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The leader of the campaign group that fought for Preston’s Old Tram Bridge to be replaced and reopened has confessed to having “mixed emotions” as demolition work begins on the crumbling structure.
More than five years after the crossing was closed over fears that it could collapse – without warning – into the river it spans, work started on Tuesday to dismantle the city landmark in a much more orderly fashion.
That process, which will take several weeks, is the precursor to the far longer job of constructing the new bridge that will maintain the 220-year-old cross-Ribble connection between Avenham Park and Penwortham.
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Glenn Cookson, chair of the Friends of the Old Tramroad Bridge, took an early morning stroll to the site to mark the momentous day that he and more than 2,500 members of the group had been waiting for.
“It is sad as we start to see the current bridge, as we know it, start to go – but everything comes to an end and it’s great that the bridge will live on in a new form,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
“I personally think the new bridge is really sympathetic to the structure and history [of its predecessors]. It will also encompass modern-day engineering and technology, which means it’s going to have a really long life expectancy – and so will leave a legacy for future generations.”
The bridge has had several incarnations in the more than two centuries that it has linked Preston and South Ribble.
Although the concrete deck of the structure that is now being demolished was introduced only in the mid-1960s – after its previous timber version rotted away – the trestle-style supports in the river were installed back in 1936, following damage caused by flooding. As the feature that gives the bridge its distinctive look, they ensure that the current long-distance appearance of the bridge is the only one known by almost every living generation of Prestonians.
While Glenn acknowledges the value in the heritage of the bridge – which started out carrying packhorse ‘trams’ between the Leeds-Liverpool Canal at Walton Summit and the Lancaster Canal in Preston – he says many of those who campaigned for its reinstatement felt its loss on a practical level, too.
“The main frustration was that they could no longer use it – so there will be thousands of happy people once it’s reopened,” Glenn said.
That happy day is due to come in December 2025 or very early 2026, depending on how the huge engineering endeavour to deliver the new bridge progresses. The specialist kit needed for the task is set to occupy an area the size of two football pitches on the South Ribble side of the river.
The structure – which will have an expected life of 120 years and retain abutments dating back to the 19th century – is being paid for with a share of the cash secured by Preston City Council from the government’s Levelling Up Fund in January 2023.
The authority says that the project is secure, in spite of a question mark hanging over the city’s total £20m levelling up pot as the council considers asking ministers for permission to change how some of it is spent.
As the LDRS revealed earlier this week, if the government gives the green light to reallocate the funding earmarked for a controversial revamp of Ashton Park, the budget for the bridge will be boosted to £8.2m. The original estimated cost of the ‘new’ Old Tram Bridge was £6.6m.
Preston City Council’s cabinet member for community wealth building, Valerie Wise, described the start of demolition work as “a significant moment…which I’m sure will attract interest from the public”.
She added: “This is an important step in delivering a new bridge that will serve the community for decades to come and restore this key transport link for people between Preston and South Ribble.”
Lancashire County Council is managing the project and has supported it financially with £1m in match funding from its own coffers.
Meanwhile, Glenn Cookson paid tribute to the locals who never gave up hope of seeing a replacement bridge opened – first by pressing for its inclusion as part of the city council’s Levelling Up Fund bid, including via a 3,000-signature petition, and then by continuing to “bang the drum” for it.
“The campaigning didn’t stop and we made sure that the council was on the ball to ensure that the deadline was met and the money could be spent.
“I genuinely believe that the constant campaigning and the participation of the community got us to where we are.”
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