New £100,000 bridge allows popular Staffordshire footpath to reopen

A popular walking route in Staffordshire has reopened after three years following the installation of a £100,000 footbridge.

The bridge, just outside Stone, near Stafford, crosses the River Trent and forms part of the Two Saints Way connecting the villages of Sandon and Burston.

The original footbridge had to be replaced after a fallen tree dislodged it into the river in autumn 2023, forcing the closure of a section of the footpath while a safe replacement could be put in place.

The new and improved structure, funded by more than £100,000 from Staffordshire County Council, has been designed to be larger and more flood-resilient.

Deputy leader of Staffordshire County Council, Councillor Hayley Coles, said: "I'm so pleased to see the new Burston footbridge complete and the footpath reopened. It has been a long time coming and we've faced a few challenges along the way, but I think the wait has been worth it.

"We know how important this route is to the local community, which is why we wanted to invest in a bigger and stronger bridge that will allow people to enjoy this beautiful part of Staffordshire for many years to come.

"I want to say a huge thank you to the local community for their incredible patience throughout this project."

Hugo Wildblood, chairman of Sandon and Burston Parish Council said residents were pleased to see the path between the River Trent and Burston Lane reopen once more.

"The old bridge was a lot narrower, it had been there since the late 1940s, it served its purpose but was getting a bit tired.

“This bridge is going to last us a lot longer than the previous one, which is really good. This bridge looks tremendous. I’m very pleased with it and I’m sure a lot of other people are going to be using it very regularly.”

Resident Richard Goring, who lives in nearby Aston, said he was looking forward to returning to his regular walking route again.

He said: I know there must be at least a couple of hundred people that used this footpath and they’ve really missed for the last two years. It’s amazing. It’s about 25 times bigger than anyone thought it would be and it’s stronger and I suppose it’s safer as well when you look at it. It’s an engineering feat.”