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Marple Website - Fighting To Keep Our Heritage Safe |
MARPLE'S IRON BRIDGE CAMPAIGN
At the end of July 2001 we
announced our intention to campaign for the restoration of the Iron Bridge in
Brabyns Park. These pages form a campaign diary and keep visitors informed of
progress, or lack of it!
The diary has been split into
sections for each year of the campaign, as it has become rather large. Each page
is displayed in reverse chronological order, with the latest updates at the top
of the page. To read it from the beginning, go to to the bottom
of this page and scroll upwards.
Project
Diary (from August 2003)
Campaign Diary
(July 2002 to July 2003)
Campaign Diary (June 2001 to
June 2002)
29 June
2002
Whilst searching for
information about the Salford Ironworks, the firm who constructed the Iron
Bridge in Brabyns Park, I recently came across a web site containing a
comprehensive history of the engineering firm Mather and Platt, written by
Marcel Boschi and David Drew-Smythe. Mather and Platt took over the Salford
Ironworks in 1837, 24 years after our bridge was built. The Mather and Platt
site had a brief mention of the Salford Ironworks and Bateman and Sherratt, the
men who started the company, buried with its pages.
Hoping that they may have more information about these than they had already
included on their site, I wrote to Marcel several days ago. Their response has
been extremely good and first of all they incorporated my letter into their web
site, in the hope that it may be spotted by someone with more information. You
can see this page by clicking
this link and then clicking the link on their introduction page below the
large picture of the Mather and Platt works, which says "23 Jun 2002 -
An interesting project - can you help?"
Since adding this page Marcel and David have gone even further and re-written
their history to include a page about the Salford Ironworks, with more detailed
references to Bateman and Sherratt and their part in the founding of the company
that became Mather and Platt. This new page, entitled "The Salford
Ironworks" can be found by following the links above or below my letter
saying "The Salford Ironworks now on this site."
Obviously we're extremely pleased by this and grateful to Marcel and David for
their time and effort. Hopefully it may also lead to us finding out more about
Bateman and Sherratt, the latter who may have been the designer of our bridge.
22 June
2002
As mentioned below, local artist Malcolm Melia has persuaded several others to
donate paintings and drawings to raise money for the campaign. Some of these
have been delivered and we've begun to set up an on-line catalogue so that the donations
can be viewed. So far we have twenty potential lots, with quite a few more
expected. Georgina Hargreaves, a
professional artist and illustrator has been particularly generous and we thank
her, Malcolm and their fellow artists for their generosity.
Click here to view the on-line
catalogue and keep checking back for more details of when the auction will
take place.
If you have anything
appropriate that can be donated to raise funds for the restoration, please get
in touch. The auction does not need to be restricted to paintings and pictures
only.
19 June
2002
We had a great time at the Ring o' Bells fun quiz on Wednesday evening, with all
proceeds of the quiz and raffle going towards the Iron Bridge campaign. £75 was
raised altogether and we also collected twenty-eight letters of support which
we've forwarded to Ged Lucas and Councillor Ingrid Shaw.
The next Ring o' Bells quiz
will be on Wednesday 17th July, starting at 9.00 pm, but get there early to
ensure a seat. July's quiz will be set by this month's winners, the now
legendary Plumber's Mates.
We've set up a standard
letter which you can download on-line if you'd like an easy way to show your
support for the campaign. All you need to do is add your name, address and
signature 3 times, cut the sheet into 3 and sent to the 3 addresses shown.
15 June
2002
There was a lot of interest in the campaign during Carnival Day and we collected
a couple of hundred more signatures on the petition.
12 June
2002
We received an encouraging reply from Councillor Candler to our letter of 3
June. Click here to read it.
8 June
2002
The petition is going well and in addition to the previous outlets, it's now
also available in the SPAR Shop at Marple Bridge. We've collected over 1,000 signatures so far and
hope to add to this considerably during Carnival Day next weekend. We've also
received another letter of support from a Mrs. K Hellar, with nineteen
additional signatures. Letters like this demonstrate the strength of support
from the local community and we hope for more of these.
