West Vale Branch
Projects
Steppingstone Lane Bridge Restoration

With the completion of the diversion and its approval in principle we were very keen to make a start on the real work - restoring the Steppingstone Lane Bridge itself. We have not yet fulfilled all the legal jumping-through-hoops to divert the right-of-way, so for the time being we must allow people to continue to use the collapsed bridge over the canal. This doesn't stop us investigating the remains however.

Click here to see pictures of the site before work commenced.

All around the site there is much evidence of the bridge's existence in the form of partial and whole bricks. In the north-western corner of the site of the bridge, 3 or 4 partly submerged bricks covered in moss looked as if they might be part of the original structure. Carefully using picks and shovels we started investigating and sure enough we were able to uncover the submerged remains of the base of the north western part of the bridge together with its abutment.

The remains of the north-western part of the bridge. The bricks which helped us pinpoint the remains can be seen in the upper-left corner of the exposed brickwork making up part of the abutment, still with some of the moss on them.

A more distant view showing the remains of the north-western part of the bridge.

It was heavy going because the soil became increasingly clayey and rubble from the bridge was also mixed in. 

Meanwhile a disused gatepost, a small hawthorn bush and a considerable length of concealed old barbed wire were being removed from the north-eastern part of the bridge site. There were no exposed bricks on the surface on this side to help us locate the bridge. Finally a couple of bricks were uncovered that appeared to have the correct alignment to be part of the bridge, but they did not seem to form part of the outer wall. They were actually from part of the brickwork well inside the bridge - about 18" to 2' inside the outer wall.

The north-eastern remains. The first bricks uncovered on this side are those at the extreme right of the picture, set well back from the face of the wall. This side's abutment can also be seen on the right.

We were excited to discover the start of the collapsed arch is still in situ. Indeed the whole structure appears to better preserved than we had dared hope and the foundations appear to be almost undamaged, but further investigation is required. Hopefully this means we can restore a more original structure for considerably less money. At present we will have to leave the infill to avoid a collapse of what remains of the arch.

Another view of the north-eastern remains showing the beginning of the arch. The towpath would have gone under the bridge on this side - we hope to uncover part of it soon.

A view putting the north-eastern remains in context

As you can see, the bridge has a pronounced curve in two directions. The courses of bricks curve down towards the ground and the bridge broadens as it goes away from arch. The eastern side appears to broaden more rapidly than the west, but this may be an illusion or determined by the lie of the land.

Looking north at the exposed remains. The eastern (right) side appears to curve away further than the western side.

This work party made up for some of the less productive work parties (February 2001 springs to mind). We can't wait to back and see what remains on the south side of the bridge.

Our "time team" relics. Mainly gate furniture of unknown vintage.