Tongland Bridge

Today's the day ............................ to stand the test

I thought I would blip this bridge today - because it's a view that won't be available for long once all the leaves on the trees open up.  We think of it as our bridge because it is very close to our house - but it is, of course the Tongland Bridge that carries the road over the River Dee and was designed by Thomas Telford, the famous engineer.

In 1803, Thomas Telford was commissioned to produce a scheme for a new bridge to improve the main road from Carlisle to Portpatrick in the west.  The rustic stonework and gothic styling was the result of the collaboration between Telford and Alexander Nasmyth, a renowned Scottish landscape painter.

And, for all its artistic appearance, it was a very well designed bridge too, that has stood the test of time and still does an important job nearly two hundred years later .......................