We've received the promised
painting of the Iron Bridge from local artist Malcolm Melia, and in addition,
Malcolm has persuaded a number of others members of the Society of Marple
Artists to donate paintings to raise money for the campaign. As a results we've
had a re-think of our proposals to raffle Malcolm's painting and instead hope to
arrange an auction to do justice to this act of generosity from our local
artists. Watch this space for more details when arrangements are firmed up.
We wrote to Martin Candler
and his fellow Marple Area Councillors on 3rd June updating them on campaign progress and
asking for their support and advice regarding the raising of funds for the first
phase of work. Click here to read the letter.
The Ring o' Bells Pub, which
holds a monthly fun quiz in aid of local charities, has agreed to donate the
proceeds of the next two quizzes to the Iron Bridge campaign. The first of these
will be on Wednesday 19th June at 9.00 pm. It's always a good night and we hope
lots of people will turn up to lend their support.
25
May
2002
So far we've received eight letters of support from the local community. These
include six from individual residents and two from groups who use the Recreation
Centre in Brabyns Park. The first of these contains twenty-six signatures and
the second ninety-six. Along with the offers of assistance from local
businesses, these will help to show that the community is behind the campaign.
Every letter of support that is
written strengthens the case for restoration. We therefore urge everyone who
cares about this to write to us expressing your support, with copies to Ged
Lucas and Ingrid Shaw to ensure they are aware of your concerns.
The petition we have started
will also help to strengthen this case and we hope everyone will take the time
to visit one of the outlets where they are available to add their signature. To
date we've had sheets returned to us containing 425 signatures. Hopefully this
is just the beginning.
Of course, if there's anyone
out there able to write a cheque that will help get the first phase of the work
underway, please get in touch! We'd also like to hear from you if you are aware
of any potential sources of funds, or have any money raising schemes that could
contribute towards the first phase of the work required.
17
May
2002
Our second meeting with SMBC was well attended and included senior
representatives from Parks, Highways and Heritage. We can confirm that SMBC do
not want to demolish the bridge. We were particularly pleased by the
contributions from the new Heritage Officer, Paul Hartley, and the general
enthusiasm displayed for the project by everyone was encouraging.
We can also confirm that SMBC
does not have the money available to fund the restoration. However, they are
keen to establish ways of financing it and actions were taken that will help to
determine the best strategies to use when applying for suitable grants.
The first stage in the
restoration process will be to carry out a full investigative survey and prepare
a detailed report of the work needed to repair the bridge. This is necessary to
establish an accurate specification and costing to support an application for a
grant (or grants). This first phase is going to cost in the region of £13,000,
an amount the council does not currently have at its disposal.
Ways of raising this initial
amount have to be found in order to make real progress and investigations are to
be made into suitable grant schemes available. It is also possible that this
could also be partially funded by donations or other money raising activities
from within the local community.
The next meeting was arranged
for 28 June, when the actions placed will be reviewed and the best strategy for
the way forward should start to become clearer.
The main actions undertaken by
ourselves involve helping to build a case for the restoration based on its
history and heritage and also to demonstrate that it has the support of the
local community.
12
May
2002
The petition 'hits the streets' and is currently available for signing at
Compstall Post Office, Cote Green Wines, Grey's Tea Rooms, Marple Bookshop,
Marple Post Office and Toymaster. We are very grateful to these outlets for
their support.
10
May
2002
The campaign reached the front page of
May's issue of the monthly free paper, the Community News. The article reported
the offers of a painting of the bridge, by local artist Malcolm Melia, the
supply of paint from Lee Battersby of E. Wood Ltd and tree surgery and a cash
donation from Dave Myers Tree Care. The article also explained that we will be
launching our petition very soon, which we hope will show that a large portion
of the local community would like to see the bridge restored too.
9 May 2002
As reported in the Stockport Times, we've
received another great offer of help from a community spirited local business.
