A sign of the times.

This bridge, one of three that connect our village with the links across the Foveran Burn, was gifted to the people of Newburgh in 1902, by local resident Captain Thomas Fiddes Spalding. 
For nigh on 100 years the villagers successfully maintained the bridge in a safe condition at their own expense. Then, in 1996, Aberdeenshire Council took over ownership of the bridge, since when not a single penny has been has been spent on its maintenance. Yet apparently we now live in the 5th largest economy in the World!
In April 2015, our councillors - who oversaw the deterioration of the bridge, allowing it to fall into disrepair and eventually closing it in January 2015 - decided that the dilapidated structure was no longer fit for purpose and must be demolished. Yesterday, the destruction began. 
Captain Spalding, who died in 1934, was the last in the long line of ship-masters of the Aberdeen shipping line, owned and managed by Messrs. Geo. Thompson and Co., of Aberdeen.  Ships of this line, which Included the famous clipperThermopylae, were engaged in the UK-Australian trade route for many years.