Bridges Between: two for the price of one

These bridges are in Uzerche, on the western edge of the Massif Central. The lower of these two bridges is Pont Turgot, built in 1755 to cross the river Vézère. Uzerche was, at the time, at an important strategic point, on the north-south route. The bridge still is the main approach to the town. In the late 18th century, the arrival of rail meant that all sorts of viaducts were built, and have since become redundant. Many, like the upper bridge pictured here, have been converted into footpaths.

View from the opposite direction.

Bridges between: a disappearing "bridge"

Nothing there at the moment, apart from a disturbance in the water as the river flows past, but unless you were looking carefully you would probably not spare it a second glance.

But, maybe a week or two later, the disturbance becomes pronounced. There is definitely something there crossing from one side of the river to the other.

Now we have a real clue, there seems to be a way across, or at least there once was.

Finally it emerges in full, usually during the summer months, when the local boys show off by crossing to the other side. It's not as easy as it might look - the gaps are wider than they seem. One day, when nobody's looking, I will try.

Bridges between: Olargues

Olargues, a village in the Haut Languedoc, one included in "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France". The site of the village dates back to Roman times and is almost surrounded by the river Le Jaur which is crossed by the Devil's Bridge, le Pont du Diable, another of these bridges which are said to be the scene of transactions between the village and the devil.

The three arched bridge dates back to 1202. It would have been difficult and expensive to build but while Olargues was growing in importance, it allowed access to the Nîmes to Toulouse road on the other side of the valley.

For more on Bridges Between, visit RunE at Visual Norway.
Other participants here.

Bridges between

Rather late I'm afraid but I have a good excuse. I have spent the weekend crossing all sorts of bridges as I travelled between England and France.

This bridge is one I visited last June, in Brittany. It is the entrance bridge to the mediaeval castle in Josselin which overlooks the River Oust and dominates the small town.

These days the moat is guarded by a pair of lions.

The earlier post on Josselin has more pictures of the castle and surroundings.

Bridges Between participants.

Technorati tags: Bridges Between, bridge, Josselin, chateau, Brittany

Bridges between

The Llanthony lift bridge opening at Gloucester Docks, to allow the return of a boat trip to the National Waterways Museum. It leads out to the Gloucester and Sharpness canal.

The first bridge at this site was a wooden swing bridge built to carry Llanthony Road over the new docks when they were constructed in 1794. This was replaced in the 1860s with an iron swing bridge, which carried a rail line linking the Midland Railway which had a line on the east of the docks with the Great Western Railway which ran into the west of the docks.

The survival of the old warehouses in the dockyard has made an ideal location for filming historical drama, and many scenes for the popular television series The Onedin Line were filmed in front of Biddle Warehouse. In recent years new uses have been found for the warehouses and the docks are developing as a popular leisure area. A pleasant place to visit.

Bridges Between participants.

Technorati tags: Bridges Between, bridge, Gloucester, docks

Bridges between

On a recent holiday to Brittany, we passed through a small town called Redon. We found place criss-crossed with waterways and bridges.

It is now a centre for pleasure boats.

To me the interesting part about it is that it is here that the Nantes-Brest canal crosses the river Vilaine. Napoleon I of France decided to build the canal to link the two largest military ports when the British fleet was blockading Brest. The mammoth task was started in 1806, first used by boats in 1842, and completed in 1854.

At one time this was a very important crossroads for the navigable waterways of the west. The canal was used to carry freight up until the 70s. Since then pleasure boating has kept a large part of the canal alive.

Bridges Between participants.

Technorati tags: canal, bridges, Redon, Vilaine, Brittany

Bridges between

My first effort in a new (to me) monthly photo challenge, Bridges Between, from Norway.

This was taken in Eze-Village, on the south coast of France, near Nice and Monaco. I went to see the bright yellow church, Notre Dame de l'Assomption, wandered round the back and found this lovely view.

The roads in this part of the world have an awful lot of bridges and tunnels but this bridge has a story.

The legend is that a peasant, fed up with having to walk for hours through the valley to cross to the other side, made a pact with the devil that it would be built overnight, in exchange for the soul of the first living being who crossed it.

The peasant couldn't sleep all night, worried about the sacrifice someone would make. The next morning he went to the road and found a wonderful new bridge and the devil waiting for his due. The peasant picked up a stick and threw it along the bridge. His dog chased after it and the devil was fooled.

The other version of the story is that it was built between 1911 and 1914.

The list of participants

Bridges Between blog list

• 9na's smutthull
• A Changing Life
• Ackworth born, gone West
• Anemone
• Arnes Blog
• Authorblog
• Berit T.
• Com Imagens With Images
• East Gwillimbury WOW!
• Fancy Sweden
• Heimdal (Marie)
• Hilde S
• Hyde Daily Photo
• Ida's little corner
• imac's Photos from the Minds Eye
• Ivar Ivrig
• John's fotoblogg
• Katney's Kaboodle
• Lew's pics
• Livs
• Mitt glade (hunde-)liv (Anne-Berit)
• Mrs. Nesbitt's Place
• Neva (Inverness, Illinois (USA) Daily Photo)
• Nillas blogg
• On2Wheels (GAWO)
• Outhouse Capital of Canada
• Pernille's ting og tang
• Postcards From the Northwest
• Ramblings Around Texas
• Runes Visual Norway (who organises the project)
  
• The Pea Green Boat
• View life