It's a Sign: A Bridge Too Far
Created | Updated Aug 20, 2023
It's a Sign: A Bridge Too Far
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Outside Wool in Dorset is this bridge, which contains a notice from the early 19th Century warning that anyone who damages the bridge will be Transported. Between 1654 and the outbreak of the American War of Independence in 1785, convicts were sent to America to work instead of being executed, with Transportation to Australia then taking place from 1787 to 1868. Sentences were typically for 7 or 14 years, or for life – if the convict was found to have returned to Britain during that time, they would be tried and, if found guilty, executed.
Would this approach solve the problem of The Unending Appetite of the Canopener Bridge: A Trucker Tale?
It turns out that the bridge at Wool dates back at least to 1244, though the current bridge is Elizabethan, the bridge was mentioned in Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. Presumably this association with the novel damaged the bridge, as the works of Hardy have since been Transported to both America and Australia.
Nelson's last words were, of course, 'Kiss me, Hardy', to which Hardy muttered the immortal reply,
Another fine mess you've gotten me into.
