The Distracted Wanderer

  On a wander over to the United Kingdom to visit some of the ruins and former forts along Hadrian's Wall - a 79-mile long defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia built between AD 122 - AD 128 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian - research showed that most of the sites that we were going to want to see were located nearby the village of Haydon Bridge in Hexham. Deciding that would be the ideal spot to spend several nights, I looked for accommodations in the area and chose the Anchor Hotel  which is an easy drive from the parts of the Roman Wall that we wanted to visit.  Situated on the bridge of Haydon Bridge which crosses the River South Tyne and originally dates back to the 1300's, the Anchor Hotel is a Grade 11-listed hotel, pub and restaurant that is steeped in its own history and has been a hotel in various guises for many years. Though its history dates back much further, in 1442 the Anchor served as a court house complete with hangin...

For those of you who are not familiar with the Frog Bridge you're missing a lovely piece of American roadside kitsch that has attracted people from miles and mile around to the former city of Willimantic, Connecticut (the city government was dissolved in 1983 with the area reverting back to the Town of Windham from which it was incorporated in 1893 as a section of). Officially known as the Thread City Crossing , the new bridge replaces an older bridge 900 feet to the east that carried Windham Road in Willimantic from Route 32 across to Route 66.  The original bridge was built in 1857 and though plans were drawn up in 1872 for a new bridge, it wasn't until 1991 when the State of Connecticut finally approved funding for a new bridge. After the State DOT presented their plans for the new bridge, local residents deemed it to be too bland and pressured the State for something with a little more character.  Surprisingly the State relented and an architect was brought on board wh...