The remains of a railway bridge that was demolished after five men died after it was struck by two barges in 1960 have been uncovered by very low tides following this year’s protracted winter rain. Robin Jones reports…
WHILE parts of the structure can be seen at low tide, heavy rain and the tides have washed away sediment, facilitating the exploration of the remains by Sharpness Lifeboat Station crew volunteers during a rescue training session.
The landmark 4162ft structure, which stood 70 feet above water level, was built in 1875-9 by the Severn Bridge Railway Company, mainly to carry coal from the mines in the Forest of Dean to Sharpness Docks. It was the furthest-downstream bridge over the river until the opening of the Severn Road Bridge, now the M48, in 1966. When the company got into financial difficulties in 1893, it was taken over jointly by the GWR and the Midland Railway, the single-track route becoming the Severn & Wye Junction Railway. The bridge was used for freight and passenger services until 1960, with temporary additional traffic when the Severn Tunnel was closed for engineering work.
However, in thick fog and on a strong tide on October 25, 1960, barges Arkendale H and Wastdale H, which had overshot Sharpness Dock, were carried upstream and collided with one of the columns of the bridge. Two bridge spans collapsed into the river and parts of the structure hit the barges, causing the fuel oil and petrol loads they were carrying to catch fire. The two captains managed to swim to shore, and an engineer was saved by men searching for the crew in a rowboat, but five other crew members died. The collapse of the bridge damaged the 12in-diameter gas main that ran alongside the railway, leaving households across the Forest of Dean without a mains gas supply.
Locals wanted to see the bridge repaired because it was an important community link, with Sharpness children travelling by train to school at Lydney left with a 40-mile detour via Gloucester. The Western Region aimed to rebuild the bridge, only for a capsized tanker to cause further damage to Pier 20 shortly before repairs were due to start. The same pier was struck again when the contractor’s crane broke adrift. BR decided in 1965 that the bridge was damaged beyond economic repair and opted for demolition, which began in August 1967.
Some of the spans needed to be broken up in the river, with parts remaining intact and sinking into the bed instead of being recovered for scrap.
On February 15, volunteer members of the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) undertook a local knowledge exercise by walking through mud, sand and water from Sharpness Lifeboat Station to the bridge remains site.
They discovered a complete section of the old bridge, complete with rails and the gas pipe that had been exposed, possibly by masses of freshwater. After exploring the wrecks, the crew safely returned to station and cleaned their muddy kit ready for service.
Crew member Luke Grinstead told the BBC that it was “just fantastic” to have the opportunity to visit the remains of the bridge. “To actually have the opportunity to go out there, to stand on it, to touch it, and actually be in the environment that the workers were in when they built and demolished it was a privilege,” he said.
A SARA statement said: “With all the interest that our amazing community has shown, we wanted to highlight some important safety points for anybody thinking of taking a look themselves… our advice is don’t!”
