Sunday 1st December- Work Party

The old bridge, blending in nicely!

It was a bit of a grey day and quite a few of the group were either ill or otherwise engaged. Nevertheless, we had the challenge of replacing the bridge at the top which had got a bit bouncy as it some of the timbers were showing signs of rot. 

First off though, a bit of raking the leaves in the village hall garden, sorry no pictures.

The old bridge was constructed in March 2014. It was before the blog started so I'm just going to share a few photos from then. It was put in to increase accessibility to the woodland and we got a grant to cover the cost of the materials. A few of us are still in the woodland group although not everyone was able to be here this time. 

The date on the photos is wrong as they were published on Facebook on March 7th 2014

Just starting

Work underway.

Finished bridge (2014)

Fast forward to December 2024

The old bridge had to be levered up and then flipped over to get it out of the way to break up. 

The soil was dug out to fit in the new timbers which are the other way round to the original ones, and slightly different lengths!

Once in place the gaps were filled with soil, the planks screwed to the bearers and the wire netting replaced to make a non slip surface. 

Finished bridge 2024!

You may be able to tell that the weather had deteriorated by this time so we put the benches and hedge planting on hold for next time.