North Bridge and Northbridge Wharf, Shefford
Introduction
The photograph on this page of North Bridge and Northbridge Wharf, Shefford by Robin Webster as part of the Geograph project.
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North Bridge and Northbridge Wharf, Shefford
Image: © Robin Webster Taken: 13 Mar 2016
This was the main terminus of the Ivel Navigation, with a public wharf. A branch to South Bridge was apparently used for traffic to a tannery. The navigation was formally abandoned in 1876 after some years of very little use. The locks on the navigation were 110' by 12', presumably to handle a pair of fen lighters, about 48' long by 10'-6" beam. Even allowing for the fact that the present bridge is a modern replacement, encroaching a little on the wharf area here, there seems no room to turn a lighter. I believe this was not necessary, as the lighters were double ended with no rudder, navigated in close coupled trains of at least two. They were steered by a man on one lighter manipulating a sort of tiller rigidly fixed to the other.
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Image Location
Latitude
52.040501
Longitude
-0.334509