Winching Out the Historical Heavyweights…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I have a few photographs from Mechelen that I didn’t really feel fitted in with any of my posts so far… but I also didn’t want to leave them out.

The first was a photograph on the same information board as the information for the Duivelshuis, Het Paradijs and Sint Joseph’s houses, which depicted a crane. Not a crane in any recognisable form as we might know it today, this “contraption” is clearly both huge and heavy, so I was stunned to read that it was traditionally operated by children. I know that  child labour has a very long and often shameful history throughout centuries past, but surely this one takes the cake?

I only have to think of my own children’s skinny little limbs to shudder at the thought of them being expected to work on docks unloading ships. The text that accompanies the photograph reads:

“Crane Bridge. As the name suggests this was the site of a crane. It was built of wood in the fifteenth century. Operated by the “crane children”, it was used to unload ships. It was demolished in 1887. Before that, in the Middle Ages there had been a footbridge here, followed by a stone bridge. The present-day metal swing bridge dates from 1986.”

Then there are the shoe scrapers… they were used to scrape the mud off your shoes before entering the house and I’ve often seen them in Europe as metal attachments to walls, often in lovely wrought iron forms, but this is the very first time I’ve ever seen one embedded into the wall itself.

Lastly there are the banners, …at first I had no clue who the medieval lady might be, or indeed that it might be a representation of any real person at all, but after my research  it all becomes clear, this is of course the heroine of Mechelen: Margaret of Austria.  I was delighted to read that when the main cities of Belgium were asked to pick someone famous from their history to be their “emblem”  and “representitive” that Mechelen alone chose a woman, and a most eminently noteworthy one at that. Bravo!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

A City of Sails, Maze of Roads, a Bridge and a Big Sigh of Relief for the Tom Tom…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

In part of my retroactive diary tour of New Zealand, we are heading into Auckland…. New Zealand’s biggest city.

We come in close to Pukekohe  near the bottom of  the map (pronounced as “pook-ah-coe-ee“) and are later exit north on the road by the top of the map by Albany. This will necessitate crossing the Auckland Harbour via the Auckland Harbour Bridge, since it’s the short-cut route across the harbour.

The city is actually a merger of Manukau city and Manukau harbour on side, and Auckland city and Auckland harbour on the other.

Only a narrow  band of  land joins the landmass of Northland to the rest of the North Island … and the countries biggest city straddles this strip of land, so needless to say we aren’t looking forward to the traffic jams we think we might be in for.

Luckily after a stop in the city to see a family member, we manage to hit the road  at a less busy time and somehow, miracle of miracles, without any great hassle or stops.

Of course upon reflection that fact that tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, that it’s the summer school holiday period and that many New Zealand businesses close between Christmas and New Year, probably had more to do with the lack of congestion than good timing on our part.

I remember trips to Auckland in my childhood,  a South Island girl overawed by the existence of a motorway system that carried more traffic than I’d ever seen in my life before,  I live of course with motorways now, in The Netherlands but I’m in Europe, so that seems kind of  normal and expected with such a large population to move around, whereas I never got used to motorways in New Zealand and the sum total of one  five kilometres long to the north of Christchurch really doesn’t count.

Auckland’s motorways were today more or less as  I remembered them… but they’ve grown from the toddler sized network of my childhood into a full grown version today, so much so that I thought  several times that we must surely be in Auckland city, long before we actually reached it.

This is one time we are very thankful for the TomTom we picked up from Teddy our favourite rental car owner before setting out for the North Island, during our travels throughout  Auckland the thing is definitely paying it’s way.

The rain is still coming down in fits and starts and the cloud layer is very low, so we can’t even see the top of Auckland’s Sky Tower, … but we still get glimpses of the Auckland, and bridge and the marina’s around it that give it the nickname “the  City of Sails”.

I didn’t notice it at the time, but after putting the photos onto the computer I saw that I’d captured an image of tourists walking over the top span of the Auckland Harbour Bridge… I’d love to be brave enough to do that one day but think that my head for heights (actually great lack of it) is rooted deep in my Dutch genes and since you know I’m accident prone, it’s another activity that I think might be safer to dream about than actually do.

Now that our Auckland appointment is out of the way, we head even further northward, Northland awaits…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Juxtaposition of the roof of a typical  traditional New Zealand villa against a modern skyline… I might get nostalgic for the sight of a brick chimney too, since there are precious few left in Christchurch after the earthquakes.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Helix Bridge … DNA and Child’s Play…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

My next photographic “target” on Singapore’s Duck  Tour sits right next to the ArtScience Museum and Gallery of  the day before yeaterday’s post.

