A HISTORIAN believes that it will be impossible to properly refurbish the collapsed Eastham Bridge.

Roger Morris, who was a farmer and smallholder in Eastham for many years, also thinks it is unlikely that even if it is rebuilt the bridge will allowed to carry modern traffic in the future.

Now living in Frith Common, Roger Morris, aged 71, undertook the research into the history of the bridge as part of a local history project at the time of the Millennium.

He found that the bridge was built in 1792 and its construction was to provide a way over the River Teme as an alternative to the three ford crossings that had been in use.

These were unreliable as the river levels rise very quickly.

It was a toll bridge until about 100 years ago and some creative partnering between the builders and the toll operators enabled a charge to be levied with having to have an Act of Parliament.

But it is the way in which the bridge was built and especially the materials used that makes Roger Morris believe that a proper like-for-like refurbishment will be impossible.

The bricks were made at a brick yard just a few hundred yards from the site of Eastham Bridge and the stones for the pillars came from a quarry a few miles away.

But the brickyard closed in the 1930s and this, Roger Morris believes, will make a replica impossible.

“It will not be possible to find bricks that are the same as those that were used in the original bridge and so it will look different,” said Roger Morris.

He said that, amazingly, Eastham Bridge has never had a weight restriction.

“Until the 1930s I very much doubt that it carried anything more than about 10 tonnes which is what a heavy load of silage would weigh,” he said.

He added that, to his knowledge, Eastham Bridge has stood the test of time well although there were some repairs in the 1990s and the bridge was closed a few years ago to allow water mains to be put down.

Roger Morris believes that if the bridge is repaired it is unlikely that it would be allowed to carry heavy traffic and might be used for pedestrians with another modern bridge nearby for cars and lorries.

He is thankful that no one was hurt when the bridge collapsed on a calm spring afternoon on Tuesday, May 24.

“I would not speculate about what caused it and I do not think there is much point in trying to apportion blame,” he said.

“It may be that two heavy lorries passed over the bridge close together and weakened it but we do not know and anyway if there was no weight restriction they were not doing anything wrong.”

But having lived in Eastham for many years he feels sorry for villagers and who will be inconvenienced by a 10-mile diversion.

He said that the bridge had provided an important link although there had been times when flooding had made it unusable.