Don't Lose Your Head

'Don't Lose Your Head' was shot in an open field alongside the old "Mansbridge" which crosses the Itchen Navigation Canal in Southampton. This bridge is no longer in use to vehicles since really it was impractical for two way traffic on one of the main routes into the city, with cars having to wait for the bridge to be clear before they could cross. A Bailey Bridge was placed alongside the old bridge at some point during the second world war, which was replaced with a more modern bridge in 1975. The original bridge is still in use, but these days can only accommodate cyclists and pedestrians.

This area of Southampton is known as 'Mansbridge' and according to Wikipedia...There has been a bridge at Mansbridge since at least the year 932, when it was referred to as Mannysbrigge in King Athelstan's charter to the prior of St. Swithun's Priory in Winchester. In the Domesday Book of 1086, the location was recorded as Manebrige or Manesbrige Hundred, within the county of Hantscire. A wooden bridge by the name of Blak Bridge was described as being "a little above Woodmill" (i.e. upstream of Woodmill in Swaythling) by Leland in 1535-43, and this may be a reference to Mansbridge as there are no known crossing points of the river between Mansbridge and Woodmill.

Saxton's map of 1575 shows the bridge at Mansbridge labelled as "mans bridge", while Speed's 1611 map refers to the hundred as Mansbridg. Blaeu's 1645 map shows Mansbridge Hundred but Morden's map of 1695 labels the bridge "Mansbridg", and shows it within the Fawley or Waltham (possibly Bishop's Waltham) Hundred. However, the bridges that stand at Mansbridge today are much more recent than those mentioned above; the older of the two was built in 1816 by the county council; this bridge was made of stone with a single segmental arch and decorated with a lambswool pattern.

Just along the road from the bridge is a charming little pub named "The White Swan" which sits on the bank of part of the Itchen Navigation Canal. Originally dating from the early 1800s, this much enlarged pub sits on the banks of the River Itchen and next to the A27 - once the main road before the M27 was built. The pub relies on motorised visitors and is food orientated - it is part of M&B's Great British Carvery chain. On entering via the main door the large restaurant & carvery area is to the left while to the right is a good sized bar with plenty of tables to sit and have a drink at. The pub suffered several bouts of flooding from the river in 2013/14 and it was then substantially refurbished in a smart old but contemporary style; flood alleviation measures should help keep it dry next time. Outside seating is available at the back - riverside - and the front of the pub.