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NOTTINGHAM PAST & PRESENT: THE RIVER TRENT
OLD TRENT BRIDGE, Full Length, West Side, 1869
This delightful picture gives us a view of the whole length of the old Trent Bridge with its fifteen arches; irregular, and built at different times, but extremely picturesque. Its parapets were high, and in this it differed very considerably from the pack-horse bridges, which are fairly common throughout the country. As these pack-horse bridges were very narrow, the parapets were made low, because if they had been of normal height, a loaded horse could not have passed over them.
This bridge was thoroughly restored in 1364, and its management was gradually undertaken, after much dispute, by the town of Nottingham.
For a few months in 1871, the old bridge and the new bridge stood side by side, and the spectacle of these two bridges made such an impression upon the minds and speech of our forefathers, that the Trent Bridge is even to-day referred to as 'The Bridges'.
The site of the Victoria Embankment is shown in this picture in its original, unsophisticated condition, and extremely picturesque it was, although far more inconvenient to walk along than the magnificent promenade that we now have.