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Wednesday 17 August 2016

A Prehistoric 'Salter's Way'

The main road dissects this small village so for years I simply saw it as a small dot on the road to or from Louth.    It wasn't until I decided to go and explore that I found this beautiful, very small bridge.



A village lane runs almost parallel with it and large ugly utilitarian railings have been installed to make sure than cars don't slip into the stream, so it is difficult to get a decent photograph.   Safety first, but surely there must be a better way for history and safety to coexist.

The bridge probably dates to the 1300's and was a packhorse bridge.     It is very narrow, perhaps three feet wide.    I hope those horses were sure-footed.


The track probably led out to the coast, to where that valuable commodity, salt, was harvested.   It runs back up to the Wolds and was known to be in use since prehistoric times as well as by the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes.


This beautiful photograph was found on lincs2thepast  and shows the bridge after some serious clearing and tidying has been done.  It looks huge, trust me, it is tiny.


This rather sweet old painting, courtesy of the lincstothepast.com team is by Karl Wood 1888-1954 and shows the bridge in earlier times.

A tiny bridge but countless feet and hooves have been across it, including mine.

7 comments:

  1. Photos can be deceptive as the bridge looks huge but big enough for one person to walk across. Posted a photo of a Lancaster yesterday

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    1. Hello Bill, I must take a grandchild with me next time, they can help to illustrate just how small the bridge is. I have to nip out right now, but I'll look in at the Lancaster later. I love those old planes and I'm so glad they manage to keep a few going.

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  2. Looks like a bridge for The Three Billy Goats Gruff to trot over. Hope there is not an angry Troll hiding underneath!
    Have a wonderful Wednesday :)

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    1. Hello Prunella, No angry troll, thank goodness, but the Billy Goats Gruff would look great trotting (in single file) over the bridge. I must remember to spin that yarn when I take the grandchildren to see it, they'll appreciate that far more than the historical aspects!

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    2. Ohhhhh, but not all Trolls, are mean! I just read a lovely book, where one just loves the Troll, in it. Sweeeet, he is!

      The book is "The Grave of Laney Grace"...

      Luna Crone

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  3. Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos, with us!!!!

    Luna Crone

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    1. I'm glad you enjoyed seeing them, Luna! I just did a search for the book, I think I could well end up buying a copy!

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Lovely to hear from you.
I will try to answer comments in the next post.