Pooley Bridge re-opens on Sunday

Cumbria County Council have confirmed that the temporary bridge at Pooley Bridge will open to traffic this Sunday, 20th March, one week ahead of schedule.

As you may know Pooley Bridge, the bridge over the river Eamont in the eponymous village of Pooley Bridge at the north east end of Ullswater, was washed away during Storm Desmond in December. The bridge was erected in 1764, replacing an earlier bridge from the 16th century and was a lovely thing to behold.

The old Pooley Bridge

Its loss has meant people had to make a significant detour to the east as the next bridge over the Eamont is also out of commission. This has caused a great deal of inconvenience to people living locally as well as making it difficult for visitors. The news that we are getting something back to replace it, even if it is rather more functional, is very welcome.

The opening will be marked with a celebration event hosted by the local community.

Cllr Keith Little, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said:

We were hopeful earlier this week that we'd be able to open early, so it's fantastic to be able to confirm it today. This has been a big project and I have to congratulate the staff from the council and our contractors Story Contracting, Mabey Bridge, Capita, Waitings Drainage and Mott McDonald for the huge effort they've made to bring this in ahead of schedule. It was so important to reconnect the village and get it back open for business and I'll certainly be there on the 20th to see the first cars going across.

Photo of old Pooley Bridge by Peter McDermott and is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 2.0 licence.

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