History
Just a brief history as written so many times before, as we know the Megatron is a large culvert built in the 1860's that allows the River Sheaf to flow under the railway station and streets of Sheffield for over half a mile until it flows out into the River Don. It is a wonder of Victorian engineering, made up of several types of construction from brick, stone and concrete and provides many photo opportunities for those who venture in
The Explore
Having walked the Megatron from the railway station a few times I was always curious what was beyond the Cathedral roof section. I had waded as far as the parabola roof but the water got deeper than my waders and increasing silty so I decided the only other way was to access Megatron from the river Don by boat.
Now I say boat but what I mean is a 2004 hoiday dinghy last used in the mediterainian
I had read previous reports speculating on the fact that there might be a small weir so I thought I would be able to lift the dinghy over and paddle up through the Megatron, so I thought.
I knew this could all end in disaster with me swimming back the way I had come so had my wet suit on, buoyancy aid and all my photographic gear sealed in bags.
I managed to launch my dinghy lower down the river Don near the Wicker Arches, progress up the Don was rapid as I had to carry the dinghy most of the way due to shallow water. Under Blonk Street bridge I managed to find some deeper water and this voyage of discovery was on its way
I set out across the main flow of the Don probing the depth as I went and it rapidly got deeper the main flow being around 7 foot deep, I was glad I had brought the pump with me as I had to come back this way
Eventually after a short voyage I entered the Sheaf outlet feeling quite small and insecure in my small dinghy, I could hear the noise of flowing water and shone my torch ahead into the dark. In the distance about 20 meters ahead I could see a weir but it was not 2 foot high but about 6 foot high, I had not expected this, but I was committed now.
Just as I entered the outlet I saw with some relief a small island of dry ground on the right so I could beach the dinghy and get out, knowing all the time that a puncture here was not good news as I did not really like swimming.
I set my camera up tried a bit of light painting on the weir ahead, with light streaming in from the outlet it made it awkward to photograph, I tried a few flash pictures but had to raise the ISO up to 800 to get enough light on the weir, so photos a bit grainy
From the secure island I paddled towards the weir I needed a closer look maybe I could climb the weir and paddle up Megatron. As I approached the weir I realized how high it was and how steep about 45 degrees and how smooth and slippy it was I was not going to be climbing this today. I probed the depth of the water as I paddled round the area below the weir the majority was about 5-6 feet deep so definitely swimming, one interesting bit was that just at the base of the weir there was a concrete pad protruding out about 4 foot and at a depth of about 2-3 foot so you could stand here if I dared getting out the dinghy, but not for me today as one slip and you were in 6 foot of water.
Having took a few photos, light painting no good when bobbing about in a boat so had to use flash. I looked back to the outlet and immediately noticed a large concrete patch in the roof of the brick arch with a lot of chunks of brick missing in the surrounding area, just like shrapnel marks I had seen in other areas of the city, could it be a hole made by a WW2 bomb.
Further investigation at home showed a WW2 bomb had fallen on the outlet to the Don, I found this on a map showing where all the bombs that fell on Sheffield in the blitz in 1940 on December 12 and 15. On the other side of the outlet near the entrance there were more pock marks probably from shrapnel
This is the map showing were the bombs fell Dec 12 & 15 1940
This is a sketch of the water depth at the outlet to the Don
Well I ,am a bit nearer in finding out what lies at the deep end of Megatron, it looks like another dinghy trip will be required from inside Megatron itself in the near future, as long as I don,t bottle out
Just a brief history as written so many times before, as we know the Megatron is a large culvert built in the 1860's that allows the River Sheaf to flow under the railway station and streets of Sheffield for over half a mile until it flows out into the River Don. It is a wonder of Victorian engineering, made up of several types of construction from brick, stone and concrete and provides many photo opportunities for those who venture in
The Explore
Having walked the Megatron from the railway station a few times I was always curious what was beyond the Cathedral roof section. I had waded as far as the parabola roof but the water got deeper than my waders and increasing silty so I decided the only other way was to access Megatron from the river Don by boat.
Now I say boat but what I mean is a 2004 hoiday dinghy last used in the mediterainian
I had read previous reports speculating on the fact that there might be a small weir so I thought I would be able to lift the dinghy over and paddle up through the Megatron, so I thought.
I knew this could all end in disaster with me swimming back the way I had come so had my wet suit on, buoyancy aid and all my photographic gear sealed in bags.
I managed to launch my dinghy lower down the river Don near the Wicker Arches, progress up the Don was rapid as I had to carry the dinghy most of the way due to shallow water. Under Blonk Street bridge I managed to find some deeper water and this voyage of discovery was on its way
I set out across the main flow of the Don probing the depth as I went and it rapidly got deeper the main flow being around 7 foot deep, I was glad I had brought the pump with me as I had to come back this way
Eventually after a short voyage I entered the Sheaf outlet feeling quite small and insecure in my small dinghy, I could hear the noise of flowing water and shone my torch ahead into the dark. In the distance about 20 meters ahead I could see a weir but it was not 2 foot high but about 6 foot high, I had not expected this, but I was committed now.
Just as I entered the outlet I saw with some relief a small island of dry ground on the right so I could beach the dinghy and get out, knowing all the time that a puncture here was not good news as I did not really like swimming.
I set my camera up tried a bit of light painting on the weir ahead, with light streaming in from the outlet it made it awkward to photograph, I tried a few flash pictures but had to raise the ISO up to 800 to get enough light on the weir, so photos a bit grainy
From the secure island I paddled towards the weir I needed a closer look maybe I could climb the weir and paddle up Megatron. As I approached the weir I realized how high it was and how steep about 45 degrees and how smooth and slippy it was I was not going to be climbing this today. I probed the depth of the water as I paddled round the area below the weir the majority was about 5-6 feet deep so definitely swimming, one interesting bit was that just at the base of the weir there was a concrete pad protruding out about 4 foot and at a depth of about 2-3 foot so you could stand here if I dared getting out the dinghy, but not for me today as one slip and you were in 6 foot of water.
Having took a few photos, light painting no good when bobbing about in a boat so had to use flash. I looked back to the outlet and immediately noticed a large concrete patch in the roof of the brick arch with a lot of chunks of brick missing in the surrounding area, just like shrapnel marks I had seen in other areas of the city, could it be a hole made by a WW2 bomb.
Further investigation at home showed a WW2 bomb had fallen on the outlet to the Don, I found this on a map showing where all the bombs that fell on Sheffield in the blitz in 1940 on December 12 and 15. On the other side of the outlet near the entrance there were more pock marks probably from shrapnel
This is the map showing were the bombs fell Dec 12 & 15 1940
This is a sketch of the water depth at the outlet to the Don
Well I ,am a bit nearer in finding out what lies at the deep end of Megatron, it looks like another dinghy trip will be required from inside Megatron itself in the near future, as long as I don,t bottle out
