6 Beautiful Bridges in Tunbridge and Chelsea

Saturday, July 27, 2013 part 3

Before I fill you in on the rest of our trip I wanted to answer a question Dan receive from an out of state friend. Here the question and Dan's answer.

Friend: OK, I'm naive. What's the significance of covered bridges and the hunt for such bridges?

Dan: Good question. The search to 'see' every covered bridge in the state started when Nancy and I became members of The 251 Club of Vermont. Members visit every town in the state. This 'club' was founded in 1954, when Dr. Arthur Peach wanted to know about 'all things Vermont' and the only way was to travel around the state and visit each town. There are 251 official town in the state. At one time there were over 200 covered bridges in Vermont, and through the years they have been destroyed by floods, vandalized and burned or simply been updated by new technology. These bridges are works of art, with several basic designers who constructed their bridges regionally throughout out the state. This 'journey' would be compared to visiting the 46 National Historic Landmarks in New Mexico. Also great Dan & Nancy time, find little lunch spots, etc.

So ... on with Saturday's trip. From Thetford we took Routes 132 and 14 over to Route 110. Route 110 runs north and south parallel to Route 100.  Route 110 is one of my favorite roads and I didn't even realize there were six beautiful covered bridges nearby.  The town of Tunbridge owns all five of the well maintained bridges.  All all of the bridges are still in use.  The Howe Bridge is visible on the right to northbound travelers.  Pretty flower filled pails greet visitors to this bridge. An old ladder can be seen hanging inside the bridge.

Howe Bridge

Pretty welcome.

Multiple kingposts

Down a little farm road we located the Cilley Bridge. It looked practically brand new.  Notice the windows on one side allow drivers on the bridge to see oncoming traffic.

Cilley Bridge

In the center of Tunbridge, just north of the fairgrounds, is the Mill Bridge surrounded by what is left of various mill buildings.  This bridge has also had recent restoration work.

Mill Bridge

Windows on one side so oncoming traffic is visible.

One of my favorite bridge shots.

Interesting architecture. 

Located just north of the center of town is the Larkin Bridge. It was built in 1902. I noticed right away that something was different about this bridge.  It appeared to be sitting at an angle over the stream. The front opening wasn't squared with the landing.  I found out that it is called a 'skewed' bridge. That means the bridge is placed over the stream on a slant.  So the bottom of the bridge is actually a  trapezoid instead of a rectangle.

Larkin Bridge

Larkin Bridge

The final bridge in Tunbridge is the Flint Bridge. This functional queenpost bridge is the oldest bridge in Tunbridge built in 1845.

Flint Bridge

A quick trip over the narrow Moxley Road (I snapped this road sign  for my friend Jeanne in Maine) we arrived at our final bridge for this trip just over the town line in Chelsea.  We liked the Moxley Bridge sign.  Pretty fancy.  The Moxley Bridge is also a skewed bridge.  We found out that the Larkin bridge and the Moxley bridge were built by Arthur C. Adams. The area around the Moxley Bridge is charming with a little feeder stream running down a side hill to join the First Branch River.

Moxley Bridge

Moxley Bridge, side view

What a great day we had traveling from the northeast kingdom to New Hampshire to central Vermont.  It was a glorious summer day and we enjoyed every spectacular view and new experience.  76 covered bridges so far.  33 more to go.  We think there are 109 altogether. Not sure where we will go next weekend but we will have to head south.  I am anxious to see the twin bridges in Hartland.  Thanks for reading my ramblings.  Happy travels.

Nancy

Detour

Saturday, July 27, 2013 Part 2

Following our visit to Lyndon we planned to head down to the Thetford area.  A glimpse at the map let us know that there were no covered bridges between the two locations that we hadn't seen yet so we took a detour down route 135 in New Hampshire.  Guess what? New Hampshire has beautiful covered bridges too! Just off route 302 we toured the beautifully maintained Haverhill - Bath bridge.  I bet this would be a great wedding venue as long as you kept the guest list under 200!  This bridge is 256.3 feet long.

Haverhill - Bath Covered Bridge -   New Hampshire

Impressive arch.

This is a town lattice bridge.

Nope I wouldn't let Dan carve his name. Someone beat him to it.

We took another short detour up 302 to the unique town of Bath.  I wanted to show Dan a bridge that I had seen last week after making a car delivery in Littleton, New Hampshire.  This is the Bath Covered Bridge.  It is 374'6" long and is made up of spans of 117'6", 66'6", 62'6", and 80'0". We will have to stop by when the restoration is complete.  Both of the bridges we saw in New Hampshire are longer than the ones we have seen in Vermont so far.

Bath Covered Bridge

Next to the Bath Covered Bridge we found The Brick Store, the oldest continuously operating general store in America.  Very cute.

Everyone is offered a free sample!

Delicious!

Yup. We bought some.  Buy four squares get two free.  What a deal.  (I'm back ... just had a fudge break!)

