Officially known as the North Western Storm Relief(NWSR) the main pipe was built in 1924, stretching under the streets of Notting Hill and Kensington it serves several large sewers.
When first stepping foot in Crypt one could be forgiven to thinking it is an anomaly in the system. Seemingly the purpose of this chamber is to act merely as confluence between two egg shaped sewers, the largest being the Putney Extension.
This culvert is found on the upper reaches of the River Irk. Unlike the massive downstream culverts like Optimus Prime, the river here demands only a small conduit.
A metal walkway forms an L shape around a chamber, a large 20ft trunk sewer flows beneath. Two sets of well maintained machinery allow massive penstocks to be closed to send the flow down another route.
The Beck Valley culvert flows east of Nottingham city center down into the River trent.
Optimus Prime is a large culvert that takes the River Irk underground for it's final stretch before the outfall into the Irwell. I met up with Nckt and Jim Gillette to have a look.
When I saw RCP through the grated infall I thought this would be another of Bury's boring prefab systems. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised when after a short length the concrete turned to stone and joined another culvert.