Times were about to change for bridge in the countryside
YOU could be forgiven for thinking the atmospheric photo (right) that glimpses a Citroen Traction Avant crossing a narrow bridge with steam swirling from a locomotive passing beneath and schoolchildren perhaps on their way to the local école is a still from a Jules Maigret film.
Is the French supersleuth of the Paris Brigade Criminelle on his way to arrest a dastardly Gallic ne’er do well? Is this a scene from an outer suburb of the French capital? Well, no. It’s Hatherley, Cheltenham, in the early 1960s.
When built over the Cheltenham to Gloucester railway line in the 19th century, this bridge connected rural Hatherley on one side with the equally rural Reddings on the other.
Apart from an occasional haywain, agricultural workers on their way to and from home, plus the odd horse rider out for a trot in the country, the bridge couldn’t have been overburdened with traffic for the first century or so of its existence.
But by the early 1960s houses had sprung up in Hatherley, and the Humpty Dumps on the Reddings side were in the process of being covered by the new estate on Benhall Farm.
Consequently, single track Hatherley Bridge had become a busy pinch point for traffic and a replacement was planned. Those children in the picture, by the way, were no doubt on their way to Hatherley Lane school, a red brick Victorian building that stood just beyond the trees that form the backdrop to the photo.
More impressive in scale was Gloucester’s Westgate Bridge, the gateway to South Wales in days gone by. The bridge was approached through the arch of a massive stone building with castellated roof. This imposing structure was pulled down in about 1805 because it impeded the flow of carts and wagons that came and went, proving that there’s nothing new about traffic jams.
At about the time that the gatehouse was demolished, Westgate Bridge was a stone structure that stepped across the Severn on three piers. The middle span of the bridge was timber. In 1816 this was replaced by a single-span stone bridge.
In the days of trams, a sight that roused children to summertime excitement was a vehicle owned by the corporation which was fitted with a large tank and sprinklers to the front and rear. At the start of its duties, this tram trundled out to Westgate Bridge, where on the city side there was a steel cistern raised high on stilts. Water from the river was pumped up into this vessel, then gravity fed into the tank of the water tram.
In theory, the purpose of the water tram was to damp down dust and keep the streets clean. In practice, it was a good excuse for kids to take their shoes and socks off and enjoy the novelty of a paddle in the street.
In September 1823, Tewkes-burians gathered to celebrate the laying of the foundation stone for Mythe bridge. A special service was conducted in the abbey, church bells pealed, there were processional marches, much flag waving and a formal dinner at the Hop Pole. The town enjoyed a large time.
Next day it was discovered that the foundation stone had been dug up in the night and the coins embedded in the mortar beneath it stolen. Its architect, George Moneypenny, was dismissed from the project and replaced by Thomas Telford.