Long-awaited bridge opens at Cressbrook Mill, funded by Mend Our Mountains

Mend Our Mountains Articles
12 Rhag
8 min read

26,000 plastic bottles have been rescued from landfill to create a new bridge for walkers and climbers at Cressbrook Mill, partly funded by the Mend Our Mountains campaign from the BMC's Access & Conservation Trust.

Now, hill walkers and rock climbers have safe access again to the Monsal Trail and circular walks from Cressbrook, and the fantastic rock climbing crags across the River Wye.

The original 20m (60ft) bridge –across the River Wye - was closed in 2020 after it fell into disrepair and was structurally condemned as unsafe, however climbers were still very tempted to use it. It had been installed by the military in the 1980s as an exercise for the Royal Engineers and became a popular access point for the local community and visitors.

BMC Access & Conservation Officer (England), Jon Fullwood, says, "It's great to have this new bridge open because now we don't have to keep telling climbers not to use it - it was hard to keep telling people they can't have easy access to this area."

BMC Ambassador and pro climber, Steve McClure, says, "As a former engineer, this bridge is an absolutely fantastic creation and very in keeping with the surrounding environment which is very important. It's brilliant for climbers - we can now access some of the best climbing routes in the area, with crags like Water-Cum-Jolly Cornice and Moat Buttress."

As a hill walker and BMC Local Access Rep, Peter Judd is delighted with this access upgrade. He says, "It's so important to connect to the other side of the River Wye so that walkers can enjoy the circular walks that they haven't been able to for so long.

"This beautiful new bridge (that fits well with its surroundings) is so useful for walkers in offering a valuable connection for walkers coming down Cressbrook Dale (to the north) to reach over to the southern slopes of Water-Cum-Jolly-Dale, with its open access slopes, and the Monsal Trail that passes through Cressbrook Tunnel and Litton Tunnel on the way to Monsal Dale in the east and Millers Dale in the west. The new bridge gives people lots of choice and variety of routes on which to explore this phenomenal valley. It is so worthwhile, and it's brilliant that the BMC's Access and Conservation Trust has been able to add crucial seed funding that allowed FiPL money to be accessed for this work. This makes such a difference for hikers and climbers alike."

Long-standing Peak District Access Area Co-ordinator, Henry Folkard, is especially thrilled to see the completion of this bridge, "I spent a lot of time lobbying the BMC to support the Cressbrook Mill bridge funding campaign. It's so vital that everyone collaborates on these small but hugely important projects because access is for everyone - not just for the walkers and climbers but the whole of the local community."

The old bridge at Cressbrook Mill had fallen into disrepair and was closed in 2020
Cressbrook Mill bridge is finally open after four years of collaborative funding. Photo: Tom Marshall/Peak District National Park Authority. Drone photos below: Dale Kovacs.

Due to its hard-to-access location and the fact that the bridge was one single span delivered on a long lorry, the journey down the winding Peak District roads had to be carefully navigated, before a huge crane lifted the bridge into place.

An incredible 26,000 plastic bottles were recycled to create the Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bridge, which was completed with hardwood handrails. The structure is expected to have a lifespan of 120 years, with relatively minimal, regular maintenance.

The challenging nature of the site and the size of the required bridge meant a bill of £190,000 – leading to a huge fundraising effort.

The reinstatement project was supported by the Peak District National Park Foundation, the Peak District National Park Authority, the BMC Access & Conservation Trust's Mend Our Mountains campaign and the Ramblers Association, as well as a significant contribution from more than 60 individuals and community groups through a crowdfunding campaign.

Almost £120,000 was also made available from Defra’s Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme, led by the National Park Authority, for support local access projects.

The Peak District National Park Authority covered the £20,000 removal costs of the original bridge, while £50,000 was raised by the Foundation, including £10,000 from the BMC and £14,000 from the general public.

What’s Mend Our Mountains?

Mend Our Mountains is an award-winning campaign from the BMC’s Access & Conservation Trust (ACT) which has raised a total of £1.4 million since its creation in 2016 to repair Britain’s hills and mountains. Since then over 50 miles of fragile footpath has been restored for future generations and 544 miles of upland has been repaired - the equivalent length of over 67,000 double decker buses!

Great Bradley Bridge was funded in the 2023 campaign. This year there are seven projects including:

1 Funding an Access Officer for the Cotswolds AONB

2 Supporting the Fix the Fells rangers in the Lake District

3 Restoring paths on Roseberry Topping, North York Moors

4 Making the footpath to Chanctonbury Ring, South Downs, more accessible

5 Replacing Cressbrook Mill footbridge, Peak District

6 Multiple Get Stuck In volunteer footpath repair events with the National Trust in the Lake District, Snowdonia and Peak District

7 Haytor Rocks almost 2,000m of footpath repairs in Dartmoor

Support Mend Our Mountains

Path repair is a surprisingly costly business. Working in remote locations with complex equipment and adverse weather conditions makes rebuilding trails an enormous and expensive challenge.

£5 buys a pair of work gloves

£50 buys five garden skips for moving soil

£250 fixes approximately one metre of footpath

£1000 flies ten bags of stone to an inaccessible mountain location

Did you know?

Simply becoming a BMC member supports BMC Access & Conservation Trust projects like this, plus you get all the benefits that membership offers, including these and many more:

£15 million Worldwide Combined Liability Insurance

£10,000 Personal Accident Insurance

Quarterly member-only magazine, Summit

15% off Cotswold Outdoor, Snow+Rock and Runners Need

BMC Travel Insurance

Join the BMC

Cotswold Outdoor Discount

Winter Lecture Series

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