This is a location I had been eying for quite some time. I’ve driven by it hundreds of times when I was travelling between college and my parent’s place. Just as you’re about to round the bend just outside of Jarvis there’s a bridge over Nanticoke Creek, if you look south bound, you will see an old bridge just 10 meters away. It is much lower than the new bridge and is heavily overgrown. I would have probably never noticed it if it hadn’t been for a friend I was catching a ride home with who had spotted it. After 7 or 8 years I finally took the time to pull over and climb down there for some pictures.
I pulled off at a nearby corner and parked in what looked like just a lane way. It wasn’t until later that I realized this lane way was actually the original Highway 3 as it was when the old bridge was in use. If you look at Google Maps you can clearly make out this old section of Highway 3, which now appears to be under development, with some sort of building being put in at the far end. You will also notice another short stretch of Old Highway 3 further north east. If one looks very closely you can see that the south end extends past Highway 70 turns into a house’s driveway and then eventually the bridge, this whole extension is still paved but heavily overgrown by shrubs and moss.
I climbed down to the bridge from the west end, away from the person’s house. This side was covered in heavy growth and I had to climb under a tree to get onto the bridge. Once upon it I was amazed by how little it felt like I was on a bridge. The paving had been consumed by moss, grass and soil which had formed over many years. Smaller trees were growing right in the middle of the bridge. Despite being consumed by nature the bridge seemed very structurally intact and it was not at all an uneasy experience crossing it.
After snapping a few more photos I climbed back up to the highway and found my car. On my journey that day I stopped at one more location that I’d eyed along that route many times.
