The Dipping Bridge

Why ‘The Dipping Bridge’? Is it because the large pool below the parapets is a magnet for local youth to hurl themselves off the ramparts on hot summer days, daring each other to jump higher and with biggest splashes?
No, this is a bridge built 6 centuries ago and marks a major, ancient thoroughfare and river crossing through this part of the countryside.
Farmers dipped their sheep by pushing them through the 2 holes in the parapets on the downstream side, hence dipping bridge. (That would have been a sight worth seeing too — didn’t they have handy cams and YouTube in the 15^th Century?)
Early, before the splashing starts, a beautiful peaceful spot to contemplate, listening to the swishing and gurgling water.
If you are really lucky you might see the bright blue blur of the kingfisher as it plunges headlong into the pool and escapes out in a flash — (even better than kamikaze sheep dipping or dive bombing youths in my book!)
Highly recommended.