Bridge 211B On Leeds Liverpool Canal - Esholt, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 51.094 W 001° 43.279
30U E 584113 N 5967765
This swing bridge was originally built as an access bridge for Strangford farm house and fields on the other side of the canal. It is also called Strangford bridge, taking its name from the farm.
Waymark Code: WMHVV8
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/17/2013
Views: 1
Early in the 20th Century the farm was demolished when Esholt sewage works was built. This Bradford City Council
website gives us the following information.
": Strangford
Farm stood on the site of Esholt Sewage Treatment Works and
this bridge allowed access from the farm to fields on the opposite
side of the canal via Field Wood. Today, the bridge is used by
vehicles travelling between the Sewage Works and the centre of
Thackley along a modern roadway, Ainsbury Avenue. Esholt
Bridge is one of the few genuinely traditional swing bridges in the
conservation area; it is manually operated, and the iron structure
with outward leaning iron railings carries a timber board surface
which is held in place by iron straps. The turning area walls are
stone with stone copings and traditional oil preserved timber
railings with iron feet."
It also tells us that "when the sewage works was built, sewage was mixed with ashes and waste and was transported out of towns by canal boat". This would explain why the sewage works were built so close to the canal.