Another mini report and others have possibly reported on it before, but popped into this inviting entrance below the flyover and the railway bridge near Derby station the other night. It doesn't go far before reaching some big hinged metal flaps that had a whiff of fresh about them, but it was worth a little look. Climbed down the rock armour under the railway bridge over the Derwent, into which this flows, while the water was quite high, and decided not to bother as I was up to my thighs and sinking fast...
But did manage to get a look inside and was intrigued enough to come back a few days later when the water level had dropped. Well, why not...?
Tantalising! Returned to find the water level more tolerable, and a quick wade got me into the concrete pipe. Alas, it doesn't go far, about ten metres to a point where there's a set of rungs to a manhole on the surface, by the cycle path...
Looking back towards the river, from more or less the same spot...
But my hopes of a longer explore were dashed when I came almost immediately to a muddy, squelchy bank with three flaps holding back all but a trickle of dirty water flowing from under the road and the railway buildings. Presumably, before Pride Park and the flyover to it were built in the 90s, and all the paths and banks enlarged, this would have led directly into the river, but 25 years of works have grown around it and left this mini drain in place. Given its diminutive length I'm unofficially naming it the Mousehole, but let me know if anyone has an earlier name for it. At least it killed half an hour of lockdown!
But did manage to get a look inside and was intrigued enough to come back a few days later when the water level had dropped. Well, why not...?
Tantalising! Returned to find the water level more tolerable, and a quick wade got me into the concrete pipe. Alas, it doesn't go far, about ten metres to a point where there's a set of rungs to a manhole on the surface, by the cycle path...
Looking back towards the river, from more or less the same spot...
But my hopes of a longer explore were dashed when I came almost immediately to a muddy, squelchy bank with three flaps holding back all but a trickle of dirty water flowing from under the road and the railway buildings. Presumably, before Pride Park and the flyover to it were built in the 90s, and all the paths and banks enlarged, this would have led directly into the river, but 25 years of works have grown around it and left this mini drain in place. Given its diminutive length I'm unofficially naming it the Mousehole, but let me know if anyone has an earlier name for it. At least it killed half an hour of lockdown!
