Roving Bridge - Regent's Canal, Camden, London, UK
N 51° 32.456 W 000° 08.766
30U E 697901 N 5713842
This roving bridge crosses the Regent's Canal just to the west of Camden Market. The bridge isused for pedestrians but was previously used for horses to cross the canal as the tow path changed sides.
Waymark Code: WMPHG8
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/02/2015
Views: 5
The bridge is a Grade II listed structure with the entry at the Historic England website telling us:
Roving bridge. Early/mid C19, restored late C20. Cast-iron single span skew cross-over bridge originally with wrought-iron tension stays but now restored with steel tension cables; decking renewed. Approached on both sides by steep ramps with granite setts and stone parapets with many rope markings. The stone and metal approaches to the bridge are scarred by the tow ropes of barges drawn out of the lock and under the bridge which takes the towpath back onto the northern side of the canal. HISTORICAL NOTE: going down hill the horses could get back onto the towpath by crossing Hampstead Road Bridge (qv) and entering by the ramp west of the bridge opposite the lock-keeper's cottage, now the Regents Canal Information Centre.
Wikipedia has an article that explains what a roving bridge is:
A roving bridge, changeline bridge or turnover bridge is a bridge over a canal constructed to allow a horse towing a boat to cross the canal when the towpath changes sides. This often involved unhitching the tow line, but on some canals they were constructed so that there was no need to do this by placing the two ramps on the same side of the bridge, which turned the horse through 360 degrees. On the Macclesfield Canal this was achieved by building spiral ramps and on the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and others by constructing roving bridges of iron in two cantilevered halves, leaving a slot in the middle for the tow rope. This was also called a split bridge. For cost reasons many ordinary Stratford bridges were also built in this way as they had no tow path.
Bridges were also necessary at canal junctions and where the towpath was interrupted by side arms. These are strictly speaking side bridges, but they are often referred to as roving bridges. Well-known ones occur at Hawkesbury Junction and Haywood Junction. The Birmingham Canal Navigations has many examples, mainly of cast iron, which took the towpaths across factory arms.
The ramps of the bridge are typically studded with alternating rows of protruding bricks to prevent the feet of the horse from sliding. The bridge may be constructed of cast iron (particularly in industrial areas) or of more conventional brick or stone.