Revealing the Roch
@fotofacade

A Stent to the Medieval Heart

Andy Marshall as Photographers

Regeneration of an urban town can often be piecemeal - focused on small areas of heritage value - a defibrillatory approach to bringing back a pulse of life into the community.


Over in Rochdale the council is taking a radical new approach by providing, quite literally, a stent to the urban heart of the town.


They plan to open up a significant length of the River Roch which was culverted over 100 years ago and now lies beneath a concrete forest of pilasters.


Yet, one fascinating thing remains - a medieval bridge. Dating to the C13th or early C14th it lies beneath, voussoirs resplendent against the concrete backdrop.


Revealing the river will bring new life and new purpose to a town hard hit by the recession.


I was asked to come along and photograph the journey to the medieval bridge and I did so with two cameras - one firmly sat on a tripod and the other attached to my helmet.


The results show a haunting journey through time, beyond the brutal concrete jungle, through the Victorian pop-rivets into a mysterious world of medieval structure revealed by the half-light.


Here is a mix of the pics from both cameras:

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