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The voice of Hillam village. founded 1989 by mary little. Delivered free to all homes in hillam. Volume 27 Issue 1. February—March 2014
The Bridge
a 2014 special feature - Episode 1 1-- Clearing the site
After a wait of nearly 15 months, work has finally started on building a new bridge on Lumby Lane, Monk Fryston. With talk that it will take only from now until 2032 to build HS2 from London to Leeds, we thought that serialising the repair of the bridge in Monk Fryston would enable wider appreciation of the value of bridges and the skill of Network Rail in building them. First a little bit of history, to help position the bridge for all who have forgotten that it was ever there. This is the bridge on the quiet back road near where the World War II searchlight battery was located between South Milford and Monk Fryston. More recently the road has been used by motorised vehicles taking a direct route between the two villages, crossing over the railway line used by steam trains travelling down to Sheffield from York on the Midland Railway. It was the direct route up north to Sherburn and even beyond. When Sherburn bypass was built the road was accorded great status by having a roundabout at one end. In the era of the commuter it started being called a rat run. Then ten or so years ago, concern was beginning to creep in that the bridge might be rusting away. Heavy vehicles were banned by a 3-tonne weight restriction. In 2012 when it was inspected it was deemed so unsafe that it was condemned to pedestrians only, and even then they crossed at their own risk. This was made official with a North Yorkshire County Council ‘emergency closure order’ dated 22/11/12. The direct route to Sherburn was no more, and we all had to go the long way around via Battersby’s roundabout. Since then there has been speculation from motorists, much of it on Twitter, about when work on the bridge would commence. Lumby Lane residents, who rather enjoyed a newfound peace, might even have hoped that it would never reopen. There was speculation on whether the lengthy delay was because Network Rail was short of funds and had either forgotten about it or had delayed the job so that they could pay for it in another financial year. Hillam News has been following the saga of the bridge for some time, and last October we reported that any hopes that work would start that month had been dashed. We learnt that the date had slipped forward to January 2014. News that something was about to happen began to leak. Monk Fryston Parish Council chairman Bill Holmes confirmed that Network Rail wanted to use council land in Abbeystone Way as storage during repairs and - dead on cue - he tweeted that work had indeed started - on 20th January. The contractors had arrived and begun to prepare the storage area. Work could continue until 23rd May and there could even be overnight activity. The old bridge will be dismantled and a new one will take its place. An engineer on site told Hillam News there will be no weight limit on the new bridge. A brand spanking new bridge raises the prospect of heavy vehicles plying along Lumby Lane. So big is the task that there is talk about a temporary footbridge while work on the old bridge is carried out. Hillam News will be there watching every move so that we can report progress in the next issue. To be continued - we hope.
Also in this issue… Birding column - how to spot a murmuration of Starlings; how not to spot a Snow Bunting Friends you never knew you had and the scrapes they get into Doggy doodah - oh no, not again; we must bring this to an end soon
Hillam News creates another rumour - in a roundabout way
Hillam spice advice - go on, have a go, but go steady with the garam massala
Community Centre - scoops up over £100,000 for expansion plans
Failing that, go large - how to find the biggest and the best Indian
Utopia - is it only a bus ride away and if you go will you get back again? Bishopwood wind farm appeal - it’s a NIMBY thing: so you better watch out! Cholesterol - should it be taken with a pinch of salt?
How to work off Christmas time-honoured techniques: our article sheds light on the matter Probably not the last word - on superfast broadband
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