Latest news here.Last Saturday I wrote about Frog Island and the disappearing remains of the old Great Central railway line through Leicester, inspirational Alex Foster to discover Nottingham Arkwright Street station in the process. That station, incidentally, was built by the contractors Logan & Hemingway, in which my political hero J. W. Logan was a partner.The Great Central through Leicester returned to the headlines this week with news that the city council wants to demolish the most noteworthy residual structure. On Friday the Leicester Mercury reported:Leicester City Council is usual to agree plans to demolish the city's historic Bowstring Bridge in private discussions after that week.
A secret report leaked to the Leicester Mercury shows a deal is now in place to help De Montfort University build a swimming pool and sports centre in the West End.
On Monday, the council's cupboard is usual to agree to use up to £472,000 demolishing the Victorian bridge by January.
It is also thought they will agree to sell the remainder of the viaduct, in Duns Lane, and neighbouring land to the institution of higher education for an first £1 fee.
And nowadays came a follow-up report in the Mercury:Leicester City Council leaders said nowadays that they will not publicly discuss proposals to demolish the city's iconic Bowstring Bridge.
The authority maintains that a report presentation the costs of selling land and the Duns Lane bridge to De Montfort University makes it too confidential to talk about in front of the press and public at a meeting of its decision cupboard on Monday ...
Furious protesters are preparation to stand outside the Town Hall before the meeting at 1 pm on Monday to show their anger at being unable to attend.
So I went into Leicester this afternoon to take a look at the bridge myself.It crosses Braunstone Gate and the River Soar, and after that to is single of Leicester's most famous pubs, the Pump & Tap, which will also be demolished if the council and institution of higher education have their way. At present its beer grounds extends into the railway arches.
The Bowstring Bridge's Wikipedia page tells its recent. After the Great Central stopped up in 1969, this stretch of the line was bought by the city council and used for a footpath and cycleway. The council received a Manpower Services Commission grant to engage craftsmen to oversee young people in picture the bridge green and cream.In 1997 the bridge was stopped up to the public after the destruction of the Kirby & West dairy. Flickr has a photograph from 1984 presentation the buildings that were lost.
Since then the bridge has been left to decay, most probably in the hope that it will become unsafe and make destruction less controversial. Yet someone got on to it earlier this day and lived to post the ensuing video on Youtube. Great Central Railway Through Leicester also has some photos taken on the bridge.
Leicester Civic Society has been campaigning against the destruction and there is also a petition to save the bridge on Facebook.
Both are careful to be polite to De Montfort University (we called it Del Monte when I was studying at Leicester University), because they have the money to take on the sort of project the campaigners have in mind.
Walking around Leicester nowadays brought home to me just what a power universities are in many cities now. Whole outer edge are taken over, changing the fabric and the feel of life there. In Leicester, for instance, the area around the Magazine Gateway is currently single big structure site.
The "knowledge economy" we hear consequently much takes a concrete form here, but it have to not be at the expense of valuable survivals from earlier episodes in a city's history. The Bowstring Bridge have to be saved.
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