Celery Farm Viewing Platforms and Bridges

A Celery Farm map showing the location of the platforms and bridges with their photos can be found here.
The Warden's Watch is located near the southwest corner of Lake Appert and is the closest to the Franklin Turnpike parking area. It was built in 1999 by Rob Pirie. At the request of Stiles Thomas, Mike Limatola added the ground-level bench on the east side in 2000. This platform replaced the two-person lifeguard-type chair that had been built by Fyke members in 1981.

The Pirie-Mayhood Tower is located on the east side of Lake Appert. The original observation deck was built in 1985 by Rob and other Fyke members and was called the Pirie Platform. At the request of Stiles, Mike added the ground-level bench on the west side in 2000. In 2014, at the suggestion of Jim Wright, Mike added the Mayhood extension on the north side, doubling the viewing area capacity. Charlie Mayhood, who died in 2013, was one of the original Hour On The Tower participants. The addition was named in his remembrance.

The Boy Scout Platform, dubbed "the Troop 59 Look Out!" by Stiles, is located on the north side of Lake Appert. It was built in 2001 as an Eagle Scout project by Allendale Boy Scout Troop 59 and Mike with design help from Rob. It replaced the two-person lifeguard-type chair that had been built by Fyke members in 1981. At the request of Stiles, the ground-level bench with the backrest with bird carvings was added to the south side by Fyke member Ken Buxton in 2002.

The Entrance Bridge located just in from the Franklin Turnpike parking area was an old farm bridge. You can see the steel I-beams underneath it. The Borough replaced the planking in the mid 1980s and again in the 1990s. Fred Weber, Herb Gardener, and Mike built the current bridge over the top of it in 2011 with concrete footings and Trex decking.

The Spillway Bridge was originally a double plank (2x12s) that Stiles put there in 1981. No railings. Scary! It was replaced by Fyke members with an actual bridge with railings in the mid 1980s. That bridge was replaced in 2014 with the current bridge as an Eagle Project built by the Allendale Boy Scouts with Mike's guidance.

The Pink Potty Bridge located just east of the Boy Scout Platform was originally an old farm bridge with a pink toilet seat suspended by a rope from a nearby tree. The borough replaced it with the current bridge in the early 2000s.

The Smaller Bridge just east of the Pink Potty Bridge was built by Fyke members in 1981. That smaller bridge was replaced in 2000 as an Eagle Project built by Allendale Boy Scouts with Mike's guidance.

The Brotherton Bridge, located across Allendale Brook near the deer exclosure, was built by the borough and Fyke members in the mid-1980s. The borough installed the two utility poles and Fyke members added the decking. Mike installed the railing in 1997. The bridge is named for John Brotherton, the past Fyke president and treasurer who died in 2017. Before the bridge was built, there were stepping stones across the brook.


The Small Bridge at the corner of the drainage ditch that runs alongside Green Way Meadow was originally a single utility pole. When Stiles and Mike led walks, some people considered it unsafe to cross, so they added a second utility pole and the decking in the early 2000s.

Carol's Crossing was built in 2005 for Carol Flanagan, past President of Fyke and long-time newsletter editor. It spans the drainage ditch beside Phair's Pond that runs north and south with one end near the bench overlooking the pond and the other connecting with the path into the Klomburg Woods. Carol writes, "On a previous Celery Farm walk, I was unable to jump across the stream separating the path by Phair's Pond to the path that leads around Lake Appert. On the next Celery Farm walk Stiles showed me the walkway that was built for me!" Here is a photo taken when Stiles showed her "Carol's Crossing."

The Boardwalk across a wet area on the west side of Lake Appert was built for an Eagle project by Ryan Unger of Allendale Boy Scout Troop 59 for an Eagle project ca. 2010.
The No-Name Culvert on the path south of the Butterfly Garden was named by Stiles.
The other smaller bridges were added over the years.