Man dubbed 'The Drainspotter' spends 30 HOURS a month searching for drains
He has banded together with a group of fellow drain-lovers to create the 'Manchester Manhole Collective'
A man dubbed 'The Drainspotter' spends 30 HOURS a month searching for and cleaning dirty drains as part of his unique obsession.
Grandfather Archie Workman, 75, has now launched the world's first exhibition of drains and manhole covers
Over the years he has helped to clear more than 300 drains and has now created an exhibition dedicated to what he describes as 'often-overlooked street furniture', taking place at the Manchester Central Library.
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Archie, a self-employed highway maintenance worker from Penny Bridge, Cumbria, has taken hundreds of photos of drain covers and digs out overgrown covers by hand.
He said: “I like working with cast iron because I was an engineer, I started my life working in cast iron, building diesel engines for ships. I just like the feel of cast iron, it’s there forever.
“Designs of the drain covers fascinates me. I like to see shapes and stonewalls, and things like that. People don’t look at brickwork and buildings, things like that – it interests me.”
Archie is employed by three parish councils as a ‘lengthsman’ – a historical position dating back to the 1700s where a person keeps a length of road in good working order.
As part of his role, he sees hundreds of drain covers as he gets down and dirty, cleaning and unblocking drains before they become a problem.
The granddad swears by his hand-clearing technique, which he says is better than using gully sucking machines which can lead to blockages by pushing muck further down into drains.
He said: “I’ve been doing this since 2012 and I’ve cleared about three or four hundred. I use copper divining rods to find them, they’re all covered over the grass, some of these and haven’t seen daylight for years.
“It doesn’t say much for our local council, does it? But there you go. I haven’t seen a gully sucker for years in my parish, because I’ve got them all cleaned.
“We don’t flood, that’s the other positivity of having a lengthsman."
Archie achieved global fame in 2014 when he produced a drain cover calendar. He has since banded together with a group of fellow drain-lovers to create the Manchester Manhole Collective.
The exhibition - called 'Manc Holes and Beyond Exhibit' - is being staged on the first floor of Manchester Central Library until the end of this month.
It includes information about Archie's work, and a documentary about him called 'Drainspotting'.
Also featured is a poetry drain cover from Gothenburg, Sweden.
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