If you have been a reader of my blog for any length of time, then you will know how much I appreciate old stuff, especially old stuff made in stone, wood, wrought iron, hand blown or leaded glass.

I love “antique”, I adore “quirky” and I appreciate craftsmanship and detail in many different mediums.
That said, sometimes a little bit of “modern” can catch my eye and turn my head as well. This is one of those times.

This bridge is known as the “Helix Bridge” and so logically enough, it was no surprise to find out from our Duck Tour guide that the design is based on the double helix format of DNA strands.

Wikipedia tells me that:

“Canopies (made of fritted-glass and perforated steel mesh) are incorporated along parts of the inner spiral to provide shade for pedestrians.

The bridge has four viewing platforms sited at strategic locations which provide stunning views of the Singapoe skyline and events taking place within Marina Bay. At night the bridge is illuminated by a series of lights that highlight the double-helix structure.

Pairs of coloured letters “c” and “g” as well as “a” and “t” on the bridge light up at night in red and green to represent cytosine, guanine, adenine and thymine, the four bases of DNA. “

I just like the simplicity and cleaness of the structure… it’s pleasing and harmonous in it’s purity of line, and I find the grace of the interwoven curves mesmerising.     …And I knew I liked it even more when I found this little snippet of information on Wikipedia: “the bridge also functions as a gallery where children’s paintings and drawings are exhibited for public viewing.”

So, beautiful indeed, on so many levels.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Possibly The Most Ingenious Cat Flap Ever?

Just on a note of whimsy…. we were making our way back up the hill where the castle stands… and saw this little bit of brilliance…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I mean what do you do when you have a house on a very steep hill, a downstairs that faces the slope and need for a cat flap? … why, you build a little bridge for your cat to use of course, …ingenious!

Nigrán’s Ponte da A Ramallosa, has a kinky Legend….

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We are still in Nigrán, the town  across the river mouth Miñor at the estuary of Baiona (Pontevedra), Spain, and are walking back to where we parked the car earlier in the day.

Now it’s time to investigate that intriguing  small bridge that I first saw as we came though the town.

The old bridge runs parallel to the new bridge that carries the main traffic but whilst I took photos the older one was well used by pedestrians.

The stones have been well worn and are big heavy, polished slabs that have obviously had centuries of use.

Parts of the bridge have clearly been renovated, but the sense of history, it’s age  and charm are still very evident.

It’s construction at first looks like the architect had an over active imagination, liked geometry a lot or wanted to allow for a space for a small marketplace on the bridge, but it turns out that the over-abundance of pointy bits is a structural means of reinforcement to help the bridge cope with the forces of the tidal waters that it stands in.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The medieval builders certainly knew their stuff, because it’s still standing firm some 800 years later. .. and that’s a lot of water under the bridge , as the saying goes (and quite literally too of course).

I find out from a plaque close to the bridge that there is a legend to go with it’s quizzical beauty… and a rather kinky legend at that.

Here’s what the plaque tells us;

Middle Ages (13th Century) It was built during the first half of the 13th Century, a mixture of semicircular arches, some of them slightly pointed and others very pointed.

There are ten spans, with a double system of cutwaters to resist better the action of the water and the tide.

In the middle of the bridge there is a cross with the image of Saint Telmo, patron saint of sailors. On a stone table, there is an altarpiece with three souls.

Fertility rites were celebrated on this bridge: After midnight women who couldn’t get pregnant had to persuade the first man crossing the bridge to pour water into their wombs and to be Godfather to of their babies.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The isn’t a lot of additional information to be found on the bridge (OK, granted, there probably is, locally, and in Spanish)

Alas, my Spanish is almost non-existant and so all I could find out in English was that “this medieval bridge of  A Ramallosa on the Minor River separates the municipalities of Nigran and Baiona.

It is possible that the bridge is of  Roman origin but was completely  reconstructed  by San Pedro Telmo, Bishop of Tui around the 12th Century.“

I am left to ponder the strange fertility rites, Firstly:  How desperate for a child would you have to be to accost a strange man in the middle of  a bridge after midnight?

… and Secondly: After being infertile ( long enough for that  fact to be obvious) and taking part in this ritual on the bridge that the woman might suddenly be pregnant?.. and to require the man concerned should have the role of “Godfather” to the child? (e.g.. remain in contact after the event, even in an auxiliary manner)

Hmmm… we will never know for sure of course, um,  but did anyone else reading this also maybe jump to the conclusion that the ” water” being poured here might just be a euphemism for something else?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The Three Souls…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

A ramp for access from boats leads down to the water at one end of the bridge…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The view up river…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

On the bridge, looking left, looking right…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

So the old bridge bears the burdons of the childless and the new one the weight of modern day life…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

It’s the new bridge that takes us away up the coast…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)