It is Nov the 2nd 2010...The date on the photographs is wrong as the camera was set wrong.
This bridge has been turned into a safety hazard by the fact that the culvert grid is almost always blocked, and when it rains, (not unusual in Scotland) the burn quickly floods and at times is over the bridge. The reason for the grid is unclear as it has created a bigger problem than ever was there.
School kids use this each week day to walk to the various schools in the area, (five of)from primary 1 right up to 6th years. Pensioners use it every day to get their papers from the shops in Lindores. And in the evenings it is used by people walking to and from the village. It was just such an evening in 2000 when Robert Mills was making his way home and fell through the railings that had been broken for weeks, and died in the burn below the bridge. Of course the neglect was denied by the local authority who branded all the locals who said otherwise as liars. The council was proved wrong in court.
The railings were broken because the bridge is used by the local authority to transport heavy machinery for ground maintenance, (not snow clearing) the marks of these machines can be seen on the photographs, on the pole put on the entrance to prevent that.
The railings were eventually rebuilt, and the sides of the bridge built up in such a way that it now retains water as the natural drainage was blocked, so in winter we not only get flooding but a frozen skating rink with no grit bins in sight and no clearing ever taking place.
This blog has been started as a public record of this neglect and incompetence as I fear that another fatality is bound to happen.
I also have an old Blog on the same subject which I can no longer gain access to, it can be found here.
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