started in 1852 and was finished in 1854.

During the construction problems were found with water flow during the winter of 1852. From the Clock Tower onwards it was decided to continue with three culverts, the main culvert being assisted with two side culverts. The side culverts also took sewage.

Access was comical, almost crashing a bikers wedding to take a sneak peek at the infall and being invited for a roast dinner afterwards was just a small piece of the pie that was Ramsey. While its not the longest of culverts in the world, Time Machine starts as a fairly large, yellow brick tunnel before entering the main clock chamber and splitting into three pipes, with two minimal flow sewers feeding in from the north.

We decided to venture down to the outfall which exited into a canal to the north of the town. After a bit of talking with the "locals" you seemed very interested in Dsankt's tales of "Huge eels" we headed back up the smaller pipe to see if there were any branches off. Well there wasn't and after a little accident with loops and his phone we were back in the clock chamber. We took a few pictures, using the wonders that is the mini fluro before heading back topside.

A game of cat and mouse....and fox

Being in England, clear night skies are a gift rarely bestowed upon us by the gods. So when one does roll along you'd be a fool not to snap up the chance to do something.

Since we've already visited a large majority of the "good" towers in London, we decided to go back to the Bishopsgate development. Since the last time we visited was over a year ago the building had come along way. Only one final crane remained all the main construction work had been finished and they look almost ready to decorate.

Access hadn't changed a great deal apart from a few new cameras forcing us to make a few "detours". We were thwarted by cars several time before we made our way into the side hiding in the darkness before we began our accent. Well that was the plan , just as we were about to move on we heard some talking followed by a worker/security guard? coming out from a door no more then 4 meters away. We sunk back down praying we weren't seen.

We waited several minutes before we deemed it safe to move off. We headed up around the corner and were just about to enter the stairwell when we came across a baby fox, who upon seeing up disappeared up the stairs.

We finally reached th 36th level and found ourselves on top of the air con fans. The view was amazing as ever, coupled with the perfect weather, it was a sight to be seen. I split off from the other two to photograph the east side of the building, but 5 minutes later i noticed Loops and Random sneaking around, and waving frantically at me.

"We've been seen!!!!!"
"What?, by who"
"A worker or something, there looking for us now!"

Bugger i packed away my stuff an got a further explanation of the events. Workers in the building at 12pm, come on. We headed into the nearby stairwell and suddenly heard a door creek open 2 levels above us. We booted it down several floors looking for a place to hide. It was clear they were onto us. We managed to find cover on one of the floor with a view of the elevators which were descending down each floor with someone walking down the stairs....crap.

PING. The elevator reached our floor and the workers stepped out meeting up with those from the stairs. At this point there were no more the a couple of meters from us and needless to say i was sweating buckets. As we listened in on their conversations of broken English we realized if they looked in the windows they would see our reflections....

"Look over there, they came down here".

I didn't even breath due to fear of revealing myself...

"They've gone" , "No a few more floors"

The lift went down and the remaining workers continued down the stairs...phew. We kept down for another 15 minutes just to be sure and just as we let our guard down and started speaking we heard a mobile phone ring. Sh**, we must be done for now, no way in hell he couldn't have heard us. We prayed as the person spoke on his mobile phone. Time seemed to stand still until we finally heard the clunking of stairs as he continued down.

20 minutes past, the lifts finally stopped there movements, and we presumed it was ok to move. So up we went back to the roof. We split up with loops who decided to climb the crane. We were busy taking pictures for at least an hour and we were in the clear. We headed up to the highest point which involved a bit of a climb and took a few candids of loops.

Well i was cold and wanted some food so we decided to head down. Random was first to jump down and just as it was my turn he looked at me and said.

"A workers coming",he smiled and then said "Im only joking"

Well thats what i thought he said anyway. I looked right to see a worker walk round the corner and into the lift machinery room. Amazingly just nodding at Random, i just down and we made off quickly passing another worker who did the same!. What the hell was going on. Once out of view we charged down the stairs and then though. Fu** loops is still on the damn crane.

We couldn't go back up or wed be seen again, we frantically search the building for any bars of signal. Finally managing a "Get the fu** down now" call. We regrouped and headed straight for the stairwell, coming out at the 27th floor to check the lifts, only to see our dear friend Mr fox walking around before he ran crashing into a toolbox after a failed jump.

We continued progressing down passing several floors with work going on. Before vaulting the perimeter fence and charging off into the night.

All i can say it was an eventful trip, one that i do not wish to experience again!!!!!.

The depths

It never fails to amaze me. The underbelly of London. You think you've seen it all and then something new and even stranger slaps you in the face like a wet fish. So what have we found today, well to be honest... we don't have a clue. It could be something to do with a drain, water main, access tunnel, or just some random bore hole, but with it being in the middle of a random field theres nothing around to give any clues or hints. So, your guess is as good as ours.

Macro, something big

Macro, Bradford. What an impressive mix of old and new, including several truly impressive pieces of British architecture and design. There is only one downside to all this. Being a culvert in the north, the floors once constructed with stone or brick have been ripped up during storms and heavy rainfall and now lay in a mess, an assault course to the unwary traveler. One that proved to much for me the first time around. Earning me the timely badge of "Teh Otter"

This time around we viewed more of the northern parts of macro, including a few sub sections and side branches known as "Academy" and "Pandora's Box".

The first target was to explore a unseen sewer which lay in the depths of Pandora's Box. The only problem was that Pandora is a mean bitch who tests the determination of all who seek to explore her, giving them a challenge in the form of a tiny box.

While the average noob explorer maybe put off. Those that day simply donned their mystic ninja gear and after chanting a protection spell or two, materialized through the portal arriving dry on the other side. Or... something along those lines.

After regrouping we headed towards the main sewer, and after climbing a set of ladders we found ourself staring down a small drop into the channel. Now all we had to do was get down.

The drop was roughly 4-5 meters, a bit to far to jump. Luckily since Mike and DDT had been before we had planned for this and brought a length of rope with us. The sewer itself was fairly uninteresting. A 15ft RCP heading in both directions. To the north the nastiest ladders in the world covered in all kinds of man-mud. At the top a small vortex with the water spiraling around the edge and down.

Whilst walking back to the main chamber we found a little trapped frog trying to escape the sewer flow. Now i knew karma would kung fu kick my ass and make me do the otter dance if i left it there so i stuck it in a box to free later in the day.

Once out we said goodbye to DDT and Pandora the frog and after a brief subway snack we headed back under and on to the next stop, Academy. A newer section in comparison to the rest of macro. Constructed mainly of large concrete sections and bunker style staircases. With a little secret hidden at the top. A huge overflow chamber with 4 "U" bends which would bring flow down from the sewers above in the event of an overflow.

We took a few pictures in Academy and its junction with macro before heading back topside. It had been a long day and food was defiantly next on the agenda so we set off for the maddest curry and planet sized naan bread