Archerman is the culverted section of the graves park beck that flows in to the river Sheaf in what is now designated as the archer road nature reserve ( delusions of grandeur here ) bang opposite home bargins just of archer road the culvert entrance is easy to spot , A bit of digging on maps alerted me to the possibility that there might be something worth checking out here so getting geared up for the first time this year i set of early doors before the shops opened to have a nosy .
climbing over the fence i was seen by a walker but as its a busy site thats to be expected , climbing down the bank as its that steep i arrived at the outflow
was only a slight stoop but a fairly fast flow of water coming through like all drains it would have been easier in drier weather brought the trolley cart again but really wasnt needed to be honest i diddnt think it would be much of an explore as its not hidden or been documented before ( to my knowledge )
well at least it was not a no show ! There was a long brick built pipe
looking back to the start it was quite a length but im not going to put all the pics of brick pipe on as its featureless plus i haddnt remembered to bring my tripod so the pics are substandard
went past 3 manholes with arched brick roofs lovely workmanship
like bad cholesterol in an artery ! lol
after a good walk a change in styles occurred a lovely bit of dry stone wall with a slab concrete roof bad news the height reduced to about 1500mm from here on it was concrete walls and roof ,
ladder going up to a manhole chamber
reminiscent of stoopatron the culvert at meersbrook may have been constructed around a similar time ?
this next section was a challenge ridiculously steep and slippery turned the drains cart upside down and crawled up using it for extra grip
getting up the last bit and bending around to the right i now caught a glimps of daylight ahead
coming to the end was tough i did consider calling it a day and turning back ! The floor stepped up and the ceiling got even lower kneepad time on all fours i proceeded past the small branches and mud silt that was choking the culvert dragging the drains cart behind me i ploughed on
once past all the crap it opened up in size and back to an older construction of brick over stone walls
last feature there was 2 of these together one either side just like a cross roads the other one was blocked
and out ! thought at first i arrived in the back gardens of peoples houses as the banks either side had been beautifully landscaped then as i could see a large building i thought it must be a care home ! wrong again i was in the grounds of laycocks sports club this proved quite difficult to escape from as the site is enclosed by 6 foot high spiked railings but theres always a way out was spotted climbing out as well but not challenged thankfully would have gone back the way i came in but that last cramped section was a pain all in all a great little wander cheers for viewing
climbing over the fence i was seen by a walker but as its a busy site thats to be expected , climbing down the bank as its that steep i arrived at the outflow
well at least it was not a no show ! There was a long brick built pipe
looking back to the start it was quite a length but im not going to put all the pics of brick pipe on as its featureless plus i haddnt remembered to bring my tripod so the pics are substandard
went past 3 manholes with arched brick roofs lovely workmanship
like bad cholesterol in an artery ! lol
after a good walk a change in styles occurred a lovely bit of dry stone wall with a slab concrete roof bad news the height reduced to about 1500mm from here on it was concrete walls and roof ,
reminiscent of stoopatron the culvert at meersbrook may have been constructed around a similar time ?
this next section was a challenge ridiculously steep and slippery turned the drains cart upside down and crawled up using it for extra grip
getting up the last bit and bending around to the right i now caught a glimps of daylight ahead
coming to the end was tough i did consider calling it a day and turning back ! The floor stepped up and the ceiling got even lower kneepad time on all fours i proceeded past the small branches and mud silt that was choking the culvert dragging the drains cart behind me i ploughed on
once past all the crap it opened up in size and back to an older construction of brick over stone walls
last feature there was 2 of these together one either side just like a cross roads the other one was blocked
and out ! thought at first i arrived in the back gardens of peoples houses as the banks either side had been beautifully landscaped then as i could see a large building i thought it must be a care home ! wrong again i was in the grounds of laycocks sports club this proved quite difficult to escape from as the site is enclosed by 6 foot high spiked railings but theres always a way out was spotted climbing out as well but not challenged thankfully would have gone back the way i came in but that last cramped section was a pain all in all a great little wander cheers for viewing
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