Tree surgeon Dave Myers has offered to donate professional help to deal with the
trees that have grown around and into the stone masonry upon which the bridge
sits. Dave, who runs Dave Myers Tree Care out of Marple Bridge, is a keen
supporter of local heritage issues and has also offered to donate £500 towards
the restoration costs. Needless to say, we're delighted by this response and
look forward to reaching the stage when we can take up these practical offers.
28 April
2002
We have begun contacting as many people and
organisations as we can find who may be able to give us support and advice on
the restoration of the bridge. One of these was Richard Foxcroft, who is the
Webmaster
of the Exploring
Telford web site. Telford, as most people will know, is home to
"The" Iron Bridge, built in 1770-80. In addition to suggesting some
useful contacts, Richard has also taken the time to visit and photograph our
Iron Bridge and included it in a section on his own site about Bridges
of Iron and Steel. We are now in some very illustrious company on his pages,
which show how our industrial heritage should be cared for. We thank
Richard for the interest he has shown and the effort he has put in to do this.
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This picture, sent
to us by amateur artist Ruth
Hargreaves, shows the bridge in happier times.
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25 April
2002
We were delighted to receive a call from Lee Battersby of Romiley, who
works as a technical sales manager for E Wood Ltd - a company that supplies
paint for rail bridges. Lee called to offer help with the cost of restoration by
providing the paint required free of charge. This act of generosity was reported
in the Stockport Times, whose support has been invaluable in bringing the
campaign to the attention of the wider community. The article also urged anyone
concerned to write to Ged Lucas and Ingrid Shaw to register their support for
the campaign.
12 April
2002
We had our first meeting with representatives
of SMBC on Friday 12th April. It was encouraging because everyone there had the
same objectives, although it's clear we have a long way to go before they are
achieved. We all went away with various actions and agreed to meet again in May
to review progress.
We have been contacted by several people
wishing to show their support for the campaign. We have asked them to do this by
writing to Ged Lucas, Director of Community Services Division and Councillor Ingrid
Shaw, Executive Member for Heritage, with a copy to us.
The addresses if you'd like to do this
are:
Ged Lucas, Director of Community
Services Division, Town Hall, Stockport, SK1 3XE
Councillor Ingrid Shaw, 28 Woodfield Road, Cheadle
Hulme, Stockport, SK8 7JS
Mark Whittaker (The Marple Website), 72 Woodville Drive, Marple, Stockport,
Cheshire, SK6 7QX
8 April
2002
We received an acknowledgement of our letter of 19th March
to Norman Hudson, Head of Parks and Recreation. This reply was dated 5th April
and promised more information within around 10 days.
28 March
2002
A
good week for the campaign and we seem to be making some real progress. We were
contacted by Jenny from SMBC and a meeting has been arranged for 12th April to
discuss the current status and possible ways forward. At the same time The
Stockport Times approached us about doing a piece on the Iron Bridge campaign in
the paper. The article written, by new local area
reporter Lisa Cooper, gave us a great boost and raised awareness of the campaign
locally. As a result we've received many supportive comments and even been
offered a painting of the bridge by a local artist to be used to help raise
funds. This is an offer we hope to take up.
19 March
2002
After an unfortunate delay due to problems with the web
site during February 2002, we eventually replied to Norman Hudson, Head of Land
Services, asking for more information about the likely timescales associated
with the activities identified in his letter of 1st February 2002. We copied
this to Councillors Candler and Shaw, Ged Lucas, MCC, the Local History Society
and Marple Civic Society to keep them informed of the current situation. To
read our reply, click here.
6 February
2002
We received the promised letter from Norman Hudson, Head of
Land Services. Click here to see it. This advised
us that a project plan was being prepared and would eventually be placed on a
service programme. We felt this letter was helpful and encouraging but not very
informative regarding the timescales involved.
30
January 2002
We received an acknowledgement to our message from Ged
Lucas, advising that he had spoken to Cllr. Shaw about the matter and had asked
Norman Hudson, Head of Parks and Recreation, to give us a full reply, hopefully
within a week or so. We thank Mr. Lucas for his timely response and look forward
to receiving Mr. Hudson's more detailed one in the near future.
