Bridge Number 3

Image: © Adrian Taylor Taken: 22 Aug 2023

Bridge number three on the former Bardsea Branch (also referred to as The Conishead Priory Branch and latterly as the Glaxo Branch) is the Vazon rolling drawbridge over the Ulverston Canal. The bridge is Listed grade II. Hydraulically operated, the central section of this skew bridge moved horizontally on rail tracks into a now infilled recess dock on the south bank of the canal, where there is a refreshment hut. When retracted the bridge provided a clear opening for shipping of 27 feet (8.3m). The formerly double tracked (until 1952) bridge is constructed of wrought iron resting upon cast iron columns. It was opened to rail traffic in 1883 but had not been opened to shipping for many years before railway traffic ended in April 1994. The railway was formally abandoned in 2000. The timber deck has vanished and the waybeams have rotted to such an extent that at the south end of the bridge the rails are sagging, resting on the chair bolts directly on the iron rail bearers. The covered pipe to the left carried the emergency water supply from Newland Beck for the adjacent GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical works. The bridge’s engine house has vanished but the hydraulic accumulator tower still stands approximately 45 yards (40m) west of the bridge. A walkway open to the public has been provided over the bridge connecting the canal towpath to North Lonsdale Road and South Ulverston.

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