Park Bridge Iron Works - Oldham
Known locally as “The Devil’s Hole” due to an urban legend involving two boys who rowed in on their canoe, never to be seen again, the site had an eerie reputation. There had been some heavy rain recently, but the past few days had been dry. Hoping this would be enough, we went to scope out the river.
The water level was a bit higher than usual, which was to be expected, but nothing too concerning. With the weekend forecast promising dry weather, we decided to head in. The usual route was pushing the limits of what waders could handle, so we opted for a drier entry point further upstream.
Upon entering, it was immediately apparent just how slimy the floor was—a constant game of “slip or grip” ensued. Every step was cautious, as we never knew when a slippery brick might catch us off guard.
We made our way down to the waterfall and dropped a ladder so we could check it out from both perspectives. The floor at the base was even worse, making it difficult just to stay upright, let alone handle a camera and tripod. After struggling to maintain balance and battling major lens fog, I decided to climb back up the ladder. About halfway up, the ladder jolted beneath me, only stopping thanks to a friend’s quick reflexes—his foot blocked it from disappearing into the Medlock.
Continuing upstream, I breathed a sigh of relief, glad I hadn’t entered the Medlock headfirst. That relief was short-lived. I was caught off guard by the sneaky blue bricks and went backwards, landing flat on my back in a puddle of Oldham’s finest processed turds. Luckily, the only thing injured was my self-confidence, and the camera survived unscathed.
At this point, I was thoroughly wet and hoping the worst was behind me. But up ahead loomed what I can only describe as an orange pit of sh*t. The gap might have been jumpable if it weren’t underground and the floor wasn’t coated in slime. Our plan was to use the extendable ladder as a bridge to cross the gap. I’d seen a video of another explorer falling in here once; the water went over their head. Falling in here wasn’t an option as I didn't have a spare change of clothes.
With great care and a slow, deliberate approach, we managed to cross unbreached. Each step wobbled the ladder, testing our balance. Past the pit, we were treated to a somewhat uneventful stretch further upstream, where we admired the mix of brick, stone, and CRP ahead.
History
The culvert resides in the upper reaches of the Medlock Valley alongside a former Iron Works. A large steel grille presents itself, often covered in poo wipes and unknown human objects whilst hiding an old stone arch behind it. Shortly beyond the outfall you arrive at the bottom of an 8ft waterfall with no way up, the ground here proves to be quite treacherous to navigate also. Upstream of the cascade is a comforting in height but deceptively slippery array of blue brick section leading into a corrugated metal pipe intersected with a concrete chamber. Within this chamber is a catchment pit designed to stop dirty water from entering the river downstream via pumps which send the effluent to a sewer for treatment. Further upstream is a mixture of stone and brick until reaching more corrugated metal pipe that weaves its way upstream in a snaking pattern, this eventually leads into a large CSO chamber.
