Tamar bridge closed, England cut off

[bunn]

We tried to go to Tavistock on Saturday, but found that someone had driven his van right through a stone wall and clear off the New Bridge at Gunnislake and the bridge was closed. Apparently the driver survived with a broken arm, which given that the Tamar is currently swollen, muscular and angry-looking probably counts as a minor miracle by the God of White Van men.


As it happened, I'd been walking along the Tamar that morning, just upstream - it looked like this. Not my idea of a fun river for a dip.

The New Bridge is a New Bridge in the hobbit sense, for it was built in 1520, which still makes it a considerable update on the closest alternatives. We had to go upriver and back to 1437 to Horsebridge to get across. It turns out, alas, that the Benedictines who built the bridge had failed to properly plan for an increase in vehicle traffic a mere not-quite-six centuries later, and it was a bit busy. So we came back over Greystone Bridge (1439). Clearly someone had done some hard thinking in the two years between the two bridges, and Greystone Bridge is much better structured to take the increased traffic. Well done, monks - well done!

Comments

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

What would the God of White Van Men look like, do you think? What sacrifices would be needed to propitiate him?

I'm now imagining the monks spending 1437-1439 out there with clipboards, conducting customer satisfaction surveys and monitoring traffic. Following this, they wrote a thoroughly researched report, analysing usage and quoting all the disgrunted peasants whose wains had got stuck, and incorporating prophetic visions from their local hermit, and took these into account when planning their second bridge.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed that anyone who went into that river came out undrowned...

Those monks evidently built to last.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I was mulling over the important question of the White Van Deity on my dog walk this evening. I am torn between a Ginsters Pastiform Deity with the face of Jeremy Clarkson, and a 'chariot of the gods' style van which would hare across the sky several times a day, beeping at the sun and moon if they should happen to get in the way.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

When those monks bridged a river, it damn well stayed bridged! Though I don't know how often bits of the bridges have been replaced. Possibly there is an element of 'my grandfather's ax' here!

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of a Pastiform Deity, if only because the phrase "Pastiform Deity" needs to be perpetuated. But I don't see why it shouldn't be a zoomy pastiform deity, prone to haring through the heavens leaving trail of ethereal minced lamb.