Things to come
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1881 census
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New Album
9th April 2008
T&S Bridge
Weymoor Bridge
exposed--pictures
T&S
Bridge
Weymoor Bridge
update from "The
Trow"
Latton Village
Kelly's directory
1895
Before Alfred
there was
Joseph Aldworth
North Wilts
1810-1820
History
1851 Census
Who lived in the
area in 1851
Staunch
Last working
boat through Latton.
Butterfield
Victorian 'photo album.
Continued Progress At Latton
By Keith Harding.
After we had finished using the eight ton excavator and the three ton dumper truck at Rucks Bridge, Bison Plant Hire transported them to our work site near Latton Basin. Once there, our aim was to clear the line of the Thames and Severn Canal along the offside of the Latton Junction Basin and as far as Weymoor Lane.
We first directed our attention to the site of the demolished and completely buried Weymoor Bridge. The off-side abutment had been re-discovered some two years previously when I had spotted some brick work in the side of a rabbit hole, and careful digging had revealed the remaining wall as high as the stone springer for the brick arch. Subsequent investigations had found the canal walls that defined and protected both sides of the cut. Using the digger, the whole of the off side abutment was cleared in minutes, tree stumps and heavy broken masonry were removed from the bed, and then, on the very first pass, we found the near side abutment, just four inches behind where I had been previously digging by hand!
Dave Goodman removes more soil with Weymoor Bridge in
the background.
Over the next three days, we continued the clearance of the bridge and the side walls of the canal. The near-side wall is largely built of bricks, with flat stone copings, and continues as a dry stone wall after about twenty feet. The offside wall is largely built out of dressed stone, and interestingly we found scratched masons marks on the vertical front faces of the copings.
Weymoor Bridge revealed.
Many of the bricks to either side of the bridge opening are stamped “T & S C”, and there is a metal bench mark plate within the near side. The bridge opening is twenty two feet wide, and the width of the canal is sixteen feet, which are standard dimensions for the Thames and Severn hump backed bridges in this part of the canal. We also partly cleared the rest of the cut as far as the Latton Junction Basin itself and put another twenty yards back in water, as well as landscaping the whole site.
Water enters the newly excavated section.
Special praise is due to Tony Potter, Dave Goodman and George Smith for expertly operating the big digger, and thanks to Guy Tomblin of Bison Plant, and also of course to our regular Thursday work party. Between us we clocked up 108 hours work at Latton during the week; time well spent.
(Reprinted from
"The Trow" no. 138 by permission of Keith Harding)
(All photos by George Smith)