London Bridge Sewer
It was the back end of summer and we decided to take a look in London Bridge Sewer
Siologen had always recommended this place, so one evening with adders I did just that
The two significant explored bits of this system are known as st00ps limit, and Last Bastion
It was a steamy, turdy affair and difficult to traverse at times, however it didn't disappoint
Having looked at the main drainage map I managed to locate a lid upstream in the Moorgate area
It was far from discreet night or day, but the best of a bad bunch
So, without hesitation we descended into the bowels of London once again
We dropped into barely a 5ft egg
I decided it was a good idea to head upstream where it shrinks to 4ft;
Here a junction where 3 local sewers converge
Siologen did once warn me that anything beyond London Wall was stoopy
LBS has many connections and this just being one of them on the Western branch
We decided to head downstream in search of the LBS main line, via this slippery 5ft egg
Eventually we plopped out of the side pipe (below left) and into the LBS mainline at this junction
Not the best of pics, but look up and this chamber incorporates a huge domed ceiling
As for it's purpose I'm not sure, however it's pretty impressive all the same
Plan A, was to head upstream
We followed the fresh towards Finsbury Circus through a sizeable 10ft egg
There is some major cross rail works going on here at the minute
The upstream line (right) is filled with all sorts of monitoring gubbins
The incoming sewer on the left, is the Goswell Street Sewer, it heads through Barbican and up towards Pentonville
Back in the mainline heading upstream of cross rail towards Shoreditch it eventually shrinks to below 5ft
It was at this point "anything beyond London Wall is a stoop" reminded me we needed to point ourselves South
At a later date I shot up a crane in the area to see what was going on above ground
Back to where we emerged below Moorgate, we headed downstream
Luxury as it's back to a 10ft egg
It proved difficult grabbing pics as the lens kept misting up worse than any other system I'd been in
I wouldn't advise going in here when it rains
There is little in the way of escape, the few lids that exist are all in the middle of busy roads
Continuing downstream towards the Bank of England a number of side pipes join and the sewer is lined with fibre
London Bridge Sewer is quite unique as it's been vastly altered over the years;
With other sewers having been diverted and newer additions along the route added
The construction methods and choice of masonry constantly changing throughout
^ In the above example the larger egg comes to an end
Here a large domed shaft to a breather amongst the hustle & bustle of King William Street above
Ahead, the sewer continues via a 6ft brick arch
You can see the multicoloured brickwork as it's been bodged together over the centuries
It started to get deeper just beyond the 2 local sewers that have also been added
These drop in from a higher level around 8ft either side of the shaft
I climbed up to see what all the fuss was about
Sorry the pics are a bit rubbish,
my lens was steamed up and the focus mechanism was failing as well as being sprayed with a fine mist of p00p
As you can see, the 6ft brick arch snakes around Bank tube station
Turning around, and heading downstream construction changes to a 5ft RCP
it's here, the sewer runs underneath the vaults of the Bank of England
A short distance down, the flow disappears down into the Low Level No.2 Interceptor, in the only crap pic I have
Beyond the oak chase boards, from the interceptor weir, the RCP continues
In order to traverse downstream, one has to pass through this fetid pit of arse porridge & H2s
Once past the porridge and the Bank of England, it's a dry stoopy RCP as it heads towards Monument
The RCP was no doubt there to replace the crumbling brick work below the vaults
It's business as usual with the return of a a 12ft brick barrel as local sewers begin to dump their loads thereafter
Within 10m it's another shape change, this time an 8ft RBP
It was the back end of summer and we decided to take a look in London Bridge Sewer
Siologen had always recommended this place, so one evening with adders I did just that
The two significant explored bits of this system are known as st00ps limit, and Last Bastion
It was a steamy, turdy affair and difficult to traverse at times, however it didn't disappoint
Having looked at the main drainage map I managed to locate a lid upstream in the Moorgate area
It was far from discreet night or day, but the best of a bad bunch
So, without hesitation we descended into the bowels of London once again
We dropped into barely a 5ft egg
I decided it was a good idea to head upstream where it shrinks to 4ft;
Here a junction where 3 local sewers converge
Siologen did once warn me that anything beyond London Wall was stoopy
LBS has many connections and this just being one of them on the Western branch
We decided to head downstream in search of the LBS main line, via this slippery 5ft egg
Eventually we plopped out of the side pipe (below left) and into the LBS mainline at this junction
Not the best of pics, but look up and this chamber incorporates a huge domed ceiling
As for it's purpose I'm not sure, however it's pretty impressive all the same
Plan A, was to head upstream
We followed the fresh towards Finsbury Circus through a sizeable 10ft egg
There is some major cross rail works going on here at the minute
The upstream line (right) is filled with all sorts of monitoring gubbins
The incoming sewer on the left, is the Goswell Street Sewer, it heads through Barbican and up towards Pentonville
Back in the mainline heading upstream of cross rail towards Shoreditch it eventually shrinks to below 5ft
It was at this point "anything beyond London Wall is a stoop" reminded me we needed to point ourselves South
At a later date I shot up a crane in the area to see what was going on above ground
Back to where we emerged below Moorgate, we headed downstream
Luxury as it's back to a 10ft egg
It proved difficult grabbing pics as the lens kept misting up worse than any other system I'd been in
I wouldn't advise going in here when it rains
There is little in the way of escape, the few lids that exist are all in the middle of busy roads
Continuing downstream towards the Bank of England a number of side pipes join and the sewer is lined with fibre
London Bridge Sewer is quite unique as it's been vastly altered over the years;
With other sewers having been diverted and newer additions along the route added
The construction methods and choice of masonry constantly changing throughout
^ In the above example the larger egg comes to an end
Here a large domed shaft to a breather amongst the hustle & bustle of King William Street above
Ahead, the sewer continues via a 6ft brick arch
You can see the multicoloured brickwork as it's been bodged together over the centuries
It started to get deeper just beyond the 2 local sewers that have also been added
These drop in from a higher level around 8ft either side of the shaft
I climbed up to see what all the fuss was about
Sorry the pics are a bit rubbish,
my lens was steamed up and the focus mechanism was failing as well as being sprayed with a fine mist of p00p
As you can see, the 6ft brick arch snakes around Bank tube station
Turning around, and heading downstream construction changes to a 5ft RCP
it's here, the sewer runs underneath the vaults of the Bank of England
A short distance down, the flow disappears down into the Low Level No.2 Interceptor, in the only crap pic I have
Beyond the oak chase boards, from the interceptor weir, the RCP continues
In order to traverse downstream, one has to pass through this fetid pit of arse porridge & H2s
Once past the porridge and the Bank of England, it's a dry stoopy RCP as it heads towards Monument
The RCP was no doubt there to replace the crumbling brick work below the vaults
It's business as usual with the return of a a 12ft brick barrel as local sewers begin to dump their loads thereafter
Within 10m it's another shape change, this time an 8ft RBP
