Following on from last week’s column here are a few extracts from many documents contained in the Earl of Mayo’s 1928 portfolio survey of the Thames Valley.
This was when the future of Marlow’s suspension bridge was high in everybody’s thoughts, and at a date when motorised road traffic was fast increasing.
The bridge, by the way, was completed in 1832, not 1829 as stated.
All that happened in 1829 was that some very amateurish foundations were laid by the first architect who was employed - John Millington.
He had proposed a strange structure based on the design of Brighton’s Chain Pier.
Millington was replaced by Tierney Clarke.
Thankfully in 1929/30 it was eventually decided to retain and strengthen the bridge, but next week I will show
you some more documents with the plans, also outlined in that 1928 survey, for a Marlow bypass.
READ MORE: 1924 - One of the most detailed Marlow street plans ever made
The proposed route for that, as I mentioned in last Friday’s column, was considerably different from the bypass we have today.
It is unclear what the Earl Of Mayo (a Member of the House of Lords) had to do with all this, but, in 1928, he was Walter Longley Bourke, the 8th Earl (1859–1939).
Contact Michael at michael@jazzfans.co or 01628 486571
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