I've driven, and cycled, over that bridge countless times, and sometimes used to go swimming in the river at that point. I never realised how old the bridge is.
Driven over there probably hundreds of times and only once had my wing-mirror smashed off by a wagon coming the opposite way. Particularly scary in the dark with people approaching with headlights on "full beam". ; - )
Nice to see the bridge from “the other side,” so to speak. I must travel over that bridge at least twice daily so don’t get to see it in all its glory. Hope you went to the Crewe and Harpur for a pint!
Swalkstone causeway is an amazing bit of engineering and is full of WTF when you attempt to drive across it. Even though HGVs are barred from using it, busses are not and meeting one coming the other way is very exciting ! During flooding, the whole length of the causeway becomes a bridge which feels very vulnerable to nature which adds to the excitement !
I've driven over the causeway - which the main bit actually is - and bridge over the Trent hundreds of times since the 1960s. It's an odd beast because it was widened at some time and it wasn't done on the same side all the way so there's a noticeable jiggle near Stanton by Bridge. The whole length of the causeway is a floodplain and I've known it being under water as far as you could see. The Trent Bridge is relatively new and replaced one that had a bridge chapel. It has a high arch because the Trent was navigable as far as Burton before the canal opened. Swarkestone is the furthest south that Bonnie Prince Charlie's army reached. He and some officers got as far as Derby but the main force stopped here before beginning their retreat.
I was going to add the bit about bonnie Prince Charlie, if no one else had. I have been over this bridge many a time but never seen it from ground level before. Fascinating film.
That is fascinating, Antony! We are surrounded by history in the UK, and Derbyshire (my home county) is no exception. You'd love Church Wilne and St Chad's Water, near Draycott.Also, Elvaston Castle's Jolly Huntsman's tree next to the medieval Harrington family church. Cheers again 👍
You made me chuckle saying " i bet its been repaired" as nearly every week a lump gets knocked off by lorries, busses or cars hitting the walls and the council need to cement it back together. Its an exceptionally busy road as a lot of traffic heads to Donnington park, Ashby and the Airport that way. The causeway was the furthest South the scouts of Bonnie Prince Charlies army went before returning North. Charlie himself stayed in Derby.
My Mom as recently working on our ancestry and was able to go very far back. This bridge was put up by my ancestors. They died penniless trying to build it. Very beautiful country. I hope to see it one day. Thank you for showing me.(:
What an amazing video. I live only 2 miles from this, I've driven over it a thousand times yet you show me stuff I've never seen by walking in the fields next to the causeway. Thank you.
The variety in the brickwork and structural engineering is amazing, a real testimony to the craftsmen. I remember a few years back pre-covid competing in Derby and popping down to the WillingtonTowers, I then took a detour south to Swarkestone Bridge, that was a cracking day out.
Ant, I live in a old house, 1961, but after watching any of your videos it makes my home feel brand new. I have to say it again your live in history everyday........ Thanks.
What a fascinating mixture of architectural features and methods of construction! Amazing to think it is still such a vital highway and carrying a greater load of traffic than throughout its very long history. Some great drone footage. Thank you for a very interesting video!
Nice one Ant it always amazes me how we are part of our history. Some of these structures were built by monks. Wr have been under the Radcot Bridge on the upper thames that was built by monks about 900 years ago. Keep up the lovely videos.
I found driving across this terrifying as it's a narrow road with pretty much constant traffic. Thanks for the video - you don't get to see all the arches from above.
Hi Ant, don't know how I missed this gem. Beautiful bridge so old & most of it original, love how no arches are the same & what fascinates me us it was never built to carry an A road! ❤😊
From your overhead drone footage you can see a couple of traffic pinch-points which can be identified where the white lines disappear - always interesting when meeting busses and trucks coming from the opposite direction, but you learn to look well ahead and give way at a point before the white lines run out. Also the outside bend at the Stanton-by-bridge end of the route is frequently being rebuilt, as the approach from Stanton towards Swarkestone is quite steep and sweeps from a left bend into this one at the start of the bridge and people often misjudge the turn. I really liked the piece showing the "eyes" and the "beak" which I thought to look more like an owl. ; - )
Dove Bridge at Uttoxeter is another Medieval bridge worth investigation as is the old bridge at Water Orton, all in the Midlands. Both are 13th/14th century.
