1. The History
Megatron is the name given to the culverted section of the River Sheaf that runs from Granville Square to the River Don. The river was culverted in the 1860s by the Midland Railway Company who gained Parliamentary consent to build their new station over the river. After months of construction work, the new station finally in 1870.
At the station end, the Porter Brook emerges from its own culvert before joining the Sheaf culvert at a right-angle to then take the river under the station in three separate tunnels. The river briefly emerges into daylight just south of Pond Hill before disappearing again into its three separate tunnels, passing under the Ponds Forge district. The culvert then reaches its most impressive section as it opens up into the vast brick-vaulted "cathedral", which is where the culvert’s Megatron nickname is derived from. It then disappears into a more low-slung concrete section before once more emerging into daylight besides Blonk Street bridge and flowing into the River Don.
In 1990 serious flooding led to the construction of a screen at Granville Square to prevent debris from entering the culverts and subsequent flooding. It was refurbished in 2010 to allow it to be continuous monitored by the Environment Agency. However, in 2017, a project was proposed to de-culvert the Sheaf as a practical and cost-effective alternative to maintaining the Victorian-era culverts. The resulting Heritage Lottery Fund bid failed and the river remains underground in the darkness.
2. The Explore
So I’m aware we’ve seen quite a bit of Da Tron recently, what with the recent visit here over the 28DL meet-up in the Steel City. Sadly, I had a prior engagement so I couldn’t join in on that occasion. I’ve been down Megatron three times previously. The first time was back in May 2013 and was my first ever attempt at light painting. Needless to say the pictures weren’t very good! It took me five years to get round to a revisit in May 2018. Now more experienced at no-light photography, the results were better, but still not as good as I wanted. It wasn’t third time lucky either. The visit in July 2021 started off well enough. However after passing in to the three-passage section under the station, I stepped off one of the steps and into water that was up to my neck. With camera and phone water-logged and waders full of water too, it was time for, quite literally, an early bath. This time though I managed to get the shots I wanted. Big up to @Bikin Glynn and his mega head torch. I ditched my SLR and tripod and relied on my phone camera and the ensuing results were pretty good. The moral of the story? You really can’t underestimate the importance of having a good torch.
3. The Pictures
Apologies in advance for this being a bit picture-heavy. Explored with @Bikin Glynn and my non-forum member mate J.
We went in via the Porterbrook near Matilda Street:
Cute little millstone:
It gets a bit stoopy here:
And we’re out:
And back under again to where the Porterbrook joins the River Sheaf:
Left turn and down the flag-stoned ramp:
And on to the arched three passages under the station:
Where last time I got my soaking!
Light at the end of the tunnel:
Only the left-hand-side channel has water in it, given the low water level:
The brickwork here is particularly impressive:
Out into the beautiful sunlight for a moment:
Where this lovely arch-work is:
And three entirely separate brick-strewn tunnels:
The mixture of brick-work and stone is particularly photogenic here:
And on and out were the three channels open up and on to the main attraction:
And the full might of the Tron:
It really is mega:
Beyond the Tron, the height drops down for the ribbed modern concrete section. Here the Sheaf emerges from the culvert and joins the Don at Ladybridge.
It gets above wader height here, so it was time to turn around and make our way back out.
Bikin’ capturing the awesomeness:
Megatron is the name given to the culverted section of the River Sheaf that runs from Granville Square to the River Don. The river was culverted in the 1860s by the Midland Railway Company who gained Parliamentary consent to build their new station over the river. After months of construction work, the new station finally in 1870.
At the station end, the Porter Brook emerges from its own culvert before joining the Sheaf culvert at a right-angle to then take the river under the station in three separate tunnels. The river briefly emerges into daylight just south of Pond Hill before disappearing again into its three separate tunnels, passing under the Ponds Forge district. The culvert then reaches its most impressive section as it opens up into the vast brick-vaulted "cathedral", which is where the culvert’s Megatron nickname is derived from. It then disappears into a more low-slung concrete section before once more emerging into daylight besides Blonk Street bridge and flowing into the River Don.
In 1990 serious flooding led to the construction of a screen at Granville Square to prevent debris from entering the culverts and subsequent flooding. It was refurbished in 2010 to allow it to be continuous monitored by the Environment Agency. However, in 2017, a project was proposed to de-culvert the Sheaf as a practical and cost-effective alternative to maintaining the Victorian-era culverts. The resulting Heritage Lottery Fund bid failed and the river remains underground in the darkness.
2. The Explore
So I’m aware we’ve seen quite a bit of Da Tron recently, what with the recent visit here over the 28DL meet-up in the Steel City. Sadly, I had a prior engagement so I couldn’t join in on that occasion. I’ve been down Megatron three times previously. The first time was back in May 2013 and was my first ever attempt at light painting. Needless to say the pictures weren’t very good! It took me five years to get round to a revisit in May 2018. Now more experienced at no-light photography, the results were better, but still not as good as I wanted. It wasn’t third time lucky either. The visit in July 2021 started off well enough. However after passing in to the three-passage section under the station, I stepped off one of the steps and into water that was up to my neck. With camera and phone water-logged and waders full of water too, it was time for, quite literally, an early bath. This time though I managed to get the shots I wanted. Big up to @Bikin Glynn and his mega head torch. I ditched my SLR and tripod and relied on my phone camera and the ensuing results were pretty good. The moral of the story? You really can’t underestimate the importance of having a good torch.
3. The Pictures
Apologies in advance for this being a bit picture-heavy. Explored with @Bikin Glynn and my non-forum member mate J.
We went in via the Porterbrook near Matilda Street:
Cute little millstone:
It gets a bit stoopy here:
And we’re out:
And back under again to where the Porterbrook joins the River Sheaf:
Left turn and down the flag-stoned ramp:
And on to the arched three passages under the station:
Where last time I got my soaking!
Light at the end of the tunnel:
Only the left-hand-side channel has water in it, given the low water level:
The brickwork here is particularly impressive:
Out into the beautiful sunlight for a moment:
Where this lovely arch-work is:
And three entirely separate brick-strewn tunnels:
The mixture of brick-work and stone is particularly photogenic here:
And on and out were the three channels open up and on to the main attraction:
And the full might of the Tron:
It really is mega:
Beyond the Tron, the height drops down for the ribbed modern concrete section. Here the Sheaf emerges from the culvert and joins the Don at Ladybridge.
It gets above wader height here, so it was time to turn around and make our way back out.
Bikin’ capturing the awesomeness:
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