Today my car went for an MOT. The garage I use is on an industrial estate just outside Barnstaple, not the most convenient for us but they have always been kind and helpful and, most importantly, not patronising. The plan was that I would drop the car off early and walk into town to do a little shopping, some chores, maybe a little lunch, and wait for their call. If it was not for the fact that the Sword of Damocles was hanging over my head, it was a treat, it is rare that I get a few hours of enforced town-dom. Christmas is coming and all that. A good opportunity.
Although the walk to the centre takes a good 25 minutes, it is not a trial. Especially not today. After just a few minutes, passing fenced off factories, forklifts, portacabin cafes and sneaky smokers, I can dip down off the main road and onto the Tarka Trail. This was once a rail line, a victim of the Beeching closures, and is now a cycle and walking route which will take me all the way to Barnstaple. On such a glorious morning, I took the opportunity to dawdle, taking photos, greeting runners and dog walkers, and running dog walkers, cyclists whooshing past. Just looking. No need to hurry.
I love bridges, ancient stone or concrete and carbon, bascule, cantilever and suspension. The bridge that spans the river here, the Taw Bridge, is no exception, such a gentle curve, elegant and understated.
As the traffic streamed across the bridge I wandered, wondering how many folk travelled this line on their way to holidays in Ilfracombe, and about the packed boxes of tulip bulbs and cut flowers that passed from the Braunton Great Fields to Covent Garden and beyond. 
Along this route something ancient still holds strong, umbellifers and bees, brambles and animal runs, crumbling boats. Sparrows squabbled and terns drifted by silently, like spirits.
Then onto the next bridge, this time the Yeo, a wood and steel structure constructed in 2000. Its curving ribs remind me of a book I read as a girl about a castaway girl who made a home from a whale skeleton. Comforting, cocooning.
Cormorants and gulls vied for position, although unlike the continually dipping cormorants the seagulls seemed uninterested in fishing, rather enjoying the barely perceptible outgoing tide gently caressing them towards the sea.
And then the prize, and the final bridge, just seen in the distance, Barnstaple’s medieval Long Bridge.
The miracle was that my car passed its MOT. So although the return journey was over-cast and I was laden with shopping, I still had a spring in my step. The tide was almost out and a cormorant sat in the midst of a sand bar, ruler of this temporary kingdom.
Off The Edge Gardening 
What a lovely walk!
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It was, thank you x
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I dig bridges too; over the local creeks and rivers. The tallest covered bridge in North America is right here in Felton (not in the East). No one knows why it is so tall. I think that it is only that tall because that is where the supportive structure tops out at. Duh, they can’t put the roof lower than that. When I drove truck years ago, I drove over all seven of the bridges of the San Francisco Bay Area regularly, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge, and sometimes the Antioch Bridge (just outside of the Bay Area). They were all cool. The funny thing is that I really liked the relatively boring Dumbarton Bridge, and would stop to rest there.
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Your bridges sound so much more exotic that mine!
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That is a matter of perspective. Noting compares to the Golden Gate Bridge; but nothing compares to the bridges of home either.
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Very wise words.
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I feel as if I’ve just had the most wonderful walk with you. Delightful!
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Thanks Mrs D, it was a lovely walk, this morning would be quite different, it is pouring with rain!
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We’re back in sync, then. Nothing but rain in the forecast.
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😦
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Thanks for taking us with you on that abridged stroll into town. Glad your car made it. Though it seems odd that we leave a car somewhere and later find that, without moving, it has gone past something which no longer exists.
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Indeed
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An enjoyable post and lovely pictures. Good to see that your car passed it’s MOT. xx
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Thanks Mike and thanks!
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I was with you all the way, lovely thank you.
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Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
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What a lovely walk. I am glad your car passed its MOT.
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It was, and I was so relieved, mustn’t get complacent though as something is bound to go wrong, a bit fall off or something, my car not me! 🙂
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Thank you for the guided walk on a lovely day. I am pleased you’re car passed its MOT, they are absolutely essential living in rural areas..
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My pleasure. Yes, I need my car for work so it is essential to have something reliable but not too flashy!
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Same here when I was working, something to throw the tools into!
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No point having something flash, not that I could afford to if I wanted to!
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