Fresh air & photos

[Rob Manchester]

A young Heron watching for it's next meal. Bridgewater Canal, Cheshire. Lovely sunny day today.

Rob

 

[Martin Wynne]

Very grey today. Here's some autumn sunshine. I took this photo because I was amused by the arrow pointing to the heavens -- on the right behind the wall is a churchyard.

Martin.

 

[Martin Wynne]

It is 50 years since this section of line closed, but in October 2017 the masonry of this underline occupation bridge is still as good as new. Severn Valley Railway south of Bewdley.

Martin.

 

[AndyB]

Here's one way to get a bit of fresh air.

Bit extreme if you ask me.

After another nearby Ponderosa Pine took out all the power lines, fried a transformer and demolished a power pole the electricity company decided they better take out the others that were in danger of doing the same thing. They could have saved themselves a lot of money if they had listened to our neighbor who had been telling them for ages the first one was about to fall but better late than never I suppose.

 

[Martin Wynne]

A couple of pics from Arley in May 2015. Spot the stile. I remember walking across that field in the sunshine. Where does 6 years go?

Martin.

 

[Andrew Duncan]

A couple of pics from Arley in May 2015. Spot the stile. I remember walking across that field in the sunshine. Where does 6 years go?

View attachment 859

View attachment 860

Martin.

Hello Martin
Love the first photo in particular. Is that a railway bridge crossing the river and where is it, don't know Arley. The second photo looks very tranquil, but also a bit puzzling with the arches apparently supporting a road, when an embankment would have done. As I wrote this I began to realise that perhaps water must pass under it at wetter times of the year?

Kind regards
Andrew

 

[Martin Wynne]

Hi Andrew,

Glad you like the photo. Arley is on the River Severn on the Shropshire/Worcestershire border. Here's a map:

https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/52.41843/-2.34965

The stile in the photo is marked in the centre of the map.

The bridge is a footbridge which was built in the early 1970s to replace an historic rope-worked ferry. I remember using the ferry 60 years ago with my bike. I don't know why the arches were built across the old harbour, there is no flow through them. There is a separate bridge over the Arley Brook at the northern end.

Here is a closer view of the arches:

And a later view in November 2019 -- the ducks are very tame:

There is no vehicular river crossing at Arley, which makes it a magical place on a summer evening. Especially on Tuesdays, when there is bell-ringing practice at St Peter's Church, just visible above the trees. Only the bells and the ducks disturb the silence of the Severn valley.

Also of course, Arley is a passing station on the Severn Valley Railway. A public footpath crosses the north end of the station leading to that stile, and this is the view to the right from the same camera position:

Here's another view of Arley, from the station forecourt. I think I've posted this one before. The Harbour Inn is very popular with visitors:

Martin.

 

[Martin Wynne]

I mentioned using Arley Ferry 60 years ago as a boy on a bike. I didn't have a camera then, but 8 years later I did. This is Arley Ferry in 1969. One for Rob I think.

The remains of the ferry boat can be seen in the front garden of a cottage in Dog Lane, Bewdley.

Martin.

 

[AndyB]

An old ferry story: Inexpensive cruising on The Clyde.
My parents lived in Renfrew. My oldest brother was born in 1942 and my mother would wheel him in the pram down to Renfrew Ferry (vehicular, chain operated). She bought a passenger ticket and sat on the passenger deck for as long as she liked while the ferry shuttled back and forth between Renfrew and Yoker. It seemed to keep him amused

 

[Rob Manchester]

Hi Martin,
The Arley picture from 1969 seems to have gone astray - the jpg shows as a link in the email notification but it gives a 'page not found' error and as yopu can see it isn't inserted in the forum post above. Can you re-post and I can see why you think it is for me - a fisherman maybe or even some old cars

Rob

 

[AndyB]

Hi Martin,
The Arley picture from 1969 seems to have gone astray - the jpg shows as a link in the email notification but it gives a 'page not found' error and as yopu can see it isn't inserted in the forum post above. Can you re-post and I can see why you think it is for me - a fisherman maybe or even some old cars

Rob

Looks ok here Rob. Must be 1969. There's a BMC 1100, a Sunbeam (possibly) and an A30 van in it

 

[Martin Wynne]

Looks ok here Rob. Must be 1969. There's a BMC 1100, a Sunbeam (possibly) and an A30 van in it

@Guinea_Pig_Tester

Also a Land-Rover.

