We’ve had all kinds of weather extremes here lately, from heat and humidity to torrential rains, so I’ve been spending time at the Ashuelot River. The banks of the river are always cooler when it’s hot and after heavy rains the rapids really get rolling, and I like to watch them. Since I spend so much time here and so many of my photos are taken here, I thought I’d do a post with a little background information of the area.
This stretch of river is easy to get to and there are many good photo opportunities here-from the rapids to the many wildflowers that grow on the river banks. There are 4 small rapids that were built when a 250 year old timber crib dam was removed in 2010. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services created the rapids by laying very large boulders side to side across the riverbed in a crescent shape.
The timber crib dam was owned by the Homestead Woolen Mill, which is the large brick building in the background. The dam was built in revolutionary war times to power the mill, which in its heyday made many different kinds of textiles. Removing this dam opened up 20 miles of river and now brook and rainbow trout are caught here regularly. Salmon have also been caught and someone said they saw an eagle this spring.
Photo by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Division of Habitat Conservation, Open Rivers Initiative.
When we’ve had a lot of rain if you stand in the right spot at the right rapid, you can see some fine waves. Since there are a few seconds of delay between when you press the shutter release and when the wave crests, getting shots of waves cresting and crashing is really hit and miss. Every time I try to anticipate what the river will do it does just the opposite, and that’s what makes trying to get a shot I’m happy with so much fun.
This view is looking downriver at two of the rapids and the shoreline that floods regularly, but where many wildflowers grow.
Slightly upriver from the rapids is the Thompson covered bridge, named after playwright Denmon Thompson, who was a native son, and built in 1832. This bridge is a truss style bridge with two spans that meet on a center support. One span covers 64 feet and the other 63.5 feet, making the total length 136 feet 10 inches long. It once had two covered walkways, but now has only one on the upriver side. It can be seen on the left in the photo. The bridge is so close to the mill building that I had my back against it when I took this photo. Town records indicate that there has been a bridge in this spot since at least 1789.
This view of the bridge shows the covered walkway. At the far end is where I perch to take many of the river photos that appear on this blog. The covered walkway comes in handy when it’s raining. Many wildflowers grow on the steep embankment on this side of the river, just below where I was standing when I took this photo.
This view from downriver shows the stone center support for the two spans. The bridge design is known as “Town lattice,” patented by Connecticut architect Ithiel Town in the early 1800s. The Thompson Bridge is considered by many to be the most beautiful covered bridge in New England.
The open lattice work lets a lot of light into the bridge and this is unusual because many covered bridges are dark and cave like. In the 1800s being able to see this much light inside a covered bridge would have been the talk of the town.
At the same time that the old dam was being removed stone jetties were built upriver from the bridge to protect its abutments. These jetties, one on each side of the bridge, direct the strength of the current and prevent erosion of the abutments at each end of the bridge. If you look closely at the white water at the far end of the jetty you can see the ripples of the current flowing in towards the middle of the river.
This view from the bridge shows just a few of the wildflowers that grow on the river bank near the jetty in the previous photo. The town of Swanzey is planning on building a park in this area so the future of these plants is unknown at present. I thought the lupines growing here were our endangered wild blue lupine (Lupinus perennis) but after going back and counting leaflets and looking for leaf hairs, now I’m not so sure that they aren’t a natural hybrid. I’m hoping I can save some of their seeds and grow them in my own yard and get to know them a little better.
Flowers, rapids, and solitude aren’t the only reasons I come to this part of the river. The view downriver from the bridge is wide open and you can catch an occasional beautiful sunset here. I also like to come here to watch storms roll in.
Local artist Lori Woodward was also taken with the view from the Thompson Bridge and did this painting from one of the photos that she saw on this blog. There is an upcoming exhibit of paintings and photos of the Ashuelot River at the Cheshire County Historical Society and this painting will be part of it. Lori works in acrylic, watercolors and oils. If you’re an art lover interested in collecting fine art, or just like looking at beautiful landscape paintings, you can visit Lori’s website by clicking here.
Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known. ~A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
Thanks for stopping in.
Beautiful area. Thanks for showing us your favorite spots.
You’re welcome!
Great history lesson. I’ve been photographing covered bridges in NH by county. I know exactly where you were standing to get that great shot.
That’s great Laura. I wonder if anyone knows how many covered bridges we have in the state. I know we have many, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard how many.
According to the book New England’s Covered Bridges ©2004 there are 53 historic bridges and 8 non-historic. 3 of the 53 are interstate bridges
That’s amazing! I had no idea that there were that many left. Thanks for the information!
Fantastic post, Allen. I enjoyed learning about the river, and the photographs are really lovely. I can see why Lori would be inspired! Her painting is wonderful!
I just visited Lori’s site; she has some beautiful work there. I especially like the Little Long Pond painting.
I don’t know if you looked at the prices of her paintings but they’re really reasonable, comparatively.
Thanks Melani. I agree-Lori does some excellent work.
Enjoyed the bit of history which gets one thinking on man’s use and misuse of rivers. Wonderful place to visit from the photos I can understand a great spot to return to. Placing the rocks riffles would add oxygen to the water I am sure. Allowing for more aquatic life I would guess. Covered bridges always cool to be around. Fished under one as a kid. The lupines always please my eye. Job well done on this post.
