I am a 'retired person' - retired from various things! I worked as a teacher for 28 years, including 25 years on the staff of a residential special school. When the stress of that got too much I took early retirement and then spent 8 years driving for an executive car hire company. Most of the work was airport runs and I covered 380,000 miles in those 8 years.

During my working life I have been an insurance clerk, worked in shops, on the factory floor, a bit of farm labouring and for a one summer did a milk round - whatever paid the rent really!

My wife Bronwen was also a teacher and for 17 years was headteacher of a Special Needs School for children aged 2 - 6.

We have 3 sons and 2 grandchildren.

When my wife Bronwen died suddenly in 2005 I decided to retire from paid employment altogether and spend more time doing various things that I had never had enough time for before.

This included spending a great deal more time on this movable bridges project, but also travelling more widely. During the last 2 years this has included trips to Finland, Portugal, Kuwait and Wales - plus of course visits to various parts of England. Both of these activities combine well with probably my oldest hobby - photography. I have been messing about with cameras since I was lent a little 'Vest Pocket Kodak' when I was about 10 years old. I was later given the camera, and still have the camera and the negatives from that first film!

I love the digital age and the fact that digital images are so easily manipulated without all the time in the dark room messing about with test pieces, chemicals and drying times!

(I have created an account on the flickr website and have made a start on uploading a selection of my travel photographs - more will be added as I find the time. If you want a look at those go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/11602307@N03/ )

I also love gardening - though I am better at designing and building than I am at maintaining the plants! I have a modest garden which is in the middle of a big 'makeover' at present and also rent a smallholding of about ½ acre at the bottom of the garden where I am planting an osier bed.

I am a DIY enthusiast and have just extended my workshop to give myself more working space.

Bronwen and I had a great love of the Norfolk Broads where we have kept a cabin cruiser for some years - it was demolished bridges on the Broads that got me started on this bridges project. I have also been a caravanner for many years which is very useful for touring the country to photograph bridges as well!

Alongside all of that I am a member of St. Mary's Parish Church in Melton Mowbray and getting more involved in Church life with the extra time I now have.

Hope you enjoy the website.

Stewart Marchant