Sven August 11th, 2010
Our entry into the sewers was via a footpath manhole, opened quickly on this busy Sunday afternoon. I climbed down first, and JD followed shortly after, and there we were – in what was once the river Westbourne, now a sewer under London. The smell was no worse than muddy Brisbane drains, but the noise… it roared loudly like nothing I’d expected. Following the short passage from the ladder shaft to the tunnel proper, we discovered a roiling, churning flow JD declared he had not before seen. The flow was fast and powerful, a grey highway of waste. The air was misty and thick. I breathed through my nose.
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Sven August 8th, 2010
Ah, London! There’s so much interesting stuff here that people don’t think to mention half of it. I only came across a reference to this tunnel by accident, mentioned in passing on some random web page, but by no means is it a well-kept secret. It’s nice, though.
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Sven August 7th, 2010
My landmarks, it seems, evaporate as day transitions to night.
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Sven August 6th, 2010
It’s somewhat chilly in Brisbane right now, so the waders came out for the first time in about two years!
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Sven August 6th, 2010
It’s unfortunate that the most attractive drain outfall in this city has the absolute worst ambient lighting.
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Sven August 6th, 2010
There’s something interesting about being a little way up above ground level.
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Sven July 8th, 2010
Presumably, this shaft once vented into open air, but its operational days are long past. The big extractor fans remain, however.
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Sven July 1st, 2010
It’s inspiring to step into the vacant space left when industry moves on, and get a sense of the scale of what was once there.
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Sven July 1st, 2010
Perhaps swimming pools are too much a luxury for the current economic climate? Maybe it was just time for an upgrade, or an expansion? Whatever the reason, this place has been closed for a little while now.
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Sven July 1st, 2010
So, it turns out that on our last visit, we missed the entire lower floor of this complex! It’s an academic point, though, as there are no shots of the lower floor in this post whatsoever…
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