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Monday, May 24, 2021

Something About the Clifton Suspension Bridge Inscription

Tu me deiecerit insanis.

I saw something a few days ago on the Twitter that made me stop and rethink my driving habits. How many times do you read signs on bridges? How many of the bridges you travel across have signs worth stopping to read? How many have words you wouldn’t dare repeat to your children? How many have words in Latin?

Our friends at Weird Bristol shared the following:
The Latin inscription on the Leigh Woods tower of the Clifton Suspension Bridge reads “SUSPENSA VIX VIA FIT”. There are several ways of interpreting this phrase and could mean “Road suspended with great difficulty” or a more alarming translation is “Road is barely suspended.”
One wonders if Johnny and Fergie saw this while staying in Bristol during the events of The Secret of the Underground Room (1990). It seems the sort of thing Professor Childermass would see and expound theories about.

Stuff Rod's theories, anyway.  I'd like to know more on why the inscription exists in the first place.  Maybe I'll go there on vacation this summer?

2 comments:

Russ said...

It looks like you would need a pair of binoculars along with a designated driver to be able to read the sign on the bridge. I think most bridges have as few signs as possible to keep drivers eyes from becoming distracted from the road.

Jean said...

I'd love to visit Bristol and the bridge, so it's neat to find out that there's an inscription on it. I've enjoyed reading about Bellairs and Bristol, and another favorite author of mine, Diana Wynne Jones, lived there and featured the bridge in two of her books. So obviously I need to visit!