Saga of Bridgnorth Cliff Railway wall to come to a close as work to begin on final phase

The damaged wall was uncovered in December 2022 and led to a 14-month closure of Bridgnorth Cliff Railway.

The town council, who were liable for repairs, initially thought just 7.5 metres of retaining wall would need to be fixed, but in total Bridgnorth Town Council ended up having to fix more than 65 metres of the ancient wall.

In total, the wall repairs were to cost around £750,000 and the town council had to borrow £500,00 from the Public Works Loan Board, which is being paid off by local council taxpayers over the next 25 years.

While the Cliff Railway reopened last year, one section of the retaining wall farther away from the funicular train, was still awaiting repair.

But this week, Bridgnorth Town Council announced a contractor to fix this remaining section had been found, and work is set to begin on September 1.

A spokesperson for the town council said: “”We have now appointed the specialist contractor to carry out the final phase of the retaining wall project

“The work involves a process of installing soil nails and wire netting, similar to that at High Rock in Low Town on the A442, and on Harley Bank near Much Wenlock.

“Following an ecologists report to confirm there are no birds still nesting in the area, the project will start around September 1.

“Works will take approximately 12 weeks to complete, and a footpath closure will be in place, however this closure will only remain in place between the hours of 7am and 4pm, Monday to Friday, with it being opened to the Public at all other times

“Noise will be kept to a minimum, using the smallest compressor possible for the drilling part of the process, which is likely to be carried out from the beginning of October

“We will post updates leading up to and throughout the project, thanks for your understanding.”