Hyperion

By Hyperion

The Road to Arizona, USA

Today I had a walk around Swelltor Quarry on Dartmoor. Swelltor was one of the larger quarries in the area and was operational until the early twentieth century. Amongst the remains here are a set of partially-finished corbels, fashioned from granite in 1903, which were destined for the Old London Bridge.
They were intended for alterations made to the bridge and were designed  to extend the pavement out over the Thames, but apparently  the ones remaining here weren't needed. There are about a dozen of the corbels which measure around three metres by one metre.
'New' London Bridge, was opened in 1831 and replaced the great medieval bridge that had spanned the Thames since the 13th century. The work to widen the bridge was undertaken, but today you have to visit the USA  to see the result which can be seen at Lake Havasu in Arizona. That's because the bridge was dismantled in 1967 and relocated over there to act as a tourist attraction!

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