Overgrown bridge ruins 'should be celebrated'

The old stone bridge was was declared unfit for the amount of traffic using it

Ruins of the old Trent Bridge in Nottingham dating back hundreds of years have been left overgrown and littered with rubbish.

The archways sit next to the A60 in the city, where London Road meets Loughborough Road, after the bridge was declared unfit for use in the late 1860s.

Parts of the structure date back to the 14th Century, before it was replaced by the current iron Trent Bridge of today, built in 1870, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

There are now calls from a local history society to make the public more aware of the "important historical feature".

“It is a landmark and it should be there to be made aware of for the public,” said Iain Seedhouse, chairman of West Bridgford and District Local History Society.

“People do walk across there to Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, but the trouble is it is right where the traffic is, so people are too focused on that.

“It does seem strange it was left in the location that it was. It is an important historical feature that should be appreciated and should be managed better than it is at the moment.

“It would be great if we could get the community more aware of it."

Mr Seedhouse suggested city walks to highlight the ruins could be arranged and called for local councils to become "more actively involved".

Litter can be found underneath the ancient archways

For a while, both bridges ran adjacent to one another before the stone structure was demolished.

Two arches were preserved, rebuilt in a hollow on the West Bridgford side of the river and are now designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England, meaning it is a nationally important archaeological site.

The archways sit on land owned by Nottinghamshire County Council, while Rushcliffe Borough Council is responsible for cleaning the site and Nottingham City Council cuts the grass.

The borough council said it would be reviewing litter-picking schedules in the area, and would be interested in any future projects to celebrate the monument.

A county council spokesman said any work carried out in and around the site needed approval from Historic England.

The city council was contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.