Cliff railway rope replacement work on track - here's when the Shropshire tourist attraction should reopen

Workers have today been replacing ropes on Bridgnorth's historic Cliff Railway.

The attraction has been closed for the work – but work is said to have progressed well and the railway is expected to reopen tomorrow.

The work is being undertaken by Tensology of Doncaster – a firm which not only carries out rope changes for funicular railways, but also for mines and cranes, including dockside cranes.

Pictures from the railway's owner, Dr Malvern Tipping show the new ropes being hauled up the tracks using the carriages – before the old ropes are removed.

Dr Tipping said: "This labour-saving methodology was developed some years ago by our previous general manager Chris Preece.

"Prior to this, all ropes had been manually hauled up the tracks, which was very time-consuming and exhausting work. The new methodology is also an improvement from a health and safety perspective."

Dr Tipping previously explained how the attraction will be using a new design of rope for both the balance and the haulage ropes.

He said: “The current ropes on the cliff railway have lasted far longer than the previous ones. We have had the new ropes in stock for two years, but have not had to use them so far.

“The previous ones had started to deteriorate at an exponential rate at the end of their lives. However, the current ropes have fared far, far better.

“We were alerted to a new design of rope when, along with the operators of other funicular railways, we attended a presentation by a rope manufacturer, which was hosted by our regulators at H.M. Inspectorate of Mines.

“This alternative design of ropes relied upon steel threads which were elliptical, rather than round, and which were wound and twisted in a different manner to the previous design used by us. We have been very pleased with the performance of this improved design and the new ropes will be of the same type.