The Tay Bridge

Dundee 2026 #1

I didn't come straight home after the Fife walking holiday, instead choosing to travel a little further north to Dundee, across the Firth of Tay. 

The first ever bridge across the Tay, replacing a train ferry service, was a single track rail bridge that opened in 1878. In 1879, disaster struck when it suddenly collapsed in high winds while a train was crossing, killing all 75 people aboard. The incident remains one of the worst bridge-related engineering disasters in history, an event that shook the Victorian engineering community. Eventually another rail bridge was built, much stronger and sturdier, that opened in 1887 and is still used to day. You can see it in the distance in the photo below. 

Road traffic continued to use ferries until the Tay Road Bridge was constructed, opening in 1966. It has a dual carriageway and a pedestrian/cycle route down the middle. It's quite a walk! At 1.4 miles, the bridge is one of the longest road bridges in the UK. Until 2008 it was a toll bridge, but fees to cross it are no longer required.

My last photo shows the road bridge from the riverside in Dundee.  Those scaffold type towers behind it are not part of the bridge, and may be something to do with offshore energy installations.  

There is some humour attached to these bridges. In 2002, a local radio competition to find a slogan for the bridge was abandoned after the slogan with the most votes – 'It's all downhill to Dundee' – (reflecting the bridge's downward angle) was deemed unsuitable.

With regard to the Tay rail bridge disaster, it led to the writing of possibly one of the worst poems in history, by William McGonagall. It's so bad it's almost comical. (Read it HERE) It ends: 

'For the stronger we our houses do build,

The less chance we have of being killed.'

Leeds canal walk

It was a pleasant walk in the sunshine back to Leeds rail station, along the towpath of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal. There are numerous bridges and it's all quite green and leafy, with waterlilies on the surface. 

A section sandwiched between the canal and river has been made into an urban park, quite untamed and full of wildflowers and butterflies. 

Graffiti 'artists'/hooligans (depending on your viewpoint!) have run amok. One wonders how they have managed to access some of the more out of the way stretches, like the wall below tightly sandwiched between the canal and rail lines.  And still more high-rise blocks are under construction. 

Here and there, reminders of the industrial past of this area have been retained. The Italianate tower (below), built in 1866 and modelled on the Torre dei Lamberti in Verona, was a dust extractor for the Tower Works, operational from 1864 until 1981, which made steel pins for carding and combing in the textile industry. 

Eventually the canal arrives at its Leeds endpoint, Granary Wharf (the name being no doubt a bit of a giveaway as to what used to be situated here). In the distance in my photo below you can see the lock that releases it into the River Aire, which becomes navigable from here through the centre of the city to the Leeds Dock marina and then into the Aire and Calder Navigation. 

Monk Bridge Viaduct

Just south of the Wellington Place development (see yesterday), what's left of the disused railway viaduct has recently been reopened as a pedestrian walkway and urban garden, linking the office development with residential areas south of the river. 

The grade two-listed Monk Bridge Viaduct was built around 1846 as part of the new railway network being constructed in the Wellington Street area of Leeds. It became an important part of Leeds Central Station which was completed in 1857, carrying high level lines to the station and connecting to the lifting tower which still stands on the Wellington Place development today.

It still spans the Leeds-Liverpool Canal as that winds its way into the city:

as well as the River Aire which runs alongside the canal: 

The old trackway has been made into an urban park, quite attractive though I'm not sure I'd want to be wandering around there at dusk. 

An early start

I'm not the only one who likes to make an early start on hot days. On many mornings, boats can be seen passing through Hirst Lock and the swing bridge. Here are White Knight and Rhencullen making their way from one overnight mooring to the next. Narrowboats often pair up to traverse the canal. Many hands make for lighter work and two narrowboats fit neatly side by side in the locks. 

I wonder whether bright sunshine is really the ideal weather for a narrowboat trip. I imagine it gets pretty hot inside, so finding a shady mooring beneath the trees must be very welcome. Leaping about in locks, pushing heavy lock gates and trying to shift stiff swing bridges will certainly bring on a sweat! It needed three people's efforts to move the Hirst Lane bridge. 

