With a major river running through Shropshire, it’s natural that the county should have some magnificent bridges.
The gem among them all is the world’s first Iron Bridge, still standing proud and counting down to its 250th anniversary in 2029. But bridges also have a shelf life, or suffer misfortune, or fail to keep pace with the times, and a number of attractive bridges have come and gone.
We’ve dipped into our archives to have a look at a few of those disappeared structures which gave good service to Salopians down the centuries but were overtaken by the march of progress.
- You can enjoy this and more with our weekly FREE Nostalgia Newsletter - with scores of archive pictures and exclusive features on the history of Shropshire and Mid Wales - all sent to your inbox every week. Sign up here
- For anyone curious about where their own family story leads, MyHeritage DNA kits are currently £19.90, excluding shipping. The test can help explore genetic origins and identify DNA matches who may share branches of your family tree. This is an affiliate link. We may earn a small commission on items purchased, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
5. They looked for hidden gold, but could not find any
The blowing up of a disused railway bridge near Cleobury Mortimer on Sunday, March 9, 1969. The accompanying Shropshire Star story said the bridge once carried the Ditton Priors military railway line and after the explosions (two of them) carried out by the army, the rubble crashed on to the Ludlow-Kidderminster road. A local belief that the bridge had a cache of gold sovereigns hidden by a bricklayer during its building proved false. The story said the windows of the Blount Arms, 80 yards away, were boarded up and there was no damage. | Shropshire Star
6. Another one bites the dust
The Weobley railway bridge on the A442 Hodnet to Wellington road being demolished on August 13, 1980. It looks like it is being blown up, but that may be misleading as the Star's report of the time said it was knocked down - it said the old bridge, which crossed the former Wellington to Market Drayton railway line near Peplow, was knocked down as part of a £90,000 Shropshire County Council road improvement scheme. There's a Weobley Farm just south of Hodnet, which no doubt explains the name of the bridge. | Shropshire Star
7. Making preparations for Tilley bridge's final farewell
Railway workers lay a temporary crossing across the Wem to Shrewsbury railway line at Tilley, near Wem, in readiness for when the old bridge carrying the lane to Tilley Park Farm was blown up. Cracks had appeared in the old structure over the years and experts felt the bridge was no longer safe to carry heavy loads. It was planned to place a new pre cast concrete unit structure on the abutments. It was January 1977. | Shropshire Star
8. The bridge which the SVR revival could not save
A demolition team pulling down the railway bridge between Bridgnorth station and the tunnel running underneath High Town. It had become redundant with the closure of the Severn Valley Railway, and that did not change when volunteers revived the line south of the town as a tourist attraction. The picture dates from April 1967. The low bridge had been a traffic hazard for many years. Hollybush Road was closed while the bridge was taken down. | Shropshire Star archive