We thought we were going to buy lunch there but got the fudge instead. So our next stop was back in Vermont at the Newbury Village store.  We bought BLT's to go and ate them in a little park in Bradford.

The mosaic above the Snapple cooler in the Newbury Village Store is of the Bedell Covered Bridge.  This bridge linked Newbury, VT with Haverhill, NH.  It was the second longest bridge in the United States at 396 feet.  It had been rebuilt several times.  A Save the Bedell Bridge Committee raised $250,000 to rebuild the bridge, which was completed by 1978 and rededicated on July 22, 1979 only to be blown away again by a windstorm on September 14, 1979.  How disappointing for all of those supporters.

After our detour we finally arrived in Thetford and easily found two more bridges.  The Sayers bridge or Thetford Center bridge is a Haupt truss bridge. 

Haupt Truss.

In the center of Thetford we turned on to Academy Road (which passes Thetford Academy).  This winding scenic road leads to the Union Village Bridge.  Another well maintained bridge.  Perhaps the windows are screened to keep daredevils from leaping into the Ompompanoosuc River below!

Just beyond the bridge we made a brief u-turn as we had to go back and snap a few pictures of this stone wall.  Clever.

I made Dan take another short detour into South Royalton. I wanted a closer look at the beautiful bell tower above Debevoise Hall at the Vermont Law School.  "Debevoise Hall, a strikingly elegant structure built in 1893 as South Royalton’s first centralized graded school, anchors the Vermont Law School campus. Its distinctive bell tower—eight tiny triangular dormers whimsically circle the roofline—can be seen from anywhere in the surrounding village and by travelers on Interstate 89." (http://www.vermontlaw.edu/experience_vls/the_campus/debevoise_hall.htm)

The bell tower above Debevoise Hall at the Vermont Law School

 

A few other non-bridge sights along the way.

Orcutt Park - Stannard Villagescape - Recreation Conservation Area

  

The view from Stannard Mountain.

Ponies in Lyndon.

Jeanne this one is for you!

Total Vermont bridges: 70.  Stay tuned for one more post on this trip.  Look for it on Friday.  Nancy

Lyndon - Covered Bridges in Trouble

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Yesterday I received a message from Suzy in Wyoming.  Did I know that one of the bridges in Lyndon is in trouble? She included a link to an article from the Caledonian Record.  "Lyndon Bridge is Falling Down"  So this morning we headed over to Lyndon which claims to be the Covered Bridge Capital of the Northeast Kingdom.  We were sad to see the condition of two of the five bridges.

 After our picturesque trip over Stannard Mountain we arrived first at the Chamberlain Mill Bridge.  An unusual queenpost covered bridge with open sides.  The large roof overhangs help protect the bridge. This bridge is open to traffic.

Chamberlain Mill Bridge

Chamberlain Bridge

Just about a mile away is the School House Bridge.  Closed to traffic it makes a great picnic spot.  There is a pretty little park and a picnic table on the bridge.  The most interesting aspect of this bridge are the inner walls covering the queenpost trusses. A little note on the inner wall of the bridge said that the walls may have been boarded to prevent the school children from climbing into the rafters! It looks like the town spends a lot of money on fresh white paint!  Being a former teacher I can almost imagine the children using the bridge's walkway on their way to and from school.

School House Bridge

School House Bridge

 The Miller's Run Bridge is easily the prettiest covered bridge in Lyndon.  It is on a state road so it has received a bit more money and attention.

Miller's Run Bridge

Miller's Run Bridge

The bridge hunters hard at work.

Around the corner from Miller's Run is the Sanborn Bridge.  This is the bridge that is falling down.  It is a Paddleford bridge designed by Peter Paddleford of nearby Littleton, New Hampshire. Paddleford was an inventor who never patented his design.  Privately owned and damaged again by the most recent rains the Sanborn bridge has been closed to ALL traffic.  To remove it requires permits and the owners have been trying to give it away.  (See article: "Lyndon Bridge is Falling Down")  The owners are planning to board the bridge up this week.  I thought it was funny that there seemed to be a building inside the bridge.  I later found out that there use to be a real estate office housed there.  Perhaps this bridge can be saved, if you believe in miracles!

Sanborn Bridge

Last legs.

There use to be a real estate office on the bridge!  Now there is a police line! Do not cross.

Our final stop in Lyndon is the Randall Bridge.  Also in pretty tough shape.  We just did a drive-by.  Funny that most of the Lyndon bridges were open sided.

Randall Bridge - looking east

We actually saw 15 bridges today.  I will be writing about the rest of our day in two more posts.  Let's just say we took a detour. Stopped by the oldest continually operating general store in America. Bought some fudge. And toured Tunbridge, where there are a ton of bridges!  Total bridges 68.  Be looking for another post on Tuesday. Happy travels.

Nancy