At this stage we have no acknowledgement
to our correspondence with Cllr. Shaw.
23
January 2002
Following Councillor Candler's advice on Saturday, we
e-mailed Ged Lucas, Head of Community Services Division, to enquire about the
status of the report to the Executive Member - Councillor Ingrid Shaw. We copied
this e-mail to Cllr's Candler and Shaw to keep them informed of our actions. Click
here to read it.
19
January 2002
Whilst visiting Marple Library Mark
spotted Councillor Martin Candler holding surgery and had a quick word to see if
he was aware of any new developments. The Councillor had not heard anything new
but when informed about the report we believe is to be submitted to Councillor Shaw
he suggested we write to Ged Lucas, Head of Stockport Community Services
Division, asking to be advised on its current status.
Councillor Candler's advice is
appreciated and will be
followed, watch this space for further updates.
5
January 2002
Being concerned that Councillor Shaw may not receive the
e-mail message sent on 26 December, we sent a hard copy with an accompanying
letter to alleviate this risk. Click here to read
the letter.
26
December 2001
We learnt just before the Christmas break that the member
of staff preparing the report for submission to the Executive Member for Leisure
and Culture had to take compassionate leave and therefore the report was
unlikely to be submitted before the New Year.
In order to introduce the web site
campaign to Councillor Shaw and to try and discover more about the report and
the procedures that would deal with it, we sent an e-mail to her address identified on the Stockport MBC web
site. Click here to read it.
18
December 2001
We have learnt from Jenny that the Executive
Member for Leisure and Culture (which will include Heritage) is Councillor
Ingrid Shaw. Councillor Shaw will receive the report, possibly before Christmas
but more than likely after. The report will be in the form of a briefing
document drawing the Members' attention to the situation and asking them to
decide if they would like the project taking forward. The decision will
apparently be notified to the public after it has been made.
13
December 2001
We were disappointed to discover that Jenny would not be responsible for
this issue any longer as she has been helpful and enthusiastic in all our
dealings. However, we thank Jenny for her contribution and look forward to
establishing communication with her replacement in the New Year.
As a parting shot we have asked
Jenny to respond to the following queries before she hands this matter over:
- Who is the Executive Member for Heritage,
and how he/she can be contacted?
To confirm that the report has been submitted
to the Executive Member (hopefully before Christmas).
If the report is a document that is available
to the public, can we have a copy?
When the Executive Member makes a decision, is
it made public and if so, how?
11
December 2001
We were advised by
Jenny Waller that the Head of Land Services, Community Services Division
has been consulted about the repairs to the bridge. A further report is now to
be prepared for submission to the Council's Executive Member for Heritage,
hopefully this side of Christmas. Following this a decision will be made by the
Council on how they wish to proceed. How long before this decision is made is
not yet clear but we will pursue it again early in the New Year.
We also learnt that after
Christmas, "due to re-organisation to improve delivery service", Jenny
will be moving on to another area and a new staff member will be dealing with
this project.
4 November 2001
After researching the funding of projects such as this by Heritage Lottery Fund
grants, using the HLF's own web site at http://www.hlf.org.uk,
we compiled a 15 page document detailing the relevant information about the HLF
and how their grant scheme works. This document was sent to Jenny Waller, accompanied
by a letter explaining what we considered to be the most important issues. To
read the letter, click here. To view the document
click this link.
2 November 2001
Councillor Candler phoned Peter earlier in the week to say that someone from
SMBC would be in touch soon and we were contacted by Jenny Waller of the Land
Services, Community Services Division. Jenny advised us that a report of the
work required to restore the bridge and the associated costs was expected to be
with the Head of Land Services, Community Services very soon.
We also discussed with Jenny
the possibility that the work may need to supported by grants from organisations
such as the Heritage Lottery Fund, if it was decided that the Council could not
afford to carry out the repairs. We agreed to investigate HLF grants and how we
may be able to help in this respect.
