Alma Bridge, Sidmouth, Devon

A delightful little foot bridge spanning the River Sid in Sidmouth, it was named after the Battle of Alma in 1854, during the Crimean War, and was built to connect the west side of the river with the cliff path on the east.

Taken from Alma Bridge and a short walk further upstream, the first few photos show the River Sid as it runs towards the mouth out into the sea.

The photo below shows the continual erosion which occurs. I took these photos in 2009, and you can see how parts of the cliff had fallen into the river. Since then, more erosion caused a slippage at the east end of Alma bridge, threatening cliff top houses and the coastal footpath.

Below is the run off into the sea through a shingle bar.

I made another visit in 2011, after reading about  further erosion exposing the remains of Sidmouth Tunnel. Never used, it was built by the Sidmouth Harbour Company with the intention of a narrow gauge railway running through in order to carry stone to build a harbour and two piers at Chit Rocks. Unfortunately, it was a failed venture and the tunnel was the only part built.

The opening was exposed during the winter of 2010, and I was hoping to see it and take some photos. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it, despite walking along the eastern beach for some way...and it may have been covered over once more by subsequent cliff falls. However, I've included some photos of the cliffs to show the extent of erosion.

The photo above shows where part of the cliff path and fence has fallen.There have been other falls since then, with further erosion of the cliff top and path. Then sometime in the Autumn of 2012 the bridge was damaged due to floods and had to be taken down, and a temporary bridge put in its place, until a new bridge can be built. Parts of the original bridge have been put in storage and the new one will comprise some of the saved features, such as the brickwork, stonework and the ornate parapets.

Having occasion to be in Sidmouth recently I had time to have a look at the temporary bridge, which is cool as I've had this post in draft for some time now waiting for the opportunity to get more photos in order to finish off the story.
 

 

And finally, a view of the cliffs from the esplanade taken on an earlier visit.