Another of Bazalgette’s red brick creations the Clapham Storm Relief serves both the Southern High Level Sewer No*1 and the Balham & Clapham Extension interceptors, carrying the flow from its overflow/infall in Clapham to its outfall in Vauxhall.

For almost three years we had presumed the Clapham SR explored, a 10ft concrete side tunnel terminating at the northern end of the South Western Storm Relief, Aka Rubix. That was until a week ago, when exploration of the nearby 1985 Effra SR revealed it to be the same tunnel we had mistaken for the Clapham. Further research revealed the Clapham SR actually had no connection to the Effra system, yet instead stood alone 50m east.

The Clapham SR is mostly a featureless 8ft tall brick oval/egg pipe with little to no connecting pipes. As the tide was currently in, the outfall underwater we headed upstream, eventually coming to a junction with the tunnel widening into two 10-12ft red brick pipes, one leading to an overflow with the Southern HLS and the other to a penstock chamber with the Putney & Clapham Extension.

The brickwork bent, curved and twisted in all directions, concrete pillars supporting the vaulted ceiling with torchlight bouncing off the sewerfresh walls. This chamber alone sealed Lucky Charms’s place amongst the must see drains of London. The walk was calm, dry and short and the rewards were on par if not greater than anything else i had seen in London.

Safe from the encroaching tide we kicked back, music turned up, cameras in hand and set about documenting the chamber. The downstream section would have to wait its turn.