Saturday, 25 October 2014

Cows hole (oldham)

Cows hole

Three years of planning and studying and we get > cows hole is a culvert under cherry valley it is built from stone blocks with a stone floor with brick egg shaped tunnels forming partway its purpose was to carry sheep washers brook through the valley ,many a kid/adult has walked through this long tunnel legs apart and waddle your way through avoiding getting wet.why its called cows hole nobody knows its been said cows walked through it on the way to milking but this is impossible !In 1992 it was altered to serve Oldham deep sewer interceptor as a CSO it is now joined by CSP deep underground to devils hole to form a CSO leading into the river medlock, sheep washers brook still continues to run through it .After 3 years of trying planning and 2 failed attempts it was done, at the spur of the moment we did quick checks of the weather forecast we donned our boots and went for it, He went through first i always make him do this (safety checks for me ) and i followed him in carrying ropes and plank, first i walked the plank across a pond of festering water followed soon after by him the rest is in he pictures and video below this is one long tunnel enjoy 
,click to enlarge any picture



            The start over the plank to reach cows hole

Mainly stone built by the Victorians 
Click pictures to enlarge

Twist and turns

There were plenty of turns and twists then
suddenly it turns into an oval brick tunnel
Leaking brickwork
  

   



This is the end and the corrugated pipe you see
looks towards the town center after entering the
 largest sewer storage tank built in the UK ,the air 
was stale we needed to go back fast for fresh air  
Back across the plank (dad first) then up and out 
we can now let this mission rest WE DID IT

Heres a video of a walk through    



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