Somerset Coal Canal- bridge initials

[Heartland]

The initials SCC appeared on a bridge portal on the Radstock Branch. The S looks to have been reversed was this used elsewhere?

 

 

 

 

[magpie patrick]

One for Roger Halse, our archivist I think...

All other comments welcome, the Coal Canal Society are always hungry for anything related to history of the canal!

 

[Pluto]

Patrick,

 

I have been going through Gordon Biddle's photos, and there are several of the SCC from the Locomotive & General Railway Photo collection, all taken  in 1951. The collection was originally put together by Charles Clinker, and is now at the National Railway Museum.

[Heartland]

The RCHS Photo Collection has some canal images from that source as well, but the bulk are railway topics, mainly stations 

[Derek R.]

Sure that reads SCC in that image? Looks more like 800 to me, and I do wonder if there should be a 1 in front of the 8 due to the spacing. This would clearly be a reference to the building date of the canal - 1800. But I might be wrong.

[Heartland]

That is possible as it may be that part of the keystone might have fallen away

[magpie patrick]

10 hours ago, Derek R. said:

Sure that reads SCC in that image? Looks more like 800 to me, and I do wonder if there should be a 1 in front of the 8 due to the spacing. This would clearly be a reference to the building date of the canal - 1800. But I might be wrong.

 

I'm inclined to agree - although I'm also trying to think what was actually being built on the canal in 1800. It looks a rather elaborate bridge portal, which I'm guessing has disappeared in the half century and more since the photo was taken.

[Pluto]

It's the rubbish Bath stone, which doesn't stand up to weather like good millstone grit from the Pennines.

[Derek R.]

A geological 'fault'?

The flora is nice.

Edited March 31, 2017 by Derek R.

[Heartland]

The reference is accommodation bridge at Midford. There is an image showing another bridge there, at Midford

 

[Heartland]

The image of the intact bridge may be on the main line- but the initials appear to be on a bridge where the bridge hole was in infilled- hence the belief it was on the branch to Radstock

The 1883-1886 6in Wiltshire Ordnance survey show this area

[magpie patrick]

The infilled bridge may also have been on the main line - the Radstock branch served as a canal for only about five years whereas the Main Line managed over 90 years. Cuttings on the main line were sometimes infilled for a variety of reasons, getting rid of railway spoil when the GWR took over, and disposal of domestic waste, so by the 50's a number of lengths had been affected

20 hours ago, Heartland said:

The reference is accommodation bridge at Midford. There is an image showing another bridge there, at Midford

 

ud

I'm pretty certain that's Southstoke "accomodation" bridge, which carried the towpath over the canal near the junction with the Radstock Branch. The first few hundred yards of the branch remained in use to the end, crossing an aqueduct to serve a  tramway interchange basin, the main line towpath switched sides to avoid a bridge over the branch