Crossing by Land Rover in 1996/7
by Simon Rouse
As you can see, there is a sequence of my landrover negotiating the tight corner off the bridge towards Goose Green. I remember the first time I drove over it from Goose Green, it took several attempts and my friend who was driving at the time left some deep scratch marks down the side of our trusty Landy.
The pictures were taken in 1996/7. I seem to remember the locals saying it had been closed to traffic some years before then after someone filled it up with so many sheep it buckled! I don't know if it really did buckle, but in my mind a landrover would only weigh as much as about 40 sheep, so I guess I thought if it was full of hundreds of sheep I'd be fine in a Landy. I was only 18 though, and didn't have the sense of self preservation I now have! Some time on early 1997 I believe it was once again closed to traffic resulting in an extra hour of off-road driving adding to what was already a 2hr / 20 odd mile drive from Walker Creek to Goose Green. I think these days they have gravel tracks round that way now making it a lot quicker as you don't sink in the peaty soil all the time.