Not So Much A Memory, More Of A Query.

A Memory of Looe.

This bridge is usually referred to as a seven arched bridge but looking at this 1888 photograph, there appears to be eight of them. The tunnel nearest the camera still exists and I recall how it once gave access to the old Regent Cinema which these days serves as an amusement arcade. Is it possible that the arch or tunnel at the far end could also have housed a road or even a railway line? Although from the photo, it appears to span part of the river. I can also recall from the 1950s, the railway line extending past the Eastern end of the bridge and down to the quayside. I seem to remember a daily goods train going down to the quay presumably to take fish 'up country'. But I certainly don't remember the existence of that eighth arch or tunnel. The only explanation I can offer is that when the bridge was built in the 1850s the quayside at East Looe had not yet been extended up as far as the bridge so that this additional arch could indeed have spanned that, as yet, unclaimed part of the river. I'd be most grateful for any further enlightenment regarding this issue.