The Rt. Hon Francis Maude, MP for Horsham, Chairman of the Conservative Party and a Vice-President of The Wey & Arun Canal Trust, re-opened the swing bridge at Haybarn, near Wisborough Green, on Saturday, 16th July. The bridge had travelled over 200 miles from West Yorkshire to its new home on the Wey & Arun Canal. Its installation in Sussex needed a massive volunteer effort.

Before cutting the ribbon at the official re-opening, Francis Maude congratulated the Wey & Arun Canal Trust on the contribution their efforts made to the community. He wished that all his duties as an MP were as pleasurable as this trip into the beautiful Arun Valley. The Trust's aim was a simple one: to reopen the whole waterway between Surrey and Sussex.

Peter Foulger, the Trust's Chairman, recalled that in 1998 Francis Maude had inaugurated the restored Brewhurst Lock at Loxwood. The Trust has just started a huge project to extend the restored section at Loxwood and he hoped it would be less than another 7 years before he called on Francis for another major reopening ceremony.

Graham Baird, project manager for the swing bridge installation, thanked the many volunteer groups who had given up their time to carry out the difficult and often unpleasant tasks involved.

After the speeches, the restoration group leaders swung the bridge into the 'open' position (allowing boats to pass) and Trust member Richard Emsley paddled his boat through the opening. This was probably the first boat to pass the bridge since the end of navigation on this section in 1888.

The bridge originally crossed the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Bar Lane, Keighley, Yorkshire. It was a gift from British Waterways. The Wey & Arun Canal Trust has to rebuild or replace a number of bridges because over the years they have been lowered to a height that would no longer allow boats to pass. After being transported by road from Keighley, the bridge was temporarily stored at a farm near Billingshurst.

Two years later, the Trust was looking for a suitable project for a large number of volunteers and decided to relocate the bridge to an unrestored section at Lee Farm in 2004. Firstly, however, the working parties had to dismantle a flat-decked concrete bridge believed to have been built by German P.O.Ws.

The bridge carried a public footpath, so a succession of formal approvals was required, starting with the landowner's consent, then detailed planning permission and finally a temporary footpath diversion order.

The project was not without some difficulty. Some of the lighter sections of the bridge had rusted through and the entire structure was badly corroded. It was therefore necessary to carry out extensive rust removal and three separate teams spent very dirty and tiring weekends carrying this out, using hand-held hammers to chip away at the more difficult areas. After a second session of grit blasting by specialists, the steel was primed and coated with three layers of paint.

Eventually, the bridge was lifted and transported to the Haybarn site where it is found fully restored today. Because a brick built 'hump-backed' bridge was originally on the site, an enormous amount of bricklaying and preparation work was needed so that the bridge could swing once more.

Historical background by John Wood:

Only scant historical information can be found.

No sketch, painting or photograph has ever come to light, although it is reasonable to assume that the original bridge would have been similar to other Arun Navigation bridges. It would have been built of brick and sandstone, with no towpath accommodation available under the bridge.

In Paul Vine's book 'The Arun Navigation' there is mention that a John Stepney told the author that he lived on the banks of the Arun Navigation at Haybarn, and that he was the last man to work a barge up from Pulborough to Newbridge, where its timbers were broken up and burnt in 1888.

During the installation of the Haybarn Swing Bridge, information was given that German P.O.Ws built the flat-decked concrete bridge which had first to be demolished. This is just speculation, but either the original hump-backed bridge had become unsafe, or the hump was an impediment to motorised farm vehicles which caused it to be demolished, prior to being rebuilt with a flat deck by the P.O.Ws sometime in 1940s.

Further information and photographs in the form of JPEG files can be obtained from the Wey and Arun Trust's Public Relations Officer: Sally Schupke (01483 560543): e-mail: press@wact.org.uk

Please note: that the press office is closed from Monday, 18th July-Saturday 23rd July. Please contact the Wey & Arun Office (office@wact.org.uk) and they will put you in touch with the Publicity Manager who will deal with enquiries.