Hi, I live 18 miles away from this bridge, been over many times, beautiful construction, beautiful countryside. There are 3 or 4 narrow parts where you have to be careful whilst passing oncoming traffic, sometimes even having to stop. Great video, subscribed 👍
I've lived the vast majority of my 80 years within 7 or 8 miles of Swarkestone Bridge. I had no idea that some of the archways were so medieval in appearance before they were strengthened. I do know that parts of the bridge were widened piecemeal as horse-drawn traffic gave way to motors and damage was caused as the parapets were struck. These days there are weight restrictions to prevent use by hgvs, although buses and local goods vehicles comply with these limits. I really enjoyed an alternative look at a familiar structure.
This is a very interesting bridge, Ant. So many different styles of arches of great architecture, and it makes you wonder where, they've been re-enforced, how the bricks have managed to stay in place with all that traffic above, and the vibration. A great feat of civil engineering in its day. Many thanks for this showing.
Hello Ant - greetings from Poland. Many congratulations on producing such an interesting and well made video. Your camera skills, drone shots and commentary were brilliant. A fascinating structure. Made in so many different ways. Is it a protected monument? Thanks agin for the superb vlog. Stay safe and I'll see you again soon
Just superb Ant 🙂 the drone footage has taken these video’s to a superb level of interest as well. IT just helps to see the whole area to get the context of what it is you’re showing us 🙂
This has got to be my favorite exploration that you have done. I find this absolutely fascinating , I wonder how long it took to build this. Again another excellent professional production also. I noticed at 14.30 when you were admiring the 2 small archways, if you look at the stone above them it looks to me like a 1164 carved it in. And yes I liked the two arches with the beak! I guess stone work is fascinating to me as my Grandfather was a stone mason apprenticed in Wales circa 1910 approx.then moved to Canada.
Thanks so very much Cathy. I rewatched it to see the date you mention and i can see it too. I wonder what that is for? I guess that'll remain a mystery
Great vid Ant, what a fantastic structure, so many different styles and still serving its purpose after all this time. Was that a date on that cute little bridge🦉??? Loving the eagle🦅 Excellent dronage, gives a better reference to your location👍🏻❤
i think the technical term for those water channels in the building industry is a ' Weep-hole' from my past experience Ant, although can vary all over the country. One of the most historic bridges in the country of course.
Very good. Enjoyed this thank you. And your last video, getting to Swarkestone, was excellent too with some beautiful photography. Are you going to do a walk down the old Derby Canal?
Thanks very much Pete. The Derby Canal was one of the first I was going to do a couple of years ago when I started all this. For some reason I haven't yet. I'd better crack on 👍
Any chance we could see the music used in the vids? The music especially in the first half is amazing and a lot of your other vids use some really nice music. Would love to be able to see in the info links to the music used. Incidentally, I'm fairly local to a lot of the areas you explore, and regularly go past quite a few of them as I live just south of Nottingham itself.
I live a couple miles away, on a bad winter (flooding) the floods covers the field on the right floods and the road on the left to the John Thompson floods and gets closed.
Hi Ant, I think your stone with Bend 52.0 is something to do with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and is to do with flooding and the gravel bed, but most of what I have read goes way over my head so I stand to be corrected.
My great uncle harry White lived in the cottage on the Swad side of the bridge in the entrance to the quarry where the stone came from you catch his cottage around the 18:20 mark i wonder who lives there now. There was no inside toilet when Harry lived there he was a man still living in the late 1800s. His valuables are still supposed to be hidden in the quarry somewhere. I used to look in every crack in the quarry as a boy trying to find his treasure. My uncle used to take me fishing in the pools on the far side of the bridge in the 1970s.
good vid this, i dont ive found you before, i quite likes music to,, but i bet the field level was much lower down when it was first built, interesting tho
It might even be Older than we think ... 500 years ago it was probably a lot wetter in that area so they had to build the road like that ... It must have taken some doing to lay all the foundation stones on that boggy wet ground ...
Fantastic video as ever 👍🏻👍🏻 Amazes me how all this amazing infrastructure was built to last. Would love to go out on a historic walk/explore one day with yourself or as a little ramble. What would you say to that? Or are you a lone ranger 🤔🤣
I've driven, and cycled, over that bridge countless times, and sometimes used to go swimming in the river at that point. I never realised how old the bridge is.
What a testament to those medieval masons and labourers who constructed such a wonder. Great filming thanks.
Thank you very much Robin. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Driven over there probably hundreds of times and only once had my wing-mirror smashed off by a wagon coming the opposite way. Particularly scary in the dark with people approaching with headlights on "full beam". ; - )
I can imagine it's not very nice at night. Thank you for watching 🙂
Nice to see the bridge from “the other side,” so to speak. I must travel over that bridge at least twice daily so don’t get to see it in all its glory. Hope you went to the Crewe and Harpur for a pint!
