Wooden trestle bridge built by George Riddoch 1895
Photograph courtesy of Sandy Tough, Huntly.
Wooden trestle bridge built by George Riddoch at The Dramlachs, nr Fochabers circa 1895.
Note on the back of the photograph in Willie Riddoch’s (son of George) handwriting indicating location and year. An amazing construction when one considers the effort required to shift and erect some of these tree trunks without the aid of mechanised lifting gear. It can be imagined that the trestles with cross bearers and diagonal braces would have been constructed on the bank with their bases in place and then by some means hauled upright and guyed. The main trestle timbers can be seen among the long length bracing timber much of which is employed at an angle out from the base to prevent the whole construction toppling sideways.
The construction dwarfs the 10 people on the bridge including two women and the 3 horse and carts loaded with logs. The area to the east of Fochabers has some very spectacular and deeply eroded gullies some of which can be seen from the present A96 before it drops down the climbing lane towards Fochabers.
Download Large Version (724kB)
Groups: Forestry in Action, Horses at work in Forests, Northeast Scotland