Bedford
County Bridge
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"County Bridge" opens
on Prebend Street
14th August 1992,
Bedfordshire Times
by
Penny Bowden
A TUG on a cord ended l l months of one of the most complex road operations ever undertaken in the county.
But as Bedfordshire's Lord Lieutenant. Sam Whitbread unveiled the plaque to commemorate the opening of Bedford's new County Bridge, furious North Beds Councillors and a handful of their county colleagues boycotted the ceremony in protest over its chosen name. They were angry that the old one of Prebend Street Bridge had been ditched in favour of the new name without the people of North Beds being consulted. But in his speech at Monday's opening ceremony, Bedfordshire County Council chairman Keith White explained that his authority had chosen the name County Bridge to reflect the fact that more than 70 per cent of the 1.52 million cost had been met from the pockets of county community charge and business rate payers.
The boycott was the only note of discord at the ceremony, which saw Mr Whitbread retracing the steps of his great grandfather, Sam Whitbread.
As Bedford's MP his ancestor was. present when the old Prebend Street Bridge was opened by the then county Lord Lieutenant, Earl Cowper, on October 21, 1884.
Opposition
A report of that event in the Bedfordshire Times revealed that "there were a certain number of people who were opposed to its being built" -- on the grounds that it was too costly.
Just over a hundred years later the new structure has also attracted opposition, this time from conservationists at the Bedford Society objecting to the destruction of the great Victorian structure.
But the reasons for both bridges being built are the same -- the vast increase in volumes of traffic.
Heavy lorries roaring over the Pretend Street bridge have weakened it s0 much that a routine inspection carried out in 1983 found bad corrosion Which actually led to the bridge piers rocking and severe weakening -of the arches. After 109 years it had to go, and. engineers discovered that the only alternative was to build a new one.
The famous ironwork has gone. The old plaque, due to be fixed to the new bridge, will be the only reminder of its predecessor.
In 1884 Earl Cowper had rashly expressed the hope that the old Prebend Street Bridge would stand "for many hundreds of years." On Monday, his successor, conscious of that 19th century gaffe, chose his words more carefully.
"I am not going to make the same sort of forecast - look what happened to the last one," he said. "But I feel sure if such a fore-cast were made, it would come true."
The new bridge was built as the old one was being brought down. Throughout the eleven months two way traffic was maintained across the river as engineers put the finishing touches to it.
Monday's opening was held on a pontoon below the structure so that the traffic was not disrupted.
But back in 1884, it was a very different story. Town traffic came grinding to a halt as a foot procession of dignitaries, accompanied by a band, wound its way round the town to celebrate the opening of the Prebend Street Bridge, which was reported to have cost 10,000.
It left the Corn Exchange, snaked its way up the High Street, into Silver Street, along Midland Road and Prebend Street.
Then the dignitaries crossed the new Prebend Street Bridge, walked into Cauldwell Street and across the town bridge-- opened 71 years earlier in the presence of Mr Whitbread's great, great, great grandfather.
Page last updated: 23rd January 2014