Every year, five employees from the commune of Vresse-sur-Semois build a temporary footbridge called the Pont de Claies at a quiet spot on the River Semois.
It is the last surviving example of a traditional hurdle bridge built out of wooden posts supporting a wicker deck.
These bridges originally allowed workers to reach the tobacco fields along the river.
You can walk across the bridge in the summer months to reach the beautiful village of Laforêt. But it only survives a couple of months. By early September, nothing remains except a little sign on a tree to say the bridge has been dismantled.
This year, a second temporary bridge has been added across the Semois between the villages of Bohan and Membre.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
