Historic bridge to be reinstated after seven-year wait

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter 

A historic bridge will be put back across a south Wales river, seven years after its span was removed for restoration.

Cllr David Hopkins, cabinet member for delivery at Swansea Council, told a group of councillors funding was in place for the reinstatement of the bascule bridge at Landore over the River Tawe, and that it was “definitely down to be done” next financial year.

The bascule bridge was built in 1909, providing a rail link while also allowing masted ships to sail upriver thanks to a weighted drum which tilted one half of the bridge upwards at the centre. Bascule is the French word for seesaw.

In 2019 a large crane removed the bridge span, which had been fenced off for decades, and the aim at the time was to restore and replace it the following year. Key to the project is upgrading the bridge’s timber supports – work which still needs doing. The span, which weighs around 70 tonnes, has been restored.

The bridge was mentioned during a discussion about a potential expansion of water links along the Lower Swansea Valley from the city centre to Trebanos.

This would require new infrastructure between the Swansea Canal, Clydach, and Fendrod Lake, Llansamlet, to the south and from there to the nearby Tawe, which flows down towards the city centre.

The Lower Swansea Valley was once an industrial hotbed which brought significant wealth but also environmental scarring. Paul Relf, the council’s strategic economic regeneration manager, told a committee of councillors the worst signs of this scarring had been erased and that there was an opportunity to celebrate historic features of the area, which was famous for its copperworks.

Mr Relf said expanding water links north to Clydach would require some significant engineering, including locks, and that the approach would be to explore doing chunks of it a time subject to feasibility and funding. He said it was “a really exciting opportunity”, that some bits of work could be done by volunteers, but that it was also a “long way off”.

A report before the economy and infrastructure service transformation committee said: “Within the (Lower Swansea) valley the route of the Swansea Canal has long been the subject to studies and proposals to reintroduce or renovate sections of the canal for environmental enhancement and new uses.

“Whilst sections of the canal are now underneath sections of highway infrastructure, a clear route can still be identified through existing waterways that provide the scope over time to reconnect remaining sections of the canal, to ultimately achieve a functioning waterway linking from the River Tawe/city centre through to Trebanos and beyond.”

People can already explore a section of the Tawe in a pleasure boat called Copper Jack, which is moored in Swansea Marina and operated by a charitable trust. New pontoons are being installed upriver.

A group called the Swansea Canal Society has been very active in upgrade work in Clydach and is among those seeking a wider restoration of the region’s waterways, including a new link to connect the Tennant Canal with the city centre.

Councillors asked about how best to maintain momentum for the aspirations and whether water taxis could one day operate from the Landore area down to the city centre.