Oxford News
Oxford Rewley Road Railway Bridge to celebrate 175 years
The Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT) is inviting the public to join a drop-in event and guided walks on Wednesday, May 20, marking this milestone.
Designed by Robert Stephenson, son of George Stephenson, and first used in 1851, the Rewley Road Swing Bridge is considered the earliest surviving moving-element railway bridge globally.
Spanning the Sheepwash Channel, the 22-metre, 85-tonne bridge was initially constructed to facilitate the Buckinghamshire Railway’s trains into Oxford’s Rewley Road terminus.
After being closed to passengers in 1951 and to goods traffic in 1984, the bridge deteriorated significantly and was added to the national Heritage at Risk Register in 2013.
Ownership of the bridge was transferred to the OPT in 2019, who led a £900,000 restoration effort, funded by the Railway Heritage Trust, Historic England, and Network Rail.
The restoration, completed in 2021, resulted in the bridge’s removal from the At Risk Register.
Today, the OPT continues to maintain the bridge, with the help of monthly volunteer work parties.
In 2026, OPT contracted Greenford Ltd to carry out finishing works on the bridge and the surrounding area.
These works included stabilising the northern bank of the channel near the road bridge, repairing the bank edging, and re-painting the railings.
They also worked on repairing the locking slides and control gear on either side of the bridge.
The upcoming anniversary event will take place from 10.30am to 3.30pm, and is free to attend, with no prior booking necessary.
The Thames Valley Police Abingdon unit arrested a man for “breaching court bail conditions” on Saturday, August 29.
A spokesperson said: “On Saturday, PC Hackett attended reports of a male breaching court bail conditions.
READ MORE: Public told ‘DO NOT APPROACH’ as wanted man sighted in Oxford centre
“With assistance from PC Ellingworth and PC Harvey, the male was arrested. Following a search, a knife was recovered from his possession.”
In a wide ranging update, the force also revealed it had supported in a “concern for welfare incident linked to the night-time economy.
In addition, it had carried out licensing checks across Abingdon with drug wipes used and sent off for testing
OXFORD Mail Camera Club members have been taking photos of their dogs
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The collision happened on the southbound carriageway between Junction 6 for Lewknor and Junction 5 for Watlington in the late morning on Saturday, August 29.
The emergency services attended the scene and closed the road,
National Highways said lanes two and three of the three-lane motorway were shut as a result while crews dealt with the incident, leading to delays of around 40 minutes.
Congestion was worsened by separate lane closures between Junctions 4 and 5 in both directions following damage to the central reservation from an earlier incident.
Traffic built up on approaches to the crash, with nearby areas including Stokenchurch and Lewknor also affected.
Images from traffic cameras showed long queues of vehicles and emergency workers at the scene throughout the afternoon.
AA Travel also reported that one lane was closed on the northbound carriageway between Handy Cross and Stokenchurch due to emergency repairs.
National Highways later confirmed that all southbound lanes between Junctions 6 and 5 had reopened and that the lane closures linked to the earlier incident were also being removed.
Despite the reopening, delays of around 40 minutes remained on the approach as traffic slowly returned to normal.
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