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The McKeever Footbridge
Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire
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The bridge soon after it was completed
The McKeever Bridge is a single-span concrete footbridge across the River Avon in Bradford on Avon. Until 2012 it had no name, but in that year it was named in honour of Ed McKeever, Bradford resident and gold medallist at the London Olympic Games.
It was designed by Gilbert Adcock, Surveyor to Bradford on Avon Urban District Council, with R.D. (Bob) Cherry, Civil Engineer, in 1962. The prefabricated concrete sections were made by Bryco at Thornfalcon Works in Taunton. The stone abutments, steps and ramps were built by the UDC’s workforce, with stone that had been recycled from demolished buildings (some of which had been whitewashed) and the iron railings were the work of Ken Lailey, the blacksmith in Bridge Street.
The downstream side in place and preparing to lift the other; the concrete slabs that form the walkway were laid between the two.
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The site of the footbridge, showing the jumble of buildings that were demolished to make the St Margaret’s carpark, occupied by the fire station, Stamper’s garage and others. The square building was once the Quaker Meeting and then the British School.
The photographs of the bridge at the time of construction were taken by the late Peter Maundrell
