River Avon (Sunday May 13th 2018)

Unlike canals that have paths running alongside them, the only vantage points to see rivers are often when they are crossed by bridges, most commonly road bridges, because other bridges are often on private land that are only used by farmers or estate owners. As a result, there are some architectural gems that are under appreciated.

I came across a picture of one such bridge by chance recently that lies within walking distance of the home of friends in Melksham. It is midway between Berryfields in Melksham and Broughton Gifford and is only reachable by footpath and bridleway.I chose to reach it from the Broughton Gifford end via a footpath that crosses a railway line.

Coincidentally from the footpath I discovered another old railway path that branches from the main line close by. Tracing its path on an aerial photograph I see that just beyond the point where it joins the railway line there used to be a station, which I now know was called Holt Junction, and following the line west it runs into Devizes just below the canal and can be traced just south of the town centre. Devizes Branch Line was axed by Beeching, but used to continue to Chirton, where it joined the Reading-Taunton line. At one point the Devizes line provided a direct link from London to the West Country. I digress.

This bridge is Packhorse Bridge, built in 1725. The Extra shows the path across it.

BROUGHTON GIFFORD MELKSHAM ROAD ST 86 SE (off south side) 4/79 Packhorse Bridge 13.11.62 II

Packhorse bridge over River Avon. 1725. Dressed limestone. Four segmental arches of different heights, highest one is second from the west. Cutwaters with stepped coped tops on upstream side, rectangular buttresses on downstream side, plat band to level of footway. Cobble footway with high plain parapet with pitched top, flared at approaches. Said to have been built as packhorsee bridge between Whaddon and Broughton Gifford, 1725. Repaired by County Council 1856. Various grafitti under main arch including name G.L. Cook, 1887. A very well preserved example. (Countryside Treasures, 1969) - Historic England

L.
14.5.2018 (1045 hr)
Blip #2649 (#2399 + 250 archived blips taken 27.8.60-18.3.10)
Consecutive Blip #033
Blips/Extras In 2018 #092/265 + #34/100 Extras)
Day #2973 (579 gaps from 26.3.10)
LOTD #1793 (#1634 + 159 in archived blips)

The Packhorse Bridge Walk, Broughton Gifford, 13 May 2018 (Flickr album of 27 images)

Taken with Pentax K-1 and Pentax HD P-D FA 28-105mm f/3.5-5.6ED DC WR lens

Bridges series
Landscape series
River series
River Avon (Bristol) series
Melksham series

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Johnny Flynn - Detectorists Theme (2014)
Guy Garvey played this today to wish The Detectorists luck in the BAFTAs. His wife Rachael Stirling and his mother-in-law Dame Diana Rigg both have parts in the TV series, which was written by and stars Mackenzie Crook. Johnny Flynn performs the theme song in the first episode as Johnny Piper and wrote all the incidental music. I didn't see all of the BAFTAs but I did see Toby Jones accepting an award for his part in the series, which I had immensely enjoyed.

One year ago:
Lacock