Sunday 24 June 2012
Stop
It has been something of a source of frustration for me ever since I was a child, that in one lifetime you can only touch a fraction of all that there is to be explored and known about in the world. I have always had the sense that my experience is a mere postage-stamp-sized piece on the great postcard of life.
It was with something of that in mind that one day I stopped and really looked at this swing bridge. Spanning the Leeds-Liverpool Canal just above Hirst Lock, it (or its predecessor) has carried traffic to the little mill beside the river for years and now to the few houses on that side of the canal. I pass it so often that I hardly notice it, but in fact - small though it is - it is a piece of precision engineering. It's designed to swing to the side to allow boats through, so every piece must fit together perfectly. (See also here)
There must be someone somewhere who knows everything there is to know about bridges like this... I wonder what it must feel like, to be someone who knows everything there is to know about bridges like this.... Not that I want to be that person, but it remains a source of amazement and delight to me that people can be so different - aptitudes, skills, experiences, life stories. Maybe that's part of why I enjoy blogging, because it allows me to glimpse some of the othernesses in the world. It makes me stop and notice and think.
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You're in a philosophical frame of mind, jennyfreckles. This reminded me of a question from my OU days. When does a bridge (or any other construction, for that matter) become a bridge. When it first presents as an idea in the mind of the architect? When it's committed to the drawing stage? When it's actually completed, and in working order?
ReplyDeleteA lovely image and a very interesting and reflective read.
ReplyDeleteGood Post! My you are clever!
ReplyDeleteI expect that the person who knows everything there is to know about such bridges wishes that he/she was more expert at cooking or pole-vaulting or botany or.......
ReplyDeleteI agree-- blogging has led me down many paths I might otherwise never have explored.
ReplyDeleteThere are things that you know that the person who knows all about bridges wishes that he knew . . .
ReplyDeleteMy great-grandfather, a civil engineer, may have known everything there is to know about such a bridge. Having monster-sized curiosity and a voracious appetite for learning, I've gone down the path to make me a generalist: I know a little about much. That's not always been best for me in a world of specialists, yet I don't regret my choice. I feel richer for it. And yes, blogging brings to me ideas and information I might not otherwise gravitate towards. I enjoy the surprise of it.
ReplyDeleteA most reflective piece Jennyfreckles, thank you. Mind you: "There must be someone somewhere who knows everything there is to know about bridges like this . . . . . I wonder what it must be like to be someone who knows everything about bridges like this" . . . . .That was pure "Gleggy" from "Last of the Summer Wine" . . delightful
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