Swalkstone causeway is an amazing bit of engineering and is full of WTF when you attempt to drive across it.
Even though HGVs are barred from using it, busses are not and meeting one coming the other way is very exciting !
During flooding, the whole length of the causeway becomes a bridge which feels very vulnerable to nature which adds to the excitement !
crossed this bridge over the years but never been able to stop and look around thank you as always Great video :-)
I've driven over the causeway - which the main bit actually is - and bridge over the Trent hundreds of times since the 1960s. It's an odd beast because it was widened at some time and it wasn't done on the same side all the way so there's a noticeable jiggle near Stanton by Bridge. The whole length of the causeway is a floodplain and I've known it being under water as far as you could see. The Trent Bridge is relatively new and replaced one that had a bridge chapel. It has a high arch because the Trent was navigable as far as Burton before the canal opened.
Swarkestone is the furthest south that Bonnie Prince Charlie's army reached. He and some officers got as far as Derby but the main force stopped here before beginning their retreat.
I was going to add the bit about bonnie Prince Charlie, if no one else had. I have been over this bridge many a time but never seen it from ground level before. Fascinating film.
That is fascinating, Antony! We are surrounded by history in the UK, and Derbyshire (my home county) is no exception. You'd love Church Wilne and St Chad's Water, near Draycott.Also, Elvaston Castle's Jolly Huntsman's tree next to the medieval Harrington family church. Cheers again 👍
Never heard of that bridge before, what an amazing structure. Great video as always :)
Thanks very much Mike
You made me chuckle saying " i bet its been repaired" as nearly every week a lump gets knocked off by lorries, busses or cars hitting the walls and the council need to cement it back together. Its an exceptionally busy road as a lot of traffic heads to Donnington park, Ashby and the Airport that way.
The causeway was the furthest South the scouts of Bonnie Prince Charlies army went before returning North. Charlie himself stayed in Derby.
My Mom as recently working on our ancestry and was able to go very far back. This bridge was put up by my ancestors. They died penniless trying to build it. Very beautiful country. I hope to see it one day. Thank you for showing me.(:
Old architecture is magnificent
It certainly is. Thank you for watching
What an amazing video.
I live only 2 miles from this, I've driven over it a thousand times yet you show me stuff I've never seen by walking in the fields next to the causeway. Thank you.
Thankyou very much for watching :)
A good video of The Medieval Swarkestone Bridge of Derbyshire - Ancient Road!.✔✔✔✔
Thanks very much Michael
The variety in the brickwork and structural engineering is amazing, a real testimony to the craftsmen. I remember a few years back pre-covid competing in Derby and popping down to the WillingtonTowers, I then took a detour south to Swarkestone Bridge, that was a cracking day out.
Brilliant video. I've driven over here a good few times and always thought it looked old, but too busy watching the traffic to fully appreciate it!
Ant, I live in a old house, 1961, but after watching any of your videos it makes my home feel brand new. I have to say it again your live in history everyday........ Thanks.
1961? That sounds like another video opportunity 😂
Thanks very much for watching Mike
@@TrekkingExploration 1961?????
@@jetsons101abit if sarcasm there. We call that modern here in the uk
What a fascinating mixture of architectural features and methods of construction! Amazing to think it is still such a vital highway and carrying a greater load of traffic than throughout its very long history. Some great drone footage. Thank you for a very interesting video!
Nice one Ant it always amazes me how we are part of our history. Some of these structures were built by monks. Wr have been under the Radcot Bridge on the upper thames that was built by monks about 900 years ago. Keep up the lovely videos.
I love stuff like this and I'll hopefully find much more similar places
I found driving across this terrifying as it's a narrow road with pretty much constant traffic. Thanks for the video - you don't get to see all the arches from above.
You wanna try walking across it , Especially if you just come out of the pub
Thats a beautiful bridge, thanks for the video. RIP Mick .
Thanks so very much Carl 🙂
Hi Ant, don't know how I missed this gem. Beautiful bridge so old & most of it original, love how no arches are the same & what fascinates me us it was never built to carry an A road! ❤😊
Wow what an awesome bridge! Going to investigate it thanks to you 😊
From your overhead drone footage you can see a couple of traffic pinch-points which can be identified where the white lines disappear - always interesting when meeting busses and trucks coming from the opposite direction, but you learn to look well ahead and give way at a point before the white lines run out. Also the outside bend at the Stanton-by-bridge end of the route is frequently being rebuilt, as the approach from Stanton towards Swarkestone is quite steep and sweeps from a left bend into this one at the start of the bridge and people often misjudge the turn.
