2012-03-18 - London's Famous Subterranean London

Oh and the river is in the pipe...

listen and you can hear the river in the pipe

In this pipe:

^trying to work out if you're falling over there, or breakdancing...

For a moment I thought he was recreating the 'Dropout drops in' moment....

So guys, sorry for missing the ride. I was just wondering, where exactly is the river?

kthnxbai

where exactly is the river?

kthnxbai

You haven't heard?
[/url][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WNrx2jq184"]FAMILY GUY - Bird is the Word! - YouTube

we should have closed that before he managed to get out...

Next time

lol

Drainbreaker

What was in the pipe again?

Dunno...
drainbreaker is trying to find out

For a moment I thought he was recreating the 'Dropout drops in' moment....

was just going to post the same.

Ride was excellent and I enjoyed it thoroughly! Thanks to those who organised and to everyone who came despite the poor forecast. I didn't get any pics from this ride, but here are a couple relevant to it:

The fleet under pheonix place, where we stopped next to the mail rail depot.

The outfall chamber of the fleet, just before Blackfriars bridge. This chamber is open to the Thames and is tidal, filling up to ceiling height at high tide. Behind the gates, the fleet is diverted into the low level interceptor, that eventually becomes the northern outfall (under the greenway), leading all the way out to Beckton. Should the sewer overflow beyond the capacity of the interceptor, these gates are opened to allow release directly into the Thames.

I'm sorry I had to pull out without updating the list, I really wish I'd been able to come along for this, it looks like an awesome ride!

KT Bee, will there be the opportunity to attend another in the future or was this a one-off?

danns, that's really impressive! Great knowledge on the ride too.

When we did the reccie-ride, the tide was in and the water was bubbling up in a kind of rhythmic way, we wondered whether this was anything to do with those doors opening/shutting
Would it be this?

poor quality vid here:
http://youtu.be/IdeCEZ0tMSA

this flickr set http://www.flickr.com/photos/david-dansky/sets/72157629257294594/

That's great David, top ride portraits there, what am I doing with my hands though?

Great pic skydancer!

Wow great vid! So that is the fleet flowing out of the pipe? Strange that the force of the water wouldn't keep the shutters/valve open
More pics to follow later. Camera battery died while uploading. Oat44 full breakdancing sequence yet to come as well as evidence that we did ride underground.

When we did the reccie-ride, the tide was in and the water was bubbling up in a kind of rhythmic way, we wondered whether this was anything to do with those doors opening/shutting
Would it be this?

poor quality vid here:
http://youtu.be/IdeCEZ0tMSA

What you're seeing is the secondary, unsecured flaps that link the chamber above with the Thames itself (some way behind the camera in the photo). These allow water in and out of the chamber, they tend to move a bit as the tide goes in/out but what you're probably seeing is the end result of the wake of a boat going past - if you're inside the outfall chamber then the large, cast iron flaps hitting the frame is really loud!

Looks like an impressive ride! Bit chilly though ;)

Wheres the roof felt submarine then?

Sorry I'm a bit late with this but massive thanks to Oat44 and KTBee for organising/scouting/laminating etc. frighteningly well organised. Also the fact sharing was brilliant, particularly danns' underground knowledge, but so many people chipping in with bit and bobs along the way.

Oat44 full breakdancing sequence yet to come as well as evidence that we did ride underground.

We went underground:

towards the Thames:

and rode underground:

and came up for air:

Oat44 breakdancing:

More pictures here, mainly portraits.

(Any help in naming people appreciated. Also if you wish to have your image removed pm me. Also happy to make prints if you let me know)

^Excellent work skydancer..

That submarine makes me look fat.

This better lardboy?