How did the Freys still have a Bridge Monopoly?

[James Arryn]

8 hours ago, John Suburbs said:

Bridges ain't cheap or easy to build, especially the farther downriver you go. So the Freys could easily have gained control over the river far enough to the south to make any new construction not worth the bother.

What's more interesting is that the bridge probably has not been a great source of wealth for some time. Before Robb came along, there isn't likely to have been an urgent need to cross an army (maybe Ned, during RR), unlike pre-conquest when there was constant warring, even under the Hoares. Nor is it along the route of the central commercial artery, the kingsroad. So at best it may generate some income from local trade, but even then, it would make more sense to float goods downriver to the market towns, not cross at the Twins.

So I suspect that the wealth of the Freys is pretty much spent, which accounts for the paucity of Walder's halls, the lack of fancy clothes among his kin, and the fact that he could only offer his daughter's weight in silver, not gold. It seems to me that if he really wanted to pose himself as a wealthy and powerful banner lord on level with the Hightowers and Redwynes, he'd flaunt it more.

Oh, I’d think it’s still paying. Just like with most toll bridges, it’s not usually an army at a time, just a steady drip of travellers and merchants to keep a steady if unspectacular income. 

[John Suburbs]

15 hours ago, James Arryn said:

Oh, I’d think it’s still paying. Just like with most toll bridges, it’s not usually an army at a time, just a steady drip of travellers and merchants to keep a steady if unspectacular income. 

Yeah, I'm sure it's generating some income, but there's no sign of significant wealth in house Frey, so it seems to me that the value of the crossing is overblown. And most of the merchant trade is going up and down the kingsroad now, bypassing the twins. So the crossing would have some regional impact, but it's not a key gateway by any means.

[astarkchoice]

59 minutes ago, John Suburbs said:

Yeah, I'm sure it's generating some income, but there's no sign of significant wealth in house Frey, so it seems to me that the value of the crossing is overblown. And most of the merchant trade is going up and down the kingsroad now, bypassing the twins. So the crossing would have some regional impact, but it's not a key gateway by any means.

To be fair keeping all of walders kids in lord and lady style clothes, food and entertainment etc has gotta be a small.fortune.

Ned was bricking it over the cost of the  kings retinue which although much larger than walders brood only stayed a few days!