Bridging the gap in Shropshire's heavy lorry dilemma

It's no surprise, then, that some the county's transport networks can date back to Victorian, medieval or even Roman times – and features such as bridges have become much-loved landmarks and heritage assets in their own right.

But a lot has changed since the days when most traffic was horse drawn, and the modern era of heavy goods vehicles and huge trailer-hauling tractors does not always go well with the region's old, narrow roads and old, narrow river crossings.

This was dramatically demonstrated last week when the Grade II-listed 18th century bridge at Eastham, near Tenbury Wells, simply collapsed into the River Teme as two mini buses came to cross.

Why that happened is still being investigated but locals are convinced it was a result of too much heavy goods traffic.

Meanwhile there have been calls to "stabilise" Clun Bridge, at the heart of the south Shropshire town, as large cracks have appeared in its ancient brickwork in recent weeks.

The two alarming developments follow the repair of the Grade-I listed Ludford Bridge across the River Teme in Ludlow, which had a large hole knocked in its wall by a reversing lorry in February, leading to its closure for more than two months while repairs took place.

During that time an online poll by Ludlow Councillor Andy Boddington found 91 per cent of people responding in favour of banning lorries from the bridge, though it has been measured as more than sturdy enough to take heavy traffic.

A recent survey by Shropshire car dealers JT Hughes found a similar concern for the impact of heavy traffic on the historical features of the county's roads, but only among about half of the people surveyed.

The JT Hughes poll, conducted county-wide, found 43 percent of participants believed that there should be "a significant effort made" to preserve the structures found Shropshire's historical roads.

A further 54 per cent believed we should preserve Shropshire's history while striving for new transportation links.

Jack Limmond, of Clun Tourism, was one of those calling for the protection of heritage features such as Clun Bridge in the survey.

He said: "There needs to be some change, vehicles are bigger, but we all have to live sympathetically. Historical road features like this are very, very important parts of our cultural heritage and tourism. Bridges like Clun's are beautiful when they are not damaged or disgraced with orange traffic cones.

"Sadly, it's due to HGVs coming from Europe that they are so regularly damaged and in need of repair.

"They see Newcastle, instead of Newcastle-on-Clun, on the SatNav and are turning up unexpected to the area, trying to negotiate these small streets."

The bridge, which takes the A488 over the River Clun, takes centre stage during the town's annual Green Man Festival, where a fight between the mythical Green Man and Ice Queen is re-enacted each May Bank Holiday.

But it has regularly been hit by heavy goods vehicles, and in 2014 was seriously damaged after a lorry ran into its parapet.

Now cracks are showing in the brickwork further down on the structure.

Dave Astley, a lorry driver of 44 years' experience from Kington, across the south Shropshire border, told the JT Hughes survey more needed to be done to warn drivers about such obstacles on their routes.

He said: "The size of HGVs does hold a lot of responsibility for damaging these bridges, and farm vehicles too. They are too large these days. But, there should be better signage for drivers and transport managers should place more efforts on mapping out appropriate routes for their drivers too."

Tim Sneddon, Shropshire Council's environmental maintenance manager, said

: "We take the preservation of historic features extremely seriously and not just those which are scheduled ancient monuments, listed or in conservation areas, but all of any historic interest.

"We have a small team of qualified archaeologists and conservation officers who lead on this, but will advise colleagues in other departments such as highways."