Here's the pic again:

https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?attachments/arley_ferry_1969_1200x680-jpg.884/

https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?attachments/884/

cheers,

Martin.

 

[Andrew Duncan]

Looks ok here Rob. Must be 1969. There's a BMC 1100, a Sunbeam (possibly) and an A30 van in it

Andy
What makes you say a Sunbeam? I'd have said a Hillman Minx off the cuff. We had an Austin 1100(Mk1) for many years which was eventually replaced by an old Volvo Amazon 122s.
Kind regards
Andrew

 

[Andrew Duncan]

I mentioned using Arley Ferry 60 years ago as a boy on a bike. I didn't have a camera then, but 8 years later I did. This is Arley Ferry in 1969. One for Rob I think.

View attachment 884

The remains of the ferry boat can be seen in the front garden of a cottage in Dog Lane, Bewdley.

Martin.

Hello Martin
Thank you for your reply. Very odd the arches, but also very pleasant to look at. Thanks also for the extra photographs, not only are the subjects interesting but you've got a very good eye. A real pleasure to look at and get lost in.
Kind regards
Andrew

 

[Tony W]

Hello Martin
Love the first photo in particular. Is that a railway bridge crossing the river and where is it, don't know Arley. The second photo looks very tranquil, but also a bit puzzling with the arches apparently supporting a road, when an embankment would have done. As I wrote this I began to realise that perhaps water must pass under it at wetter times of the year?

Kind regards
Andrew

Hi Andrew.
I'm no Civil engineer, but I would suggest that in order to gain access to the river bank, a near vertical structure was needed. An embankment, which would be load bearing is unlikely to be stable in wet conditions such as floods. Brick is much more stable and arches use far fewer bricks than a solid structure. This is why they were used so much under railways and even platforms. Economy.
Regards
Tony.

 

[Hayfield]

Andy
What makes you say a Sunbeam? I'd have said a Hillman Minx off the cuff. We had an Austin 1100(Mk1) for many years which was eventually replaced by an old Volvo Amazon 122s.
Kind regards
Andrew

Andrew

A good call, looking at the photos a series 5 ( I totally forgot about these cars). Though without a direct comparison it can easily be confused for a sunbeam rapier

 

[Martin Wynne]

Hi Andrew.
I'm no Civil engineer, but I would suggest that in order to gain access to the river bank, a near vertical structure was needed. An embankment, which would be load bearing is unlikely to be stable in wet conditions such as floods. Brick is much more stable and arches use far fewer bricks than a solid structure. This is why they were used so much under railways and even platforms. Economy.
Regards
Tony.

@Tony W @Andrew Duncan

Sometimes a "blind viaduct" is used to carry a railway along a rocky hillside. The excavated rock can be used to widen the ledge by building blind arches below it. This reduces amount of material needed to be excavated. A well-known example is the former Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway route through the Clydach Gorge. Now a fine walking/cycling route:

© linked from railwaypaths.org.uk

cheers,

Martin.

 

[AndyB]

Andy
What makes you say a Sunbeam? I'd have said a Hillman Minx off the cuff. We had an Austin 1100(Mk1) for many years which was eventually replaced by an old Volvo Amazon 122s.
Kind regards
Andrew

I think you are right Andrew. I thought the grill looked a bit more Sunbeam than Hillman but I found some pics of Minx' that match that one.

Anyone care to guess what the thing on the extreme right is? An Austin from the 50s perhaps?

Best to all,
Andy

 

[Martin Wynne]

Looking south-east from Cornbrook on 6th October 2018.

Looking the other way from Walsgrove Hill on 11th May 2018.

Each of these photos includes the camera position for the other. Over to you.

Martin.

 

[Rob Manchester]

Hi Andy/Andrew,
I go out fishing and come back to find all the cars have been identified Good calls though by the looks of it. The old Arley shot ( which I can now see, unlike Tuesday night ) is very good.

I won't bore everybody with how good the fishing used to be along the River Severn. Hampton Loade was great for..........and then just upstream of Arley...........and of course Ironbridge was the best spot for.......etc etc. I blame the cormorants for eating all the little fish before they grew big enough to stay out of the way of the birds.

Rob