Report - Bradford 3 . May . 2023

[jezzyboo]

Teaming up with nuboid again for another Bradford explore we continued further on upstream gaining access at the exact point where we exited last time ( just below Westholme street ) 7.30 start meant gaining entry was unhindered which was the plan as there was a fair walk upstream past flats before we started the culverts proper. First pic start of culvert under Arkwright house

only a short section this 95 metres long . old stone ach then another open air section before we got to the main event going back underground at the side of Longside lane

tried to get in at this point but it was to much of a drop down ,

concrete roof and brick pipe coming in on the left , not to deep but rocky as hell underfoot

quite a lot of sand mixed stone and junk was deposited on the right hand bank , concrete roof gave way to stone arch construction

underground old bridge then brick arch complete with stallagtites ,Then looking back downstream

change in construction to metal girder roof

last pic view downstream

Back to brick arched roof this went on a fair distance as the culvert bent round to the left it changed again to an older all stone construction

Another underground bridge ? bit of spraycrete first before finally going to concrete construction

last pic view upstream then looking back downstream complete with obligatory shopping trolley pic ( would be rude not to include one lol )

return back to stone arches next pic looking back downstream

on the last pic there was a short channel open to the sky looked like an old sluice control with a step down and metal channels on the sides , moving on upstream the culvert was nice and smooth underfoot and had a modern feel to it

RCP coming in on the left had a nosy up but was a dead end

around the corner and we were greeted with daylight

hoping over the mini waterfall we climbed down in to the daylight on the left , this brought us in to the open air section ( between Preston street and Thornton road ) which we had previously gone through when doing Bypass

coming back on ourselves slightly we went through the twin box section then took a turn of to the left

we had seen this before when doing Bypass but as the system is so huge you cant do it all in one go , returning now we began to walk up it

semi dry concrete box section then a change to RCP

after a walk we arrived in a big chamber looking back the way we walked up then looking up WOW

view straight ahead we first went down the righthand smallest pipe

we then arrived in a concrete chamber with a low ceiling

never seen anything like this before ! There were ladders going up in some of the bays

 

[jezzyboo]

misty in here took a few pictures but they diddnt all turn out ! the ladders took us up to this there was a foul sewer below us ( thats were the mist was coming from ) the stoopy ceiling at the bottom was below the fowl sewer they have spent a fortune on the drainage at Bradford and i mean a fortune !

looking in to fowl sewer then heading back out

back now to the twin pipes going up the larger one for a fair distance we came to another chamber

we turned right here and went in to a really old section of drain but before that i had a nosy up the ladder

This should have been a T junction but they have blocked it of with concrete sluice blocks as you can see to the right of the picture , there was an opening in the bottom block not big enough to crawl through but in a fairly short distance you could see daylight this would have brought you back out near our start point ! on tumbling street there was also bigger blocks stored above that could be used to block of the RCP pipe you can see the groove in the concrete to house them

lovely old section in complete contrast to where we had just been next pic shows it slimming down

moving on upstream yet another change in styles to concrete box with a groove channel in the floor

around the corner and in to the daylight ( but not freedom )

like being trapped in a bird cage ! we fought past the greenery and another culvert appeared hopefully this would lead us out as we had been underground a fair time now ( had already seen of one set of head torch batteries ) and we were both getting tired

quick smoke break then back underground , out of the bird cage and heading upstream looking for a way out

keeping right in the bigger pipe this was still a stoop mind

slippery as hell passing this first manhole we carried on very old section of drain this

went past 2 of these modern bolt together pre cast manholes the drain became more misshapen and very stoopy with no end in sight we both decided there was no other option but to take the long walk back the way we came in the only downside on a brilliant explore Bradford is a wonderful system really enjoyed it cheers for viewing

 

[NuBoid]

Pics came out nice jezzyboo
Thanks for fetching me out of 'drain retirement' for a few new episodes
All that ancient stonework and surface water is nice but.........can't beat a shitstream, a bit of fresh and a concrete box !!!!!!
Long live Pandora !!!
And her box !!!

 

[NuBoid]

you forgot this

 

[Calamity Jane]

Cracking report. What a change in styles, don't think I've seen so many in a culvert before. Don't much fancy the sewage smell though lol. I am always amazed by how many single tyres find their way that far in, and in one photo they seem to of multiplied!

 

[jezzyboo]

you forgot this

short bit of culvert before it opened back up again this eventually leads up to where we could see daylight under the concrete sluice blocks pity you cant get access now

 

[Parky]

great photos of this place, need to get in here soon

 

[Parky]

was also great to see more of that tributary