Twin town re-opens Henley Bridge after six-year wait

HENLEY Mayor Tom Buckley travelled to twin town Leichlingen in Germany to open its refurbished bridge.

Cllr Buckley cut the ribbon with mayor-elect Maurice Winter to officially open “Henley Bridge” following a £1.7m rebuild.

It is one of three crossings in the town, which lies between Düsseldorf and Cologne and spans the Wupper, a tributary of the Rhine.

Henley Bridge, which was first built in 1990 to mark the 10th anniversary between the two towns, was closed in October 2019 after falling into disrepair.

The refurbishment was completed after an excavation of the site of the old bridge started in November last year.

The project was beset with delays caused by the covid pandemic and severe flooding of the Wupper in 2021, which damaged a lot of the town’s infrastructure.

The 44m long and 5m wide crossing can be used by pedestrians and cyclists and connects the town hall with the Market Place.

While the bridge is owned by Leichlingen Town Council, 90 per cent of the project was funded by the German government.

Earlier this month Cllr Buckley met with Cllr Winter, who was chosen as the town’s new mayor during the North Rhine-Westphalia municipal elections in September.

The elections also brought in a new town council and he will succeed current mayor, Frank Steffes, in November.

The two mayors cut a banner with the words “Henley Brücke” and, despite the rain, visitors enjoyed a performance by a jazz band from the Leichlingen Music School.

The bridge opening coincided with the biennial visit to the town organised by the Falaise Leichlingen Twinning Association.

About 15 guests from Henley arrived on Thursday, October 2 and stayed with guest families until Sunday, October 5.

To celebrate the opening of the new Henley Bridge, a party was organised at Leichlingen’s town hall with the town’s three twinning societies, Henley, Marly-le-Roi in France and Funchal, Madeira.

The twinning societies offered the guests traditional beverages from their towns, including Pimm’s and non-alcoholic beverages.

Cllr Buckley described the event as a privilege to attend. He said: “It was not something I expected to be doing but what a privilege — it was so cool.

“During the opening of the bridge, it hammered it down with rain, which was typically English. They couldn’t have done more to welcome us.”

Cllr Buckley said he would like to thank Sue Fitzsimons and Trevor Howell, from the Henley association, for helping to co-ordinate the trip.

He said: “We got the train almost all the way from Henley to Leichlingen, which was about six trains, and we stayed with a host family who were really nice.

“These are people who have been doing this for 30 years and we really want to try and help people join.”

A spokeswoman for Leichlingen Town Council said: “In 2019 the old wooden Henley bridge started to show signs of age-related damage. The council decided to tear it down and rebuild a new, optimised and bigger version made of more resistant steel instead of investing in a costly renovation of the old bridge.

“The original plan was to rebuild the bridge in the following year. But the outbreak of the covid pandemic in 2020 delayed the plans.

“After the preliminary planning and work stages were accomplished, the old bridge was torn down in July 2021. Shortly after, Leichlingen was hit by heavy rain and a consecutive flooding of the Wupper. This natural disaster caused heavy damage to the city’s infrastructure, many municipal buildings needed expensive and complex renovations.

“Therefore, the bridge project was delayed again in favour of more pressing renovations of municipal buildings that were more important for the overall infrastructure of Leichlingen. Those renovations are still ongoing to this day. None-theless the rebuilding of Henley Bridge has finally been accomplished.”

The delay to the project was used to update the construction plan to make the new bridge more resistant to possible future flooding events.

While the bridge was out of action, residents had to use a longer diversion to travel between the town hall and the centre of town.

The spokeswoman said: “The new bridge is also a huge improvement for the town hall staff, who can reach the city centre faster during lunch break.

“Since the bridge is solely used by pedestrians and cyclists it also offers a safe and low-traffic passage for children and elderly to cross between the two halves of the city centre.

“Leichlingen values its twinning connections greatly. The three bridges spanning the Wupper have been named after the three twinning towns. They serve as a symbol and constant reminder of the deep bond between us.”

l Additional reporting by Sue Fitzsimons