2020
SO6210 : Site of Central Bridge
taken 4 years ago, near to Ruspidge, Gloucestershire, England
Site of Central Bridge
So called because it was built by the Severn & Wye Railway in order to allow the Forest of Dean Central Railway's line to pass under the S&W's Mineral Loop, even though, by the time the S&W built the mineral loop, it was apparent to all concerned that its construction would put an abrupt end to the chances of the FoDCR ever extending their track to the point where the bridge would be required. And so it proved: the FoDCR's line languished at New Fancy Colliery for a couple of years, then retreated to Howbeach Colliery a mile or so south, and the grand plans for expansion up to Foxes Bridge Colliery (and at one time, to Mitcheldean Road and Usk and South Wales ... how long ago that must have seemed when the company could not afford to even print its accounts in 1877!) were all dust in the wind. Track was never laid under this bridge (although the track bed was prepared) and the girder which carried the S&W line was removed upon closure of the loop in the 1950s, but the abutments stand today in mute testimony to the ambitious and sometimes crazy plans of the railway age.
The rebuilt bridge now carries a cycle track. I took this in a bit of a hurry, since I had left my bike unattended on the bridge, and once I was down on the trackbed I realised that anyone walking past could hop on it and I'd never see it again, so I snapped this and climbed hurriedly back up the embankment!
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