Rotherham - Eastwood Footbridge

Image: © Dave Bevis Taken: 17 Jan 2011

This footbridge over the Don Navigation carries a path that links the Eastwood and Parkgate areas of Rotherham. To the south is a Bayley bridge crossing of the River Don (see Image) and Eastwood. To the north is a crossing of the Rotherham to Swinton railway line (see Image) and Parkgate. Eastwood Footbridge is shown as “swing bridge” on the 2000 edition of the OS Explorer map - the existence of a swing bridge at this point is borne out by the “constriction” in the Navigation visible in the photograph. The public footpath over Eastwood Footbridge is a good example of how a right of way has been maintained in spite of natural and man-made obstacles: * Firstly, there must have been a man-made crossing of the River Don which linked Park Gate in the north with Eastwood in the south. * When the Don Navigation (Rotherham Cut) was constructed in 1740 (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Don_Navigation ), a swing bridge (now a footbridge) was provided to maintain the right of way. * When the MS&L railway was constructed in 1868 (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_Central_railway_station ), a crossing was provided (now a footbridge). * In the 1990’s, when the Parkgate Retail Park was constructed, a narrow pedestrian gap was provided in what would otherwise have been a continuous 600m row of retail units in order to preserve the right of way. * However, this is no longer a pedestrian-friendly route – there are 96 steps on the 2 footbridges and a walker has to brave the crossing of the many car parks and service roads in the Retail Park. * PS (Feb 2014): The footbridge has been closed, but will be replaced (see https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/512/eastwood-footbridge for details).

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0