WORK has started on a 149-year-old River Wye railway bridge that was closed on safety grounds to pedestrians two years ago.

But walkers won’t be able to stroll across again any time soon - preliminary works on Lydbrook’s Black Bridge are to prevent parts of the dilapidated structure falling on canoeists’ heads below.  

Scaffolders moved in last week on the Stowfield viaduct, which residents of Welsh Bicknor and Lydbrook and Wye Valley walkers have used for decades to cross the Wye.

A decision on a Heritage Lottery bid of £97,000 to prepare a potential £1.67m upgrade of the bridge, which links Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, is expected later this month (June 26).

In the meantime, 1,000 pieces of scaffolding and 1,000 pieces of scaffolding board are being erected on the bridge to allow the preliminary works to take place from next month until October.  

All the loose timber parts and parapets will be removed to prevent potential injury to canoeists and walkers passing underneath.

Gloucestershire county councillor Vernon Smith, said: “This is essential safety work for Lydbrook Bridge. By removing some of the loose steel, timber and wrought iron, we can make sure that boats and other traffic using the River Wye can continue to pass under the bridge safely.”

If the initial Lottery application succeeds, backed by Gloucestershire and Herefordshire councils, the Wye Valley AONB, Amey and the Black Bridge Steering Group, a full design will be developed by June 2019 and a bid for major funding made, which would include construction work up to May 2021 and heritage community projects.   

Since being closed down, residents have had to take a six-mile detour via Huntsham or Kerne bridges to cross the Wye, while the 20,000 walkers a year who regularly used it as part of the 136-mile Wye Valley Walk have been rerouted.