Festival of Bridges #13 ~ A Bridge Like No Other

I’ve been an avid follower of John Grant’s blog Meticulous Mick since it started a few years back. I love his photography and his way with words.

Here’s the stunning photograph and the deeply touching words that accompanied it:

The Butter Bridge

This bridge can be found in the pass of Rest and be Thankful, Argyllshire, Scotland and is known simply as the “Butter Bridge”. Completed in the mid 18th century as part of the old military road linking Dumbarton to Inveraray, it was heavily used as a drover’s route to bring cattle to the markets of the south.  The new road (A83) now crosses the river a little higher up, leaving the old single span bridge in peace. 

The bridge is set in stunning, wild countryside and with the gurgling river, whistling of the wind and bleat of the sheep, it is easy to just sit here and step back in time.  It is a bridge where one cannot simply pass, a stop is required. Time to reflect, time to rest and time to be thankful. 

For me this bridge holds something deep and personal too; this was the bridge we stopped off at the first time we sought out the place where my father’s grave lies. Around eighteen months later we would return, on our way to the Isle of Mull for a holiday with my sisters and their families. This trip allowed us to witness the elegant granite headstone now in place.

Fast forward another twelve months and we found ourselves at the Butter Bridge once more, on our way to a wedding. A very important wedding; our own.

Of course we have been back since, it is after all a bridge like no other for me.   

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