Campaign to Restore the Golden Bridge, Hayes

The Golden Bridge in Charville Lane along the Yeading Brook in Hayes is famous for being the site of a demonstration in 1929 involving local people, including the actor Bernard Miles, demanding a right of way in the face of opposition from local landowners. This was part of what became a large scale national protest movement to open up our countryside to the people. There has been a bridge across the brook in this area dating back to at least the sixteenth century. In 1986 a new bridge was erected and the area became part of the local rambling network, the Hillingdon Trail. The bridge and the surrounding waterside embankment area have become a bit rundown and unkempt. Recently I convened a meeting of local residents on the site and we agreed to set up a new project to tidy up the area and reinstate the bridge to its former glory. To do this I aim to establish a Friends of the Golden Bridge. This Saturday (November 21st) I will be at the Charville Community Centre at the corner of Bury Avenue and Charville Lane to join in the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the opening of the community centre. When I was the GLC councillor for Hayes twenty five years ago I awarded a grant to the community centre to enable it to open. On Saturday from 10 am to 12 noon I will be mounting a small exhibition about the Golden Bridge and recruiting local residents to join the Friends of the Golden Bridge. Please come along and if you can spare a little bit of time please join our Friends group to assist us in restoring the bridge and its environment to its former glory.

submitted by John on 19 Nov 2009 at 16:04