Nothing much to say special about today ...
We are staying in Ludlow for 3 nights, although neither of us can remember exactly why. When we were talking about it months ago it seemed that there were quite a number of spectacular drives through the Green and White mountain areas called Notches. We figured they would either be full of colour or snow. Bzzzz. Wrong! The leaves are certainly past their prime now and are being stripped by the wind and frosts from the trees but apparently we may have to wait until sometime in November before we see snow. Last year apparently they had no snow until after Christmas and even then it wasn’t enough for the ski season.
So we decided to find a few more covered bridges, at least we would then have an excuse to go places.
This one is still in normal use and quite good condition. It’s hard to tell just how much repair work has been done but I don’t think it could have been there without all the concrete supports, except perhaps the centre pillars which may have been added in later.
Makes you wonder why it wasn’t just made as a concrete bridge.
It’s very difficult to get down to river level at most of these bridges as they tend to be across quite deep and steep sided valleys but in a few places there are some quite nice places nearby so we decide to practice some slow shutterspeed photography.
This has the effect of making the water quite blurred but leaving everything else quite sharp.
Whatever takes your fancy I suppose.
The next bridge is not in very good condition and is closed to traffic.
Again the banks are too steep to get away from the trees but by very carefully moving the leaves out of the way, they act just like ice or slippery mud when you stand on them, I can get a clearer shot.
On the inside you can see where the big laminated arched beam on the left has buckled severely. It looks like some repair work has been attempted at some time but it was never going to be successful.
These beams are huge and we can’t imagine them either being built elsewhere and transported here or being built on the spot. Either way it’s pretty damn clever.
We manage to find a few more but somehow they don’t seem to measure up to the Madison County ideal.
They come in all shapes, sizes, methods of construction and states of repair.
Fortunately there is also some pleasant countryside connecting them through which we can drive.
It is quite amazing really but it is hard to go two kilometres without seeing construction of some kind or another. It is often quite difficult to tell commercial buildings and houses apart as they both have the same look; constructed of timber weatherboard, two story with a porch and a balcony; and they are scattered indiscriminately about the countryside. Where they are grouped closer together it is called a town but some towns run into each other and even overlap. It’s all a bit confusing at times.
And every now and then you run into a group of houses that are almost obscured by the collections of old vehicles, caravans, machinery and general detritus which is straight out of the Beverley Hillbillies, before they moved to Beverley that is. I don’t have any photos because every time we slow and wind the window down I can hear banjos playing somewhere and all the people sitting in deck chairs look at us suspiciously because we don’t have gun racks in the back window so we just keep moving ...
As it’s getting dark we find an old power station which actually has quite a picturesque weir with some trees around which have some colour left in them
So we decide to drag out the ND filters and have another go at the smooth water shots.
It doesn’t look it here because the exposures are so long, 10-15 seconds, the sky still looks light but it is getting quite late so with one last shot it’s time to head off and get some dinner.
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