Port Meadow Bailey Bridge - 75 and Protected!

This prefabricated modular bridge format played a major part in the successful outcome of WW2, enabling Allied armies to maintain the advance when faced with the wholesale demolition of bridges by a retreating enemy. It was described by Eisenhower as in the top 3 most important technological and engineering inventions of the war, and by the press as a “Wonder Bridge”. It’s inventor, Donald Bailey, was Knighted.

The Port Meadow bridge is 100ft long of WW2 vintage. It was used for flood relief following the destruction, in the major floods of March 1947, of the previous wooden pedestrian bridge that was at the site. It was erected from scratch by Royal Engineers on 7th September 1947 in less than 2 hours, in front of a crowd of over 3,000 – an impressively quick time!

“Our” bridge is therefore coming up to its 75th anniversary on 7th September this year. I will be giving a talk on it in the Town Hall around that time, and will hopefully be giving some guided talks at the bridge over the Oxford Open Doors weekend on 10/11th September. There will also be an article on the bridge in the Oxford Mail’s Memory Lane edition on 5th September – all this helping to raise public awareness of this unnoticed bridge, largely taken for granted by thousands each year crossing across to/from the Thames Path from the Meadow.

The City Council on 23rd March approved the bridge being added to the Oxford Heritage Asset Register, a list supported by Historic England, the Oxford Preservation Trust and local communities. This is great news, and will afford it some protection (although not the same as national Listing) as well as raising the profile and public awareness of this important heritage asset - important not only for Oxford, but nationally, as there are increasingly fewer of these bridges left, particularly long ones in the public domain. One family commented online saying they referred to it as the “Musical Bridge” because of the rumbling sound as they cycled over the wooden planks. I’m sure others see it as a “Bouncing Bridge”, moving as you cross it – all part of its design.

For those who have seen it in recent years, you will have noticed it is looking rather jaded. Some parts are rusting badly, but overall the County Council, responsible for it’s upkeep, has said it’s still robust and safe to use. Works to repair and refurbish the bridge to extend its life were planned as far back as 2011, but sadly were always “bumped” by higher priorities. However, the Council has recently indicated it will programme in the works, and is firming up on what is needed, identifying suitable contractors and to source parts where it can, before committing to a timescale. Some parts will need repairing, others replacing, and overall the bridge refurbished to give it a significant boost in longevity.

The situation is indeed looking much more optimistic for a notable anniversary year. Three quarters of a century’s sound public service is impressive, for a structure designed for temporary use, and worthy of recognition! While the works may not be undertaken in 2022, a firm commitment to do them will be very much welcomed, piggybacking the OHAR protection and raising public awareness.

As Napoleon Bonaparte was reputed to have said – “Glory is fleeting but obscurity is forever.” Perhaps an apt statement for this bridge to date, with its wartime heyday, basking in worldwide glory at it’s critical moment in history, but with increasing obscurity and deteriorating condition over the decades since 1947.