Frustration

I spent a frustrating morning in Skipton, trying to find some new walking trousers. Those I have are old, shabby and baggy, so I decided I could do with some more flattering ones! There are at least five shops in Skipton that sell outdoor clothes and I visited them all... Annoyingly, I could not find a single pair of trousers that fitted me properly and looked decent. I need quite a small size - UK 8 or 10 - and either I have shrunk or everyone else has grown taller because, whereas I used to be able to buy a regular length, now they're all way too long so I need a specialist short length. Of course there aren't many of those in stock. I cruised round, trying various styles, expanding the amount I was willing to pay with each failed attempt but no joy whatsoever, so I came home empty-handed. I shall just have to look like a bag-lady on my forthcoming walking holiday!

On my way back to the car, I snapped two shots from one of Skipton's canal bridges, one in each direction. There was a party of elderly coach-trippers patiently waiting to board one of the day-cruise boats. Some of them were having a little difficulty hoisting themselves aboard, so it was slow progress. Once settled, I'm sure they would enjoy their canal cruise. 

 

Bolton Abbey estate walk

Another trip to Bolton Abbey for a walk... This was on the 10th March... we're at that time of year when the lag time between me taking photos and posting them here makes a difference. Spring is springing, but in early March there were only subtle signs. Things seem to be moving slowly this year. The day had promised to be bright and sunny. It was dry but there wasn't much sunshine, disappointingly. 

I parked in the Strid car park for a change, walked down through the woods to the river, upriver from the aqueduct (above) to Barden Bridge (below) and then back along the opposite riverbank. It's a very pleasant walk with more open views than you get further downstream. There were plenty of people about, mostly with dogs, but it rarely feels crowded there.

Everything seemed somehow to be poised, waiting, caught in that liminal space between seasons...

Beckfoot bimble

I had a stressful few days trying to get fibre broadband connected. How can BT/Openreach get things so consistently wrong? Eventually, after a lot of hassle, on the third day I did get the working connection I needed. Phew. It was a lovely day, unseasonably warm and sunny, with gorgeous light so the best way for me to decompress was with a walk. I decided I'd go to Bingley as I haven't walked that way for ages, though it's a familiar, favourite route. (I used to live over in that direction.) 

I walked down Beckfoot Lane to the gorgeous little packhorse bridge which has spanned Harden Beck since 1723, though there was a wooden bridge here before that. I've shown it several times before on my blog but I do think it an attractive spot, with the ford and the narrow bridge. Packhorse bridges were traditionally built without parapets so that horses heavily laden with panniers could cross unimpeded. Wooden balustrades have been added to the structure much more recently, as health and safety is taken more seriously these days. 

After recent rain the ford was quite deep and fast-flowing. Misguided visitors to the area, using sat-nav, have many a time come to a halt in their cars half-way across! 

I wanted a photo showing the bridge from the other direction. Beside the bridge, there are some lovely old buildings with a rich history: Templar Cottage and Beckfoot Farmhouse - but what with the sun being in my eyes and an abundance of brambles and shrubbery, that proved more than a difficult assignment! 

Nearby, on the banking, I spotted a really pretty little cluster of newly minted daffodils, the first I'd seen this year. 

Sojourn in Paris #9

Paris 2025 - Canal Saint Martin

I didn't know before this trip that Paris has a canal, the Canal Saint Martin, built in the early 1800s. In the mid-19th century about half of it was covered over, making it a tunnel, to allow the wide boulevards and public spaces now above it towards the centre of the city.  Some stretches remain visible and on our last morning we walked from our accommodation to the Gare du Nord along the side of the canal. It wasn't as picturesque as I'd imagined (I suppose I'd thought 'Amsterdam') and it was too cold to linger outside a café to take in the passing scene but it was still a pleasant walk. It was Sunday morning and there were lots of people about: families strolling, people with model boats, fishermen.

The cast iron bridges cross at frequent intervals and there are a few locks too. We only saw one boat in the distance, albeit we didn't walk the whole open length as we had to veer off towards the station. It's a good job we allowed plenty of time as the trains were packed and at the airport we again faced long, chaotic queues to get through border control. It was quite anxiety-inducing and we were worried whether we'd get to the gate in time for our flight, but we did. 

