Monday 23 May 2016

The Bridge and Bullpit Meadow, Crickhowell


A settlement has existed at Crickhowell at least since the Iron Age when settlers built a fort on the top of Crug Hywel, also called Table Mountain after its flat top. In the town a motte and bailey castle, remains of which still exist, was built by the Normans.


A well known feature of Crickhowell is the bridge spanning the River Usk. 


Built in 1706, it was modified in 1828/30 resulting in thirteen arches on the upstream side, with twelve on the downstream side. 


It is the longest stone arch bridge in Wales.




The Bridge End Inn.



Next to the bridge, opposite the Bridge End Inn,  is Bullpit meadow


It is an ideal place to sit and watch the wildlife on the river.


The flowers included White Dead-nettle.


Forget-me-nots.

The Sallow catkins were losing their seeds to the slightest of breezes.

There were plenty of House Sparrows, Pied Wagtails and Grey Wagtails bobbing around near our feet.  P-w-l-t saw a kingfisher but the chances of photographing one are similar to those of winning the lottery.  


Much more sedate were the Mallards and the Swans.



Mrs Mallard was keeping an eye on her duckling.


A Merganser led its tribe of Merganserlings (or whatever baby mergansers are called) along the river.



And a Heron stopped to digest its fishy breakfast.


5 comments:

  1. My little brain is still trying to work out how there can be more arches on one side than the other.

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  2. Thank you for another set of great pictures and interesting information! I like learning about parts of the UK where I've never been.

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  3. When you run out of words for a baby whateveritis, you can always just use the word "babies". Works for every species, at least to me.

    What i'm running out of words for is describing how much i love seeing your pictures!

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  4. Like GB I wondered why 13 arches on the upstream and only 12 on the downstream...definitely not architectural detail so must be some engineering detail....curious to know why.
    The swans are beautiful.

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  5. I'm curious to know what the difference in number of arches looks like.
    Enjoyed the tour.
    Sarah in California

    ReplyDelete

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