10 October 2001
The MCC wrote to Mr. Craig Ainsworth, East Area Committee Manager, declaring
their support for the campaign and asking him to inform them how progress could
be made on the issue. The MCC have said they will pass on any reply they receive
to their letter, which can be read by clicking here.
23 September 2001
We wrote to Councillor Candler requesting an update on progress made since John
Davies' letter of 19th July and also advised him that we had begun campaigning
on the web site and in the Community News. Click here to read our letter.
18 September 2001
We
were contacted by a local lady called Judith Chantler after her husband spotted
our interest in the Iron Bridge whilst he was working abroad in Denmark. We
discovered that Judith has been campaigning for the Iron Bridge to be repaired
since September 2000 and after limited success early on, has begun to make
some headway earlier this year.
This explains why we received
such a quick response following our own initial enquiries in June. Obviously investigations
by the council were already underway as a result of Judith's efforts.
Judith has given us copies of
all her correspondence and we have agreed to keep in close contact and share any
new information we receive.
The photo opposite shows Judith's sons
with their grandma on the Iron Bridge approximately 19 to 20 years ago and, judging
by appearances, it hasn't been painted since.
14 September 2001
The following article was published in the September issue of the Community
News:
The text of the article said:
"Campaigners
are fighting to save the historic Iron Bridge at Brabyns Park, which has rusted
and corroded after what is believed to be years of neglect.
The bridge, which was built in 1813 by Salford Iron Works, is now in a very poor
state and has a bailey bridge across it to make it safe for the passage of
horses and pedestrians.
Two Marple residents, Mark Whittaker and Peter Clarke, have approached Stockport
Council with a view to having the bridge restored to its former glory.
"It
is tragic to see a local landmark fall into this condition and we are pressing
for its renovation", said Peter.
They are also urging the Council to look into the
rebuilding of a nearby stone bridge, dated 1804, which was allegedly demolished
by council contractors when they were getting cranes and trucks to the Iron
Bridge in 1991 for the installation of the bailey bridge.
The stone bridge crossed a drainage ditch in Brabyns Park and formed part of the
carriage drive from the park to Compstall. It was in classic style with
ornamental scrollwork at the ends and the stone from it was believed to have
been stored in council depots after its demolition.
"Both these bridges were listed structures and as such they should be
rebuilt and cared for as part of our heritage," said Mark.
"The council is apparently looking into costing the repair of both bridges
and a figure of £100,000 has been quoted so far, but we will wait and see what
happens. It may also be possible to consider Heritage Lottery Funding for a
grant for the work but as yet it is very early days," said Mark.
A spokesperson for Stockport Council said "The council would like to see
the iron bridge restored and is currently looking into the cost of funding such
a project. There is also the possibility of looking for outside funding,
possibly from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other sources."
19 July 2001
We received a copy of a letter from John Davies, Project Officer
(Conservation), to Councillor Candler. The letter indicated that investigations
were underway involving specialist contractors to establish the extent and cost
of repairs with a view to obtaining funding via the Heritage Lottery Fund.
This movement was, from experience, a lot quicker than we expected and our thanks go to Councillor Candler for his involvement so far.
End June 2001
Feeling that some action should take place before the iron bridge collapses into
the Goyt, Marple Website approached local Councillor
Martin Candler to ascertain the situation with regard to the Iron Bridge.
We were told that the hold ups were purely of a financial nature and that as
soon as the money became available, work would begin. Unable to obtain an answer
as to what the actual cost of repairs would be, we requested that investigations
be put in motion to find out, as, if necessary, we would make enquiries regarding
public or private grants which may be available to help towards the cost of
renovation. Councillor Candler said that he would be happy to do that.
Project Diary
(from August 2003)
Campaign Diary
(July 2002 to July 2003)
You can contact us directly by
e-mail on this issue at:
Peter Clarke peter@marple-uk.com
or Mark Whittaker mark@marple-uk.com
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