Bethells Bridge

Bethells Bridge, a swing bridge on the Driffield Navigation in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The bridge was built to access land cut off after a new section of canal was made. It is now home to many boat moorings, and popular with fishermen.

Bethells Bridge is located near the small hamlet of Hempholme. It crosses the Driffield Navigation between Struncheon Hill Lock to the south, and Emmotland to the north. A small lane from Brandesburton, passing through Burshill serves as the only public access to the bridge.

During the navigation improvements of 1803–1811, a new lock cut was made to bypass a large meandering loop of the River Hull around Struncheon Hill. Mr Richard Bethell, who owned the Leven Canal, also owned the land around this cutting, and needed a bridge to access his land.

William Chapman, who carried out the works, decided on a swing bridge, as was in common use in the rest of the navigation, but since the cut was made wide to accommodate the flow of the river, a fixed section was used to reduce the size of the opening section.

A brick base, with a cast iron curved edge strip, was built. It rested on a cast iron pintel, with four wheels to steady the structure, which rested on a curved iron track. The main structure of the bridge was built from wood (probably oak), with steel bracing to hold the structure together. The hand rails were also built from wood, and had crisscross stays.

At the same time, a bridge-keepers house was built, presently known as Swing Bridge Cottage. When the traffic dropped on the Driffield Navigation, the bridge keeper was no longer needed and the house was left empty. In the early 1970s Colin Askin occupied the property, and restored and improved the house, raising his family there.

Without regular maintenance, the bridge started to deteriorate in the 1950s. The wood warped, and became inoperable some time in the late 1960s.

In 1978, on a cold December night, a large lorry crossed the bridge, and made it unsafe. As this bridge was a vital link for the milk lorry which served the farms, and also a short cut for other farm traffic the local farmers - Richard Southwell from Rotsea Carr farm, Mike and Ben Southwell from Hunts Hill farm (all brothers), and Mr Keith Conner from Struncheon Hill farm, along with Colin Askin and other members of the Driffield Navigation Amenities Association helped replace, and repair the structure.

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