Newtown Footbridge

A coracle, or a ‘cwrwgl’ as it was originally named in Welsh, is a small one-person boat made out of woven wood and a waterproof covering. They date back to pre-Roman times, used most commonly for fishing on freshwater . Licensed coracle fishers secure a net between two coracles then drift down the river in the hope of catching fish as they go. In its heyday the River Severn had more coracles on it than any other river in Great Britain. Unlike the coracles of West Wales, the Severn coracle was never a vessel used specifically for salmon netting and was widely used ‘for ferrying, angling, laying lines and the carriage of stone and brick sinkers required for the lines and of the large wicker traps employed in eel fishing’.

Working with our partners YGC and Mott Macdonald, we developed a vision for a new pedestrian bridge as part of Powys County Council’s integrated active travel network. The heritage of the local area has been interpreted into the bridge design, with monocoque structure and visible fins, ropes, and woven material. Landscape proposals offer space for amenity and a place for river activity to take place. The bridge structure and landscape interventions are intended to share the same visual language and read in a consistent manner.