Country diary: A new perspective on an old haunt | John Gilbey

The new bridge across the Afon Dyfi was officially opened in February, and two colourful strands of celebratory bunting still cling to the western parapet. Built to replace an elegant 19th-century stone-arched bridge – battered by time, floods and traffic – it lifts the trunk road over the flood plain of the Dyfi in a sweeping curve almost a mile long. I assiduously avoided the area during the lengthy construction phase, but now the dust has settled I’ve come to explore.

As a “non-motorised traveller”, in the technical parlance of the architect, I’m pleased to find a wide path on the western side of the bridge – along with a sturdy railing just the right height for me to lean on. From nearly 30ft above the ground I have a new perspective on the valley, especially where the span crosses the river itself.

The old bridge is just visible, half a mile to the west through the thick June canopy of leaves. As I look, two swallows speed under the new span in a graceful arc, while a tractor turns the mown grass as it dries in the shimmering afternoon heat.

Leaving the road I recross the river on the footbridge built to celebrate the millennium, then take the meandering path westward along the tree-lined bank. On reaching the old Pont ar Ddyfi, I find it transformed, securely bollarded against traffic and with a fresh coat of tarmac. From being a wildly dangerous traverse on foot, often beset by impatient hordes of drivers, these five stone arches have been reborn as a spot to linger and observe.

Sitting on the warm stone I note groups of sand martins weaving in and out of the piers of the bridge, then realise that they are nesting in the bank nearby. On a freshly eroded slab of rich alluvium, more than a dozen holes are visible, all about a foot below the turf. These sociable birds curve low over the surface of the river, snatching multiple insects on the wing before returning to their burrows to feed their nestlings. With the summer sunshine on my back, I can think of no better place to be.

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