Latest news with #FriendsOfBennerleyViaduct
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Bennerley Viaduct visitor centre should open by autumn
A £1.1m visitor centre being built at a historic viaduct on the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire border should be open this Autumn, volunteers behind the scheme have Viaduct on the River Erewash has a new visitor centre under construction as well as an accessible ramp and nature complete the visitor centre will include exhibition and educational spaces, a cafe, outdoor seating and bicycle an exact date for opening is "impossible" to set, Friends of Bennerley Viaduct chair Nick Tooley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the group is "hoping" it will be open to visitors in October. He said: "Bear with us, this project has lasted longer than it should have, there have been some technical issues we are hopefully getting around now. "We think we're on the final run and we do desperately hope we will have it open, with the help of the council, this October."He added the group had assembled a lot of archive material about the centre is at the eastern end of the 60ft (20m) tall viaduct, a Grade II* listed bridge which stretches nearly a quarter of a mile (430m) over the River Erewash between Ilkeston and Awsworth. It is known as the Iron said: "We've been speaking to people who remember going over the viaduct when it was open in the '60s, on holiday, on the trains."It actually means an awful lot to a lot of people." 'A lasting tribute' The Victorian viaduct reopened to the public as a walkway and cycle path in 2022 after being closed for 54 Borough Council leader Milan Radulovic said he hoped the visitor centre would help attract tourists to the said: "The wealth we enjoy and the standard of living were built on the backs of working-class people, and this area has a proud heritage of mining, steel work, and industrial work."This will be a lasting tribute and memorial to the sacrifices that they made for the freedoms and benefits we enjoy today."
BBC News
13-05-2025
- BBC News
Bid to raise £50k to build new bridge at Bennerley Viaduct
A charity has said it needs to raise £50,000 to build a replacement footbridge next to a landmark Victorian viaduct on the Nottinghamshire-Derbyshire Friends of Bennerley Viaduct (FoBV) has begun fundraising for the new bridge to cross the River Erewash in the shadow of the viaduct, dubbed the Iron viaduct reopened in 2022 after being closed for 54 years and the proposed 14.6m (48ft) bridge is part of a plan to attract more visitors to the heritage FoBV said the footbridge would be the "final chapter" in its campaign to rescue the Grad II* listed structure. Erewash Borough Council is currently considering a planning application for the FoBV said the £50,000 was needed to acquire building materials, mainly timber, for the new has launched an online fundraiser towards the goal. FoBV operations director Peter Collins said: "An old concrete bridge over the river was declared unsafe and can no longer be used."The viaduct deck is unrivalled for views of the valley, but to fully appreciate the design and engineering of the viaduct you need to go below where you can see the wrought iron trestles up close."He said the bridge would also allow views of bird and animal and plant life on the site and added the project would also help protect the riverbank from the money is raised and planning permission granted, the bridge would be built largely by FoBV volunteers and students from the University of Kent. The FoBV also hopes to complete the construction of a new access ramp to the viaduct at the Awsworth side of the crossing, and a new visitor centre this year.
