The Bridges of Milton Keynes blog No.1

Now I finally know how to do it!  This is called learning on the job, by trial and plenty of error!
This is British Waterways bridge no. 83 on the Grand Union Canal.  I'm tired, cold and hungry now.  I'll tell you something about it tomorrow and show you a couple of things wrong with it.  I promised you bridges by Sunday, well here's one anyway and it's 20 to Sunday.

I rather like this bridge over the Grand Union canal near my house. A farm accommodation bridge, it was known locally by the "natives" of these parts as Jones' bridge, Jones presumably being the farmer. Its shape is typical of the humpback you see on canals and is a simple brick arch.  Strangely enough, this canal bridge numbering system begins in Birmingham and gets bigger as it travels to London.

Owned and maintained by British Waterways, it hasn’t got a build date on it which many have.  Vandals have damaged and/or stolen many of the rounded coping stones on the parapets with many signs of repairs and replacement brickwork over the years. 

The missing bricks from the pillaster (a sort of pillar at the ends shown above) does not bode well for the continued longevity of this bridge.  I have previously reported this to BW.