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The charity making life better by water

Taking care when crossing our hump-back bridges

We're asking drivers to take much more care when crossing the 200-year-old hump-back bridges that span our canal network.

road closure fences

Hump-back bridges, synonymous with Britain's canal network, were built 200 years ago for the passage of horse-drawn carts. Today's modern vehicles and HGVs cause up to £1million of damage to bridges each year.

Diverting vital funds away from our waterways

The majority of accidents are ‘hit and run', leaving us unable to recoup the cost of the damage from drivers' insurers, and diverting vital funds away from work to conserve our waterways.

Within its 316-mile network of waterways in Yorkshire & North East, Priest Holme Bridge, a Grade II listed bridge on a rural section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, between Gargrave and Bank Newton, has been frequently struck by vehicles. Our team will be carrying out repairs to the bridge over several weeks, the project is scheduled to take place between April and October 2022, with dates to be confirmed nearer the time.

image of a stone bridge

Damaging our heritage

Sean McGinley, our director for Yorkshire and North East, said: “Priest Holme Bridge has been damaged several times over the years by vehicles mis-judging the road. Not only are these bridge strikes inconveniencing other motorists and the local community, they damaging the region's waterways heritage and costly to repair. Each time our charity is left to pick up the bill, which is usually in the region of £25,000 to repair. We are working closely with North Yorkshire County Council's highways department on this issue to find a way to resolve this ongoing issue.

“The region's waterways are wonderful for people to use and enjoy but they are costly to protect and preserve. It is important we have funds available to carry out such works to keep the canals flowing – for example the conservation work we are currently undertaking at nearby Eshton Road Lock as well as Bingley Five Rise Locks.”

Respecting the weight limit

Ruth Garratt, our heritage advisor, said: “Bridges are such an important part of the canal's character and the area's heritage. Each time a bridge is hit a small bit of history is lost.

“If motorists just slowed down a bit and paid more attention, they would save a lot of cost and aggravation. It's important that people respect the weight limit of the bridge and, if they exceed it, then we'd ask them to please find an alternative route.”

Kingfisher in flight with small fish in its beak

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Last Edited: 07 February 2022

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