Walton, Peterborough - Rhubarb Bridge

Rhubarb Bridge is one of Peterborough's old landmarks that really gave me the motivation to create this website. This really should have been the first page to be added to the Peterborough In Pictures website, but obtaining photographs of the old bridge has not been easy. I've always known the current bridge/flyover as Rhubarb Bridge and it wasn't until I read an interesting story about a decade ago that I realised that there was an older bridge carrying a railway line over Lincoln Road. The story I read at the time was about a double decker bus getting stuck under the bridge sometime in the 1950s. The driver of the bus was most likely scratching his head until a passer by advised him to let the tyres down so the bus could go under the bridge!

As previously mentioned, Rhubarb Bridge carried a railway line which belonged to Midland and Great Northern. The railway ran from Peterborough through to Wisbech, Sutton and Kings Lynn. Part of the current A47 is built on top of or very close to the old line. The bridge earned it's nickname 'Rhubarb Bridge' simply because rhubarb used to grow in the embankments of the bridge. Apparently, earth was used from surrounding allotments to create the embankments, which would explain why rhubarb would have been growing there.

Until I saw this photograph, I found it hard to imagine how Lincoln Road must have looked before the A47 flyover was built in the 1970s. This photograph was taken from the New England side of Lincoln Road in 1950. The structure just to the left of the bridge is the wagon works, the maltings can be seen in the top left corner. The buildings in the top right are part of Peter Brotherhood.

The Midland and Great Northern line was closed in 1957, and soon after the bridge was demolished.

The two photographs above were taken by a local resident on the morning demolition of the bridge started. Another local resident witnessed the demolition of the bridge:

I was there when they took the metal viaduct down. Lincoln Road was closed to traffic one Sunday early 60's, can't remember the exact year. My brother and I were on our way walking from Walton to New England early afternoon. We didn't know it was happening until then, and no one was allowed to go through as it was being cut through. We had quite an interesting afternoon watching them.

The following three images were scanned from the May 1997 issue of Steam World.

Above image shows the exact location of Rhubarb Bridge. The Midland and Great Northern line also went over another bridge, over the main railway lines.

Construction of the new parkway system in the 1970s. Even though the original Rhubarb Bridge had been demolished over a decade earlier, the new bridge would inherit it's nickname. Peter Brotherhood works can still be seen to the left having been extended a bit since the 1950s.

A birdseye view of how 'Rhubarb Bridge' looks today. This reincarnation was built during the huge development of Peterborough during the 1970s.