[Leica] Re: Canal bridge

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Jul 9, 2007, at 9:35 PM, Hoppy wrote:

>
> Graham and Jerry, that is truly amazing. Jerry, you are saying that  
> the bridge is an aqueduct, part of the canal system, actually
> passing over the natural water course?

Yes, indeed. It is a bridge for canal boats (narrow boats).

A canal boat vacation is a leisurely drift from pub to pub through  
bucolic scenery. You either love it or hate it. A recent BBC TV  
special on vacation sites interviewed canal boaters and found, to no  
one?s surprise, that retirees loved it and teens were bored out of  
their skulls. The British countryside is relatively flat and only a  
few locks are needed to cross most of the small hills. The Llangollen  
Canal is one of the exceptions. The beautiful River Dee runs in a  
gorge near the town. To keep the Llangollen canal relatively level,  
the builders hired Thomas Telford, a 19th. century engineering  
genius, to build a 1007 foot long, 121 foot high aqueduct to cross  
the river. The canal boats simply float over the river at the height  
of a 10 story building. The Pontcysyllte aqueduct, perched on 19  
stone arches, is another one of those engineering marvels that  
boggles the contemporary imagination. How could country stone masons,  
without the benefit of steam shovels, bulldozers, and power tools  
build a structure, literally a stone sculpture, that has stood for  
200 years when more modern bridges have crumbled into piles of rust?  
Just like the Leica cameras of the 30's still function relatively  
trouble free while the M8 - - - - . You fill in the rest.

Larry Z