Slim Pickings - Manchester
This drain had been on my radar for some time with its exact location elusive and well-hidden. Finally, with a fresh tip in hand, it was time to go look. After a stretch of trudging up and down the riverbed, I spotted a distinctive grilled outfall—it matched a photo I’d seen before. It’s surprising what you uncover when walking along rivers. True to the style of older drains, the original brickwork here had been reinforced with spraycrete, a low-cost but sturdy way to keep the structure intact.
As we made our way through, we passed numerous inspection shafts and a slippery inlet presumably here to channel rainwater. Though the side paths were tempting, we stayed focused on finding ‘the main event’ and continued deeper into the system. Nearly a mile into the 2M brick pipe, we arrived at an impressive sight: a 12-foot wall of original brick that acts as a stilling pond setup with a high overflow weir.
To continue the journey, we had to scale a ladder and drop down on the other side of the wall. Unfortunately for @gronk, he’d left his gloves in the car and had to tackle the ladder bare-handed. One of the less pleasant surprises was the amount of small polystyrene balls clinging to the walls, likely washed in after a recent storm.
The brick structure itself is part of Manchester’s sewer overflow system, featuring a 14-foot funnel with steps on either side that direct sewage into a 4-foot chamber. A ladder here leads to the old, now-unused penstock controls and descends into the narrower 4-foot sewer below. The size, design, and history of this place was awe-inspiring.
