Escape from the City
Having pretty much covered all the culverted sections of the River Medlock, (apart from one or two pieces) I decided to revisit the lower stretches once more
It was a warm evening, having spent the day in the beer garden I decided to head into town and meet up with Camera Shy who was up for a wander
The lower section of the watercourse has been heavily modified over the years, dating back to the Roman times when it was originally diverted..
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At Old Chester Road the river meets the Bridgewater Canal head on, where a sluice gate (a listed structure) allowed water to feed the canal, until the water quality of the Medlock became too polluted for canal use
Normally the level of the river is several feet below the level of the canal, and the river is carried in a tunnel under the Castlefield canal basin
Reappearing at Potato Wharf, where it is supplemented by excess canal water draining into a circular weir
When the river is in spate the tunnel cannot cope and river water enters the canal, flows across the basin, and exits via the weir and manually operated gates
A quarter of a mile further on the Medlock enters the Irwell adjacent to the bottom gate of the disused Hulme Lock
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Spartacus Culvert
Starting at the old sluice gate/plughole near to Castlefield basin is where we first dropped in
Originally named by Yaz who ventured down here a number of years back we headed upstream
Myself and Stepping Lightly covered this whole stretch into town a couple of years back, the levels were high then, and in the end we didn't bother with pics as we were busy looking for other stuff at the time
Despite the lack of rain, the river is still chest deep in areas as I soon found out whilst the not so Lidl chest waders failed me early on, soon after my P7 plopped into the murky depths
The main stretch here is culverted under the former gasworks at Gaythorn, reappearing briefly at Gloucester Street
Wadering through was tricky due to unknown depths with the occasional silted bits allowing some respite
Sluice Gates/Plughole
In we go
It gets real deep under the low bridge - R.I.P Lens0r
Main Stretch, under the old gasworks
(SL ventured up the pipe on the left last time and was covered in leeches by the time he retreated)
Up another Egg shaped sewer overflow
Old to the New
End of this stretch, Gloucester St overhead
Budge Culvert
Continuing upstream and back into town, another infamous stretch of the Medlock is culverted from Hulme St back up towards Oxford Rd where it eventually exits by the side of the Palace
Again it's quite deep in parts, and the opportunity to grab any pics along the way are few and far between
Also the waterline can be seen at over 8ft, wouldn't want to be caught in here when it floods, still would explain some of the junk that has been washed up down here...
Shoes, Trolleys, Wallets, Phones just some of the random crap that's found it's way down here over the years
Despite being soaked it was still quite humid outside, and we got some odd looks from people out on their balconies as we headed under the streets once again with the traffic and the trams thundering overhead
Again a relatively short stretch, and nothing too fantastic, but there are some interesting features amongst the age old stone/brick & ironwork
Also it's good to look up at the City and see it from a different viewpoint
Stepping Stones
Old vs New tings, as it passes underneath Gloucester St and around before disappearing back under Hulme St
'Budge'
Disused sewerfresh
Below Oxford Rd
Viaduct, looking back towards Oxford Rd
the End
