Stephenson's Forgotten Bridge
oxfordtimes.co.uk Oxford Preservation Trust Stephenson’s forgotten bridge hink of Oxford and ‘industrial’ 1851, and designed by Robert Stephenson, the may not be the first adjective man behind the Rocket, one of the first steam that springs to mind — perhaps locomotives, has seen better days. Lord Nuffield and the car When the swing bridge was built, the industry or the Lucy ironworks, waterways in Oxford were busy thoroughfares, Debbie Dance, director used by narrowboats and river barges full of Tbut not an Oxford with a role in the freight. of the Oxford development of industrial Britain, The bridge was designed so it could be Walk into the city from the west via Port opened by railwaymen to let boats pass — or Preservation Trust, Meadow and it is the river which serves as a shut to let the trains cross. guide to the route into the city, itself at the In the Victorian period, railways were outlines the trust’s plans heart of Oxford’s earliest transportation history. developing fast. The great engineering giants of Go as far as the railway and the man-made their day, Stephenson, Brunel, Locke, Vignoles for the renovation of a Sheepwash channel connects the Thames to and others, were to change the landscape of unique part of Oxford’s the Oxford Canal. Britain forever with tunnels, embankments and Passing under the main railway bridge look viaducts. It seemed no natural barrier was too industrial heritage to the left and there lies a heap of rusting metal great for them to conquer. railway salvage sandwiched between the Railways reached Oxford in the second half railway line and the modern housing of the 19th century.
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