I really liked the piece showing the "eyes" and the "beak" which I thought to look more like an owl. ; - )
Absolutely, the council are constantly fixing the bits knocked off making it even more higgledey piggledey in appearance.
Famously the most southern point of Bonnie Prince Charlies march to London, there's a marker in the Crewe and Harpur pub garden
Dove Bridge at Uttoxeter is another Medieval bridge worth investigation as is the old bridge at Water Orton, all in the Midlands. Both are 13th/14th century.
Thankyou i shall have to have a look into these :)
Absolutely brilliant
Many thanks for the tour of the bridge. It is a fascinating part of our heritage and history. Well done.
Many thanks Roy. Glad you enjoyed it :)
As always, a great video. Thank you for the video and chat. Enjoy the weekend coming up. Cheers Antony! 🏴🙂👍🇺🇸
Cheers Martin thanks very much
What a fantastic bridge. So so big and beautiful. Your drone footage was amazing. Thanks so much for taking me along. Please stay safe and take care
Thanks for watching. Hope you are okay
I’m great thanks. Very much enjoying your videos
Hi, I live 18 miles away from this bridge, been over many times, beautiful construction, beautiful countryside. There are 3 or 4 narrow parts where you have to be careful whilst passing oncoming traffic, sometimes even having to stop. Great video, subscribed 👍
Fascinating video very enjoyable to watch. Keep making them Ant. Keep safe...
Peter
Thanks very much Peter I'm glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Wow Ant love that bridge I'd love to drive over this one day and yes all the arches are cute brilliantly made thanks for sharing x
Thanks very much Helen
Get yourself over that way when you can 🙂
Hi Ant, wonderful video and well explained. What a piece of engineering that, hopefully, will never be totally replaced. Thank you.
Thanks Phillip. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Throughly enjoyed the bridge, how interesting. Thank you Ant, another slice of our heritage, just amazing. Take care.
Thanks so very much Christine
Another nice video Ant well done, what a nice bridge. Loved the bit on the canal too.
Glad you enjoyed it Chris :)
I've lived the vast majority of my 80 years within 7 or 8 miles of Swarkestone Bridge. I had no idea that some of the archways were so medieval in appearance before they were strengthened. I do know that parts of the bridge were widened piecemeal as horse-drawn traffic gave way to motors and damage was caused as the parapets were struck. These days there are weight restrictions to prevent use by hgvs, although buses and local goods vehicles comply with these limits. I really enjoyed an alternative look at a familiar structure.
Fascinating video, up there with some of your better ones. Nice one Ant.
What a lovely bridge, great video Ant, i cant remember it,as i went there over 50 years ago,lovely drone footage,and i loved the music,😃 xx
Thank you 🙂 It wasn't as ancient back when you crossed it then 😂😉
@@TrekkingExploration no it wasnt, no its as ancient as me now,🤣🤣 xx
This is a very interesting bridge, Ant. So many different styles of arches of great architecture, and it makes you wonder where, they've been re-enforced, how the bricks have managed to stay in place with all that traffic above, and the vibration. A great feat of civil engineering in its day. Many thanks for this showing.
Been over many times but great to see it close up from field level 👍
Cheers Andrew thanks for watching
Hello Ant - greetings from Poland.
Many congratulations on producing such an interesting and well made video. Your camera skills, drone shots and commentary were brilliant. A fascinating structure. Made in so many different ways. Is it a protected monument?
Thanks agin for the superb vlog. Stay safe and I'll see you again soon
It has "ancient monument" status, I believe.
What a fabulous bridge. That was so interesting. Fantastic filming and drone footage accompanied by excellent music.thank you so much.
Glad you enjoyed it Shirley thanks so very much :)
Just superb Ant 🙂 the drone footage has taken these video’s to a superb level of interest as well. IT just helps to see the whole area to get the context of what it is you’re showing us 🙂
Awesome, thank you! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Very interesting and thanks for the vlog very well put together
Thanks so very much David
Lovely video matey
Very kind thank you
This has got to be my favorite exploration that you have done. I find this absolutely fascinating , I wonder how long it took to build this. Again another excellent professional production also. I noticed at 14.30 when you were admiring the 2 small archways, if you look at the stone above them it looks to me like a 1164 carved it in. And yes I liked the two arches with the beak! I guess stone work is fascinating to me as my Grandfather was a stone mason apprenticed in Wales circa 1910 approx.then moved to Canada.
