Wissahickon in Autumn

Wissahickon Creek, from Rex Avenue Bridge, Saturday afternoon.

Tinged

Wissahickon Valley from Walnut lane Bridge

Punched-hole cathedral

Interior, Fingerspan, Wissahickon Valley.

The shape of a finger

Fingerspan is secluded deep among the trees along the steep banks of the Wissahickon Gorge, just a short walk south from Livezey House, so that you tend to stumble upon it with surprise rather than seek it out as a destination. If you are in a hurry, you might think "What an odd little bridge," and keep on going. If you are in a more contemplative mood, you will stop in the middle of the span and admire the unique view of the Wissahickon through the punched-hole mesh. Then you might turn around and see the "knuckles" and the "nail" and realize that this is more than just a bridge.

When I think of a bridge, I think of a reaching, a touching, a connection. So I decided to use a finger, the shape of a finger, for the bridge.
-- Jody Pinto

A mini-documentary on artist Jody Pinto's inspiration, as well as footage of the installation of Fingerspan, can be found here: http://www.fpaa.org/child/Fingerspan-PeterRose.html.

Fingerspan

Fingerspan, on the east side of the Wissahickon Valley, a short walk south of Glen Fern.

Later that evening...

Walnut Lane Bridge, late April.

Have a great weekend!

Self portrait

Walnut Lane Bridge, Monday evening.

Four gentlemen

Blue Stone Bridge, early Saturday morning, looking east.

Blue Stone Bridge

Built in 1896, the Blue Stone Bridge, and before that, an earlier structure which it replaced, was the only way to cross the Wissahickon when traveling to and from Germantown and Roxborough. When conditions were bad -- think rain and mud, snow and ice -- it was not an easy journey. One had to travel up or down the steep trail through the gorge on the Roxborough side. In 1908 that changed with the opening of the Walnut Lane Bridge. Suddenly a day's journey became a journey of a minute or two.

Three bridges, late afternoon

The railing on the right belongs to the bicycle path bridge, built in the early 1980s, the small stone bridge in the of middle of the photo is Hermit's Lane, built in 1794, and the big fellow overarching it all is the Henry Avenue Bridge, completed in 1931. Gotta love those layers of history.

If you've ever seen the John Travolta film Blow Out, these bridges might look familiar to you. Some, or all of them, appear near the beginning. I haven't seen the film in years, nor do I intend to see it again. I remember it being filled with gratuitous violence, bordering on misogyny.

But hey, the bridges are still cool.

Ground level

The bicycle path bridge at ground level, early morning, February 4. That's Lincoln Drive with the cars whizzing by. And below, both the bicycle path bridge and the Henry Avenue Bridge, a few minutes later on the same drizzly morning.

The morning commute

February 4, a miserable and wet Monday morning, around 8:00 a.m. Not counting a very short stint as an English teacher in the Philadelphia Public Schools, it had been a year and a day since I'd left my previous employer. My prospects for finding a job soon did not seem good. I walked out to the middle of the Henry Avenue Bridge and took first the above photo of the bicycle path where it crosses the Wissahickon, and then the one below, Lincoln Drive already becoming crowded with the early morning rush hour. The first made me nostalgic for the days when I worked in Center City, and rode my bike to the office. The second just reminded me that everyone else in the world had a job to go to.

How quickly things change. Tomorrow it will be four weeks, nearly a month, since I started my new job. I've already ridden my bike into work once, and will do so regularly once my training for, and running of the Broad Street Run is over. Which is another story.

A walk on the north side

Passing by Kitchen's Lane Bridge, the eastern side of the Wissahickon, Easter Sunday.
And a little further on, the trail north toward the Baptism marker.

Waiting for the 65

The railroad bridge and falls where Ridge Avenue crosses the Wissahickon, Friday afternoon, around 5:30, on my way home.

Walnut Lane Bridge, late afternoon.

Taken from one of the upper trails on the eastern side of the valley, Thursday, March 6.

Thomas Mill Bridge

Historic Thomas Mill Bridge is the last remaining covered bridge within the city limits of Philadelphia. You will find it along Forbidden Drive, near mile post 1, about a half mile below the parking lots at Bell's Mill.

I'm having difficulty finding a precise history of the bridge, but it most likely dates to the middle of the 1800's. The structure was restored in 1938 by the WPA, and in 1999 by the City of Philadelphia.

These photos were taken late Friday Morning.

Reading Railroad Bridge

That's the Reading Railroad Bridge, and it has spanned the lower Wissahickon, just north of Ridge Avenue, since 1876. Today it conveys the SEPTA R6 commuter rail from East Falls to Manayunk.

Taken Thursday, February 21, during the latter part of the afternoon.

Rush hour, Walnut Lane Bridge

8:00 a.m., Friday morning, from atop the Walnut Lane Bridge.

A thing of beauty

Wednesday, February 6, a little after noon.

The inn at Valley Green , three and three-quarter miles from the creek's mouth, and a mile from the Germantown Avenue, is a rendezvous of and delightful refreshment station for all. For many years a committee of public-spirited women have had it in their care. Here ends navigation for canoes, and here in winter there is excellent skating. Just above the inn Springfield Avenue comes down from St. Martin's over an arched bridge which is a thing of beauty.
-- The Wissahickon by T. D. Daly, 1922

One response to public space

Detail from graffiti, under the Henry Avenue Bridge, Monday morning.