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manchester drain expo 2004
expo stats:
| Length | 9 hours / 5 miles u/g |
| Explorers present | Drainrat, Siologen, Oggy, Stoop_Master, Jondoe, Alex, Gaz, Roger |
| Drains Explored | Processor, The Works, Inhospitable, Side Draught Induction, Supercharger |
| Quote of the day | "Would you get ill if you ate a bit of poo?" - Stoop_Master |
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After meeting up with Siologen of the Sydney Cave Clan a few months before, and learning of the numerous draining meet ups, or expos, I thought it was about time to organise the UK's first drain expo and what better place to host it than Manchester - home of some massive Victorian drains!. |
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We all met at 9am at a secret location. The team of 8 comprised members of UrbanUnderworld, Sub-Urban, Sydney Cave Clan and AGC. The first target was only a 100m walk away. Processor was to be the first drain of the day, nearly two miles in length and on average 10 feet in diameter. |
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After taking the piss out of the Sub-Urban boys in the car park because they had waders on, the tables were soon turned as we all had to wade through rather deep cold drain water. Good investment lads. The array of torches danced around inside the massive brick pipe, creating many a photo opportunity. It probably took a good 2 hours to do Processor, we emerged into blistering sunshine. |
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After Roger dropped his welly in the shitty water, twice, we moved on and followed an old railway line and down a steep empankment. A short wade down a river and we found The Works, discharging mist from it's huge Victorian mouth. The Works is not massive in length, but the huge chamber we encountered was like something out of Tomb Raider. There were a big set of stairs, a very high manhole shaft, a massive gong like sluice gate and a small passage led off halfway up the manhole shaft into a small room, where there was a big crank to raise and lower the sluice gate. |
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As Stoop_Master disappeared into a rather smelly (read turd infested) pipe, the AGC crew and Oggy headed back out into the daylight. Myself, Siologen and Jondoe went after Stoop_Master to see what he was doing. The pipe stank like shit and I wont even describe what the water looked like. Stoop_Master was miles ahead and only after much shouting did we get him to retreat. He had been up to his waist in shit but didn't want to give up hope of finding light at the end of the tunnel. He has now been rebadged Poo Man. |
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After a quick butty, and saying farewell to the AGC guys, we revved up the drain mobiles and headed off to another location. The third drain of the day was Sidedraught Induction, situated upstream of Supercharger. We all limboed under the entrance and set off down the brick drain. |
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After several shape changes in pipe and the usual bombardment of drain stories from Siologen, we came to the sidedraught pipe. A 1.5m RCP headed off to the right, so up we charged and found the massive overflow chamber. We stopped here for about 20 minutes, some took plenty of photos, whilst others messed about with the sluice gate wheels. This place stank of poo........... |
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Another 10 minutes and a really 'chilly water round the wedding tackle' deep section later, and we were out into daylight once more. By now, the sheer distance we had covered was taking it's toll. The 3 AGC boys had retired, one of my torches had died and me and Oggy had welly rash. |
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The upstream entrance to Supercharger was soon upon us and we eagerly dashed in through the brick lined portal. We all tagged up in the first room with the wooden blocks, and chased the ever so eager Stoop_Master out into the daylight. The daylight soon vanished as we plunged into the second half of the Drain, the diameter ever increasing. |
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Another photo stop at the weir chamber and we strolled on, still eager to explore more drain... even after 8 hours! The next sewage overflow chamber was the next port of call, with it's Processor-esque filtration system. |
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Starting to falter now, the group had to press on into the bowels of Supercharger until at last, daylight was visible. Much to Oggy's disbelief, we had one final poo pipe to scurry up to explore the final overflow chamber of the Expo. Not quite as big as the one in Sidedraught Induction but still as impressive. 9 hours after starting the Expo mission, we emerged into daylight for the final time, much to the surprise of two old ladies who couldn't understand why we would want to explore a smelly old drain!! The concensus was that it had been an awesome first UK drain expo, we all had a wicked time and can't wait for the next one. |
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