Thanks so very much Cathy. I rewatched it to see the date you mention and i can see it too. I wonder what that is for? I guess that'll remain a mystery
There's a very similar bridge over the Trent between Willington and Repton, might make an interesting video to do a comparison between the two
I shall absolutly have to have a look into these. Thanks for watching :)
excellent well worth a visit thank you for taking as alone
Thanks very much for watching Andrew
Enchanting ❗
Thanks for watching :)
Lovely video
Thanks very much Graham :)
brilliant as always Ant. i know this very well. crew and harpur pub too.
Thanks very much Tina. We didn't have time for the pub on this occasion but we shall be back
Great vid Ant, what a fantastic structure, so many different styles and still serving its purpose after all this time. Was that a date on that cute little bridge🦉??? Loving the eagle🦅 Excellent dronage, gives a better reference to your location👍🏻❤
i think the technical term for those water channels in the building industry is a ' Weep-hole' from my past experience Ant, although can vary all over the country. One of the most historic bridges in the country of course.
Great video Ant. Thoroughly enjoyable. So was that music which is now haunting me!! What is it please? Cheers, Bob
Its called The Light in you by Pastis. I used both the instrumental and vocal version.
Very good. Enjoyed this thank you. And your last video, getting to Swarkestone, was excellent too with some beautiful photography.
Are you going to do a walk down the old Derby Canal?
Thanks very much Pete. The Derby Canal was one of the first I was going to do a couple of years ago when I started all this. For some reason I haven't yet. I'd better crack on 👍
Thanks for your reply.
That's good news. It needs the professional job doing on it that you can do.
Great video, can't be much fun driving a bus across it, I know it wasn't great in a 7.5 tonner
I imagine it can be extremely frustrating driving over it at times 🙂
RIP wing mirror
Been over it many times, live in sawley(long eaton)
Any chance we could see the music used in the vids? The music especially in the first half is amazing and a lot of your other vids use some really nice music. Would love to be able to see in the info links to the music used. Incidentally, I'm fairly local to a lot of the areas you explore, and regularly go past quite a few of them as I live just south of Nottingham itself.
Thanks Ant for yet another interesting vlog think I have driven over the bridge but not a view to the side and under. Did you leave Amy on the boat
Thanks very much Roger. Aimee was off out elsewhere that morning :)
52deg bend marker is for a buried pipeline, or less likely a cable
Aww brilliant thank you very much
Quality Ant 👍
Thanks very much 🙂
Missed you xx
Awwwwe xx
I live a couple miles away, on a bad winter (flooding) the floods covers the field on the right floods and the road on the left to the John Thompson floods and gets closed.
I shall have to try to get back next time this happens. The drone would have a great time 🙂 Thank you for watching
Sorry to hear about this loss (video start).
Thanks very much Mark 🙂
Hi Ant, I think your stone with Bend 52.0 is something to do with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and is to do with flooding and the gravel bed, but most of what I have read goes way over my head so I stand to be corrected.
My great uncle harry White lived in the cottage on the Swad side of the bridge in the entrance to the quarry where the stone came from you catch his cottage around the 18:20 mark i wonder who lives there now. There was no inside toilet when Harry lived there he was a man still living in the late 1800s. His valuables are still supposed to be hidden in the quarry somewhere. I used to look in every crack in the quarry as a boy trying to find his treasure. My uncle used to take me fishing in the pools on the far side of the bridge in the 1970s.
thanks ant great vid, did my eyes play tricks or did i see a stone at 14.10 with some sort of date on it ? maybe not .
I'll have to have a look. Thank you for watching
A very long old bridge then, with many arches - ok 😉🚂🚂🚂
Cheers for watching 🙂
The red brick looked an eyesore
good vid this, i dont ive found you before, i quite likes music to,, but i bet the field level was much lower down when it was first built, interesting tho
well done dood.... an now sub'd
Thanks so very much, glad you enjoyed it. I bet it is much lower :)
What was the thumbnail meant to be about ¿?
It might even be Older than we think ... 500 years ago it was probably a lot wetter in that area so they had to build the road like that ... It must have taken some doing to lay all the foundation stones on that boggy wet ground ...
Fantastic video as ever 👍🏻👍🏻
Amazes me how all this amazing infrastructure was built to last.
Would love to go out on a historic walk/explore one day with yourself or as a little ramble. What would you say to that?
Or are you a lone ranger 🤔🤣
You forgot to mention bonnie Prince Charles very strange?
Not really strange. I just didn't mention him.
@@TrekkingExploration come on you didn't no about him did you something so historical and you didn't mention it?
Why is the current not used to generate electricity. A beautiful structure, not to this part of the country