PDA

View Full Version : Hatter's Culvert, Luton - January 2010



LutEx-UK
11-01-2010, 03:36 AM
Friday Night, watching telly and browsing the net. Miss Lutex has gone to bed and I'm getting bored.
What better than a wander down the River Lea?? :thumb

It's sub-zero outside, so it's a case of wrapping up warm, especially the three pairs of socks inside my waders!

I wandered downstream to Bute Street before getting my camera out and getting some (100 or so!) shots on the way back up to New Bedford Road. The culvert isn't the most interesting, but it does have some nice features along its course.

We'll start with the point I turned around and began heading back upstream:


http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0011.jpg
Looking Back Upstream



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0014.jpg
and back downstream



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0012.jpg
Bute Street Bridge - Bute Street has always crossed the Lea here, but nowadays it's impossible to tell from street level that you're actually on a bridge!



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0015.jpg



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0028.jpg



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0033.jpg
There's actually a small private car park slightly above river level outside this grille. I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly wouldn't be too keen on parking here on an overcast day...



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0035.jpg
Beneath Library Road


http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0040.jpg
Flash gun fun



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0062.jpg
Two bridges - The bridge which carried the (now disused) Luton-Dunstable railway line, the foundations of the old JobCentre building followed by the bridge over which Mill Street runs.



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0078.jpg
Mill Street Bridge



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0081.jpg
Split River - the original culvert (left) joining the new culvert which runs under Hucklesby Way. I've not done the old one as it'd be utterly backbreaking!



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0089.jpg
Lucky I wasn't found!



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0092.jpg



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0095.jpg
Under Hucklesby Way



http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0096.jpg http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/Lutex-UK/Hatters%20Culvert%20-%20Luton/u-DSC_0100.jpg
More fun with the flashgun and finally back to the New Bedford Road inflow

Interestingly Pictures 1 and 2 are here: (flashearth link) (http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.880281&lon=-0.414968&z=20&r=0&src=msl)

The windows you can see on the wall are therefore from the buildings which were demolished and now have the car park sitting on top! They've got corrugated sheeting on the inside, and I suspect the rooms have been filled, but when it gets a wee bit warmer I intend to pop down there and see if I can fit a camera through for a sneak peek.

BB
11-01-2010, 03:59 AM
Really well lit pics there :)

Those things make me laugh "found in here will die"
Bit like those annoying FB groups...send invites to all your friends or a 7ft tall fat man will bum you :lol:

Good stuff L eX :thumb

boxfrenzy
11-01-2010, 09:48 AM
That's a great report mate, and some cracking lighting going on. How deep was the water?

ERNIE99_UK
11-01-2010, 11:54 AM
Some lovely clear photos there, cant be easy keeping the camera steady and lightpainting in the pitch blackness.

Kevsy21
11-01-2010, 09:11 PM
interesting report,great pics:thumb

KingElvis
12-01-2010, 06:03 PM
Great report and good pictures. Well done on this one.

Looks fucking cold though.

Cuban Bloodhound
12-01-2010, 09:06 PM
I like it, you've got the pictures well lit.

coops
12-01-2010, 09:32 PM
Great report mate your a brave man going out in the freezing cold

LutEx-UK
13-01-2010, 12:33 AM
Thanks everyone! The water was only ankle-height most of the time. And yes it was very cold!! :eek: