|
"A whitish smoke very like a light fog was rising from the limpid waters of the
Serchio which, according to Diori's forecast, was the sign of a beautiful day to
come. The ferry boat had been made fast to the opposite bank, however, and not a
living soul was apparent who might untie it..."
" ...and yet presently we saw a small whitish figure arriving from the direction of the little hill of Turritecava - that could not be the boatman! - but it continued to approach the river, came down the slope, jumped in the boat and in no time at all arrived at the landing stage on our bank. It proved to be a gracious young girl around twelve or thirteen years old, whose eyes were still heavy with sleep..." Apparently (according to this article) from the 'beginning of the 1900s' there was a ferry here, seen in the photo, consisting of a boat running along a steel chain fixed to two wooden supports on either bank, which connected Turritecava (near somewhere called Baronetto) with Ponte all'Ania (not far from the front of the current railway station). This service, presided over by a boatman twenty four hours a day, ended only in 1960 with the construction of the present bridge. Just four families, who succeeded each other during this time, operated the service. Magri, writing in 1880, doesn't mention the chain and he has Diori sing about the 'rowing girl' - so perhaps she and her father preceded the ferry in the photograph. |
Ferry 'cross the Serchio
« Ania river
Road to Cardoso »