So now, home and beginning to turn my thoughts to Christmas, though before that I have another upheaval to deal with. A leak on the central heating system means they will have to remove some of the kitchen units to access the rogue pipe. It's not my responsibility, falling to the management company to deal with but since they've taken 22 months and ten engineers to even find the leak (and I found it in the end!), I can perhaps be forgiven for feeling a little sceptical. I could honestly do without it, just before Christmas, but it has to be fixed. Sigh. 

Dean Village and the Water of Leith

Edinburgh #6

Someone had recommended Dean Village and the Water of Leith (the main river that flows through Edinburgh) as good for photos. I'd never been before and it's not far from the west end of the city centre so I walked there. With hindsight it would have been better to walk from Stockbridge along the river to Dean Village, but I did it the other way. With limited time to spare, I think I perhaps missed some of the interesting bits of Dean Village. It was, however, overrun with groups of lively young foreigners, which slightly dented its charm for me photographically. 

The narrow valley was once home to many of the city's grain mills, using the water power of the river to grind flour for its populace. Now it's an attractive residential area, the old buildings having been converted into dwellings. Some of the millstones have been preserved as a memorial. 

The valley is now straddled by Dean Bridge, built in 1831 to carry traffic from Edinburgh towards Queensferry. It was one of the last major works of the famed bridge engineer Thomas Telford. Before that, the only route was across the narrow stone bridge (left of my second photo) at the bottom of the valley. 

Below the four-arched bridge, as traffic rattles overhead, it's surprisingly tranquil (apart from the tourists!) with a nice leafy walk along the Water of Leith to Stockbridge. 

Along the riverside is St Bernard's Well, designed by painter Alexander Nasmyth in 1789. The figurine inside the cupola is apparently the Greek goddess of health, Hygeia. Discovered in 1760, this natural spring was rumoured to have healing powers. 

Sunday calm

Here are a few more photos from my recent walk at Bolton Abbey. It was a calm, damp but relatively warm day. The famous view (known as Turner's View because JMW Turner painted it) was as pretty as ever, though very hazy.

The arch through the Nidd Aqueduct framed some lovely autumn colour. 

After a dry summer, the recent rain has encouraged moss and toadstools. I am not very good at identifying fungi but I suspect these are common Sulphur Tufts that grow on old tree stumps. The little grouping here was rather prettily arranged. 

The level of the river rises and falls very quickly, depending on the rainfall further upstream. It wasn't all that full on the day I visited, so the arches of Bolton Bridge looked really high. 

It's a narrow bridge, only one car width across and steeply arched, so crossing it on foot can be a bit scary. Thankfully there are little triangular inlets above the piers, so there is room to avoid the traffic. Climbing the ancient steps from the river bank also needs care, as you step out through the wall right onto the narrow road. 

The Bolton Abbey estate is scattered with farms and other residences, many occupied by estate workers. The farmhouse on the hillside above the river was covered in rich red Virgina Creeper. 

The Wharfe at Boston Spa

Isn't this a lovely view?  It's the River Wharfe as it runs down through the village of Boston Spa. After recent rain, the river is much fuller than it has been. On the right you can just see Jackdaw Crags, an outcrop of limestone that's protected as a SEGI, a Site of Ecological and Geological Importance. 

In the centre of the village, a long-standing and significant river crossing point, once a ford, is now spanned by the five arch Thorp Arch bridge, constructed in 1770.  

Looking upstream from the bridge you can just see the 18th century weir that once harnessed the water's flow to supply local corn and textile mills with power. 

It was hard to get closer to the weir because of the vegetation on the river bank. Where once it was a hive of industry, now it has modern residences with tranquil views over the water. In the foreground you can see the recently constructed fish pass, part of an environmental scheme to enable fish, particularly salmon, to migrate up and down our rivers, bypassing the man-made obstructions. 

I did attempt a more 'arty shot' of the weir through the trees but, given that by this stage I was reduced to using my phone and not my camera, it didn't quite work! 

And finally, here I am with my phone - photo courtesy of one of my friends!