# The Works/Processor, Manchester & Blood Creek, Stoke



## LittleMike (Aug 26, 2008)

As awesome as the drain meet was, 2 days later I was already feeling the urge to get back underground. The weather was so nice it really seemed a shame to be on the surface so I headed down to The Works in Manchester to escape the heat. 

Got to the infall only to discover I had forgotten one of the most essential pieces of kit for an elite drainer...a lighting bitch! Luckily I found Molly, a skanky Manchester whore lurking around the outfall. She'll do anything for a price, so I told her I'd pay her 20p if she'd carry my fluoro round:






 







Harold is pleased




Molly




Group shot




A cold one, just because all the others are quite warm!





Ran out of time before I had a chance to take any photos of the overflow chamber (where the hell did 5 hours go!?!), but went for a quick look. I always thought The Works hardly ever had any overflow events if at all, but quite interestingly it seems it has been put to good use very recently. The rusty bridge is now covered with debris and all the skanky standing water further down the tunnel has been replaced with some nice new clean water. Well...that was until I stirred up all the crap on the bottom again!


Nostalgia trip to Blood Creek in Stoke. Ages since I've been here, I found it funny how I noticed so much more things now that I've done more drains. Things like the insane amount of road noise, and the 8ft high water level mark, quite disturbing given the unusually steep gradient. Also quite blatant is what an incredibly shoddy job the construction crew did on the upstream sections (d/s is covered in black waterproofing err tar I guess, but the u/s is just bare metal and has rusted away). Looks as though they gambled on Severn Trent only inspecting the first 600m...and got away with it!




In the end chamber I felt it was 'bout time I started manning up and experimenting with some proper light painting instead of relying on static lights all the time. It wasn't really possible up till now with the mighty 30s exposures of the S6500! Lit with an L2D and high-fi latex glove diffuser.




Felt strangely unsatisfied when I drove past Manchester, so a quick stop in Processor to cure my thirst for more walking and big draynzzz! Much bigger and awesomer than I remember, but looks like there's been a lot of rain in Manchester recently! The amount of debris here on the infall grille agrees with the similar situation currently found in The Works overflow chamber




Which way? To be fair it's a ^&%$ long walk whatever you do.




The strange instant transition from pristine brick to cave. I think maybe this is where the drain passes from a built up area (no groundwater) to open land (lots of ground water pouring in from every angle!) I'd try confirm this on google earth but I am too lazy right now!


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## BigLoada (Aug 26, 2008)

LittleMike said:


> A cold one, just because all the others are quite warm!



Awesome as usual man, but this one in particular is stunning.


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## Exploretime (Aug 26, 2008)

Lets hope Molly spends the money wisely!! Great pics.


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## Bunk3r (Aug 27, 2008)

LittleMike said:


> nice new clean water


-I guess all things are relative!

nice draining and pictures.


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## orangeacid (Aug 27, 2008)

These are really cool, they really make me want to try draining sometime. And wishing that there were some decent drains in Derby.


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## LittleMike (Aug 27, 2008)

There are at least 2 explored drains in Derby, including a pretty longish one under the centre. Plus you are right near Nottingham, which has an uber drain. Look harder


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## thompski (Aug 27, 2008)

Theres a third unexplored drain in Derby, and not too far from you orangeacid 

Your drain photography as always its a delight to see, Littlemike


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## spacepunk (Aug 28, 2008)

Fantastic photos. Never been in a drain but this makes me want to find one.


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## Amiee (Aug 28, 2008)

Great Pics!!! Not seen any location like it before  So new to these things lol


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## orangeacid (Aug 29, 2008)

I've seen some drains from Derby on here somewhere but they looked rather concrete, rectangular and featureless... still, good for a first drain I guess  I remember on the same thread someone saying that Derby was a bit dead for drains.

I'll have to look around a bit for info on notts drains, thanks for the heads up 



> Theres a third unexplored drain in Derby, and not too far from you orangeacid



There used to be a fairly big concrete drain compound-thing (excuse the lack of technical terminology) on a rec just down the road from me but it mysteriously turned into a muddy brook when I was about 10, complete with 12" pipes either end. I wonder if there are bigger drains nearby? My grandad happened to be the chief drain inspecting health and safety person for Derby City Council for a number of years so I'll see what I can get out of him.


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## FknSamuelBonney (Aug 30, 2008)

Beautiful photos there. My favorite has to be the fourth down from the top, it looks great and I love the way you've managed to capture the absence of light (rather than the conventional, or so-it-seems, blasting round the drain with a Fenix).

---
Sam, "Curiosity killed the Sam".


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## ricmonkey (Aug 30, 2008)

Haha, I found Molly at the point where it becomes two smaller bore drains! I was surprised until I read this - I guess I went a few days after you visited.


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## PROJ3CTM4YH3M (Sep 9, 2008)

Wow this place looks amazing i really wanna go exploring a sewer!



Emma !


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## Urban-Warrior (Sep 9, 2008)

amazing pics am deffo gonna plan a draining excursion to mancs soon.


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