BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Southern Vermont resident Phill Gatenby, who is originally from Great Britain, and recently moved to Brattleboro from Tampa, Fla., is creating a YouTube series revolving around one of Vermont’s most recognizable symbols, the covered bridge. There are currently more than 100 covered bridges littered throughout the Green Mountain State, and Gatenby plans to feature every such bridge in the state.
After living in Florida for several years, Gatenby had never seen a covered bridge in his life, before first seeing the Creamery Covered Bridge, at 500 Western Ave in Brattleboro. Then he started noticing other covered bridges throughout the region, such as the Hall/Osgood Bridge in Rockingham, the Worralls Bridge and Bartonsville Bridge in Bartonsville, and the Dummerston Bridge and the Scott Bridge in Townshend.
“It’s true…I had never seen a covered bridge before, not even the movie ‘Bridges of Madison [County],’ and when I first drove past one in Brattleboro I thought, ‘that’s interesting’…and a few days later I passed by the bridge in Dummerston and thought, ‘different style, different color and length’…and on the way back home, I made sure we drove through it!”
Out of curiosity, Gatenby started looking online and on YouTube, and was quite surprised to discover that there are more than 100 covered bridges scattered throughout Vermont. He wanted to know more about them and their place in Vermont history.
“The idea to do a YouTube series started as I began watching YouTube clips of each bridge and was enjoying them, but also realizing that some of them offered no information or history about the bridge at all. So, I thought I could do a video for each bridge, providing a theme and some more consistent information about each bridge.”
First, Gatenby started learning as much as he could about the history of covered bridges, joined the Vermont Covered Bridge Society, and connected with Okemo Valley TV to learn how to properly edit and post his videos.
“I could never have gotten the project off the ground without the support of the Vermont Covered Bridge Society, and I am a proud member,” Gatenby said. “At one time, there was over 600 covered bridges in Vermont, so it is vital to highlight and preserve the bridges we have left, to ensure the number doesn’t fall below 100.
“Additionally, I had no videography experience before this project, and Okemo Valley TV tutored and helped me put these videos together. I am quite proud that my videos are available on their platforms.”
To view Gatenby’s YouTube series about Vermont covered bridges, please visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-9rLhTYIb8.