‘It’s been five years, get it fixed’

On November 5 2015, the Grade II listed Iron Bridge over Kings Weston Road to the north of Sea Mills was hit and damaged by an unknown lorry. It has been closed ever since.

Local people feel its loss strongly, and a small, socially distanced group of protestors gathered on Saturday to make their feelings clear. They brought homemade placards with slogans including “BCC [Bristol City Council] does someone need to die?” and: “It’s been five years, get it fixed.”

Traffic thundered by the protesters as they stood on the narrow pavement, and drivers sounded their car horns in support as they passed.

The bridge formerly provided a safe crossing, on a bend over the busy road. It links the Kingsweston Estate with Blaise Castle and is a popular walking route, used daily by locals for pleasure and practical reasons.

“The bridge has always been there – all my life anyway,” says Shirehampton resident Michael Rawlings. “I used it everyday on my way to school, the road is dangerous.”

Many lorries use the road on their way to the Hallen fuel depot and Avonmouth. The structure is currently supported by scaffolding, which itself has been struck at least twice since the bridge has been closed, including once in December 2019.

Traffic moves quickly on Kingsweston Road and locals can no longer use the bridge to cross. Photo – Mary Milton

Janet, who only wanted to give her first name, was the organiser of the protest. She lives in Sea Mills, only 100 or so metres away, and used to use the bridge regularly. She is passionate about the issue and is urging people to write to Bristol mayor Marvin Rees about it.

“I fear that it will be closed off and we won’t be able to have access ever again. Children cross the road with headphones on and don’t hear the traffic, someone will get killed.”

Janet also feels Bristol City Council have over-complicated the issue: “They make easy problems difficult to solve. We are not reinventing the wheel, we are raising a bridge.”

Raising the bridge is just one of the ideas that has been discussed. Lowering the road, diverting local traffic or erecting ‘goal posts’ to warn vehicles of the height of the bridge have all been put forward to Bristol City Council.

Labour councillor for Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston, Don Alexander, doesn’t believe the answer is so straightforward: “The solution might seem simple but appropriate weight has to be given to the historic setting of the bridge and the accessibility requirements of all residents.

“Sadly, until now, a compromise solution which is both technically and financially viable hasn’t been found. I and other Sea Mills residents greatly value this bridge and I hope that all parties to this discussion will show the maximum flexibility.”

Residents gathered at one end of the closed off bridge during a previous protest in January 2018. Photo – Mary Milton

The bridge dates from around 1820, built by notable Scottish civil engineer John Loudon McAdam, famous for inventing ‘macadamisation’ – the process from which tarmac developed. Its listed status means that any solution has to be agreed by Historic England.

Bristol City Council say they are looking for a permanent solution to the problem, most recently proposing raising the bridge by a metre to make it safe from further lorry strikes. This plan included building large ramps either side to make it fully accessible. The scheme was rejected by Historic England in May 2019, due to the “clear adverse impact on the significance of the bridge and its context”.

The local Kingsweston Action Group, who work to protect the Kingsweston Estate, also expressed doubts, saying they were “keen to be able to support the reinstatement proposals” but called them “incomplete” and said they were unable to “judge what impact raising the bridge, and the building of new ramps, will have on the structure, the Grade II registered historic landscape, Grade II listed Georgian viewing terrace, and setting of the Grade II listed Kings Weston Inn”.

The costs of hiring the scaffolding that supports the bridge continue to accumulate. A freedom of information request made in September 2020 revealed it to be costing between £300 and £375 a month.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: “The team are working on a resubmission of the planning application. We’re not able to give a timeframe at the moment but believe this will be in the near future.”

Mary Milton is reporting on Sea Mills as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a pilot project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media

Main photo by Richard Ganniclifft

Read more: Warhorse statue planned for Shirehampton