Thanks Grampy. I don’t suppose people were thinking much about the impact on fish that a dam would have 250 years ago-I’d guess they just didn’t know any better. It’s nice to see the trout coming back. I never thought about the oxygen in the water getting a boost from the boulders-that’s a good point. There are kids still fishing under this bridge, and I’d gusess that there probably always will be.
Lovely photos and that bridge is awesome. I wish my own Big Bridge was covered, it would make the walk to work so much nicer on days like this. The painting is beautiful too. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks about capturing seeds from the wild flowers 🙂
I know-if only covered bridges were still used. You can still see school kids huddled under the walkway of this bridge in lousy weather. I thought Lori’s painting was awesome and I hope to own it or one like it someday. Yes, when it comes to wildflowers seeds are the way to go so the plants aren’t damaged.
I can see why you spend so much time along that river. I would too. That bridge seems to be in excellent shape for being so old. Amazing! I can imagine watching a storm come in from the covered walkway. That would be fantastic!
I should have said in the post that the bridge was rebuilt at least once in its history-in the 70s I think-but because of old age, not because it was taken out by flooding or ice. Usually if a bridge is lost and has to be rebuilt it is because of flooding or ice damage and a newer style bridge will sometimes replace the one that was lost. This is why a lot of covered bridges are slowly being lost to history. Meanwhile, they are great places to spend some time along the river.
That bridge is a winner and a complete contrast to our stone bridges here. Thank you for the overview which I found very helpful and interesting. Someone is going to make a painting of one of my photos and I hope it turns out as well as Lori’s.
You’re welcome. We have the old style stone arch bridges much like yours too, but not as many of them were preserved as were the covered bridges. I’m glad you found it helpful. I had you and others in other countries in mind when I did it. I hope the painting turns out well and I hope you will be able to show it on your blog. I’m going to be wondering what the subject is from now until then, probably.
Was there some specific reason DES laid the boulders to create the rapids? Aesthetics alone, or some ecological purpose?
I’m not sure, but the middle part of the boulder crescent is pointing upriver and this forces the current out away from the middle of the river to its banks. It is exactly the opposite of what the jetties do upstream, in fact. I wouldn’t think it would matter what the current did once it passed under the bridge but that’s just an opinion.
It is good to hear about the river. I’ve seen covered bridges on American films, this one is lovely. I suppose the cover was to strengthen the wooden structure?
Yes, the roof was to keep the weather off the floor of the bridge. They didn’t have snow plows in the 1800s, so I assume that it would have had to have been shoveled if it wasn’t for the roof.
Makes me miss New England. When I was growing up in New York I went there regularly, mostly Massachussetts (where we had family) but sometimes Vermont or New Hampshire. Glad they removed the dam, nice to see some environmental restorations going on.
Well, New England isn’t that far from Chicago. maybe one day you’ll be able to get back here for a visit. I think, for the most part, you’d find that the people haven’t changed much.
Loved your post…there are so many beautiful spots in New Hampshire that I don’t get to often enough.
Thank you. I know what you mean-there are many areas of the state that I haven’t seen even though I’ve lived here for most of my life.
I love being able to put context to the flowers, trees, and shrubs you’ve shared with us in other posts. I found this entire post to be a wonderful history lesson as well.
Thank you so much!
ps. the “like” button hasn’t been working for me this morning on any blogs! If i’d been able to, I would have “liked” this post in addition to leaving a comment.
Thank you-I’m glad it gives you a better idea of where where I am. I’ve been having the same trouble with the like button on other blogs-don’t worry about it.
Thanks Allen for the link to my site and kind words. Your photos are inspiring and this spot from the bridge is so beautiful in every season and time of day. I look forward to receiving your posts and photos – always a delight.
Thank you Lori. I hope this post will increase the traffic at your site!
Wow! Hard to believe that the dam was removed just two years ago, the setting looks so natural in your photos! The covered bridge is really cool, I’m glad that it has been preserved, there are so few of them left in this country. Thanks for sharing a little of the history of your area!
You’re welcome Jerry. They did a really good job of restoring the area after the dam was removed, and even went so far as planting native plants. I thought, after 2 and a half years of this blog, that it was time to show you where I hang out a lot of the time.
Love the shots of the covered bridge, which I tend to associate with New England.
Thanks Mike. Yes, there are 4 or 5 covered bridges in Swanzey alone so there are still plenty of them to see.
They pulled the 100 year old damn from the Lamprey in West Epping as well. Land Trust bought up the land surrounding it and with the rules and flooding it was decided this dam would go which did very little damage compared to the Dunloff dam which empties a whole lake into my yard each year and my 4 neighbors 😦
Great post!
Thanks! I remember reading one of your posts when your land was flooded. I can’t believe the powers that be just let that keep happening and don’t do something about it. There were a lot of people happy to see this old dam go because it was doing absolutely no good.
Ours would flood 3 towns out because my feeder river would be so flooded it joined and backed up the Lamprey just crazy homes lost thankfully FEMA helped me roads gone, bridges failed and THEY CAUSED IT 😦 Fish need to SWIM 🙂 and I can’t breathe under water so I will use my mouth to spread the TRUTH in PHOTOS 🙂
I don’t blame you.
🙂 Thanks
A beautiful area. Thanks for the history. Now if only more people could think like old Winnie the Pooh, then the world would be a much happier place. I think we have forgot how to look!
This is a beautiful area with plenty of wildflowers Jamie. It would be a good place to visit on your next trip to Keene. Right now there is more blue eyed grass blooming than I’ve ever seen. I agree-we’d all learn more by listening to Winnie the Pooh.