I had a very interesting reply to my post of last weekend that featured the picture of the old Pier Street pedestrian bridge that crossed the canal for many years and was eventually replaced in 2007 by a much more user friendly structure – the original photo was by respected friend of the blog and Brownhills Historian David Hodgkinson, and a whole tranche of images of the bridge replacement being constriucted and the older one removed have been supplied by old Panoramio hand Facade66.
Facade66 noted that the bridge work attracted a large audience in comment to the original post. He wrote:
The new bridge went up on 3 June 2007, the old bridge came down on 8 July 2007. The installation of the “new” one was a spectacle, I’m surprised they didn’t sell tickets. Certainly the old bridge was fully load tested that day as we were all jammed on it. I’ve sent Bob a dropbox link to the pictures I took at both occasions.
Facade was good to his word and sent me the remarkable gallery of images above – my thanks to him for a wonderful piece of otherwise lost history.
I am, of course indebted to Facade66 and hugely grateful for such a wonderful donation – I do of course still welcome your memories and contributions on the subject. Comment here or mail me: BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com. Cheers.
This is the old Iron Bridge at the foot of Pier Street, Brownhills. Note the steepness of the steps. I’d say late 1980s, maybe early 1990s. Note that Silver Court Gardens and Bayley House are visible, and the rough nature of the towpath. It’s a market day and the thing is clearly in full swing; the original ‘Marina’ construction along Silver Street – with the bizarre, pointless walls – had yet to be removed. Image courtesy of David Hodgkinson.
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