Not Around Preston

A transporter bridge has a moving platform - called a gondola - that is hung from a bogie high above it., suspended by cables. The bogie runs along rails from one side of the river to the other, and hence the gondola below does likewise. They were used to cross navigable rivers, as they do not obstruct the river - an alternative to a lifting or swing bridge. Less than two dozen were built around the would, and only eight remain; three in the UK. The other two are in Middlesborough and Newport. None are currently in working order, though the other two are in better condition than this one! The Warrington Transporter Bridge is unusual (even for transporter bridges) in that it was built for private industry. The local chemical plant was producing waste calcium carbonate and dumping in in the Mersey, and were told not to, so decided to build a cement plant to process it instead. The only land was the other side of the Mersey. This was my first properly look at it. The buildings on the righ...

I was in London, had some free time, and the tube was on strike, so I took a train to Richmond. The railway arrived at Richmond in 1846, and sealed its fate as a suburb of London. At one time there were two station, one either side of the main road, The Quadrant. Both stations fell under the control of the Southern Railway in 1923, and they were rebuilt as a single station in 1937, in an Art Deco style. It has just this year been restored, and the interior in particular has been faithfully done. To the right of the station is the Railway Tavern; rather older than the station, and undergoing renovation itself. It was built on a triangular plot, making me wonder what the rooms are like. I headed southwest along The Quadrant, towards the river. Is this half-timbered building the oldest building? Looks authentic to me, but it is not listed (as far as I can tell) so perhaps mock-Tudor? Dome Buildings is listed, and is where The Quadrant becomes George Street.  This was originally the Me...