Friends of Powick Old Bridge

10/10/2026

Footage of our visit to the river Ely tree catcher in Cardiff last week courtesy of Tom Collins MP. Next steps will be looking at our best options to get a feasibility study funded and supported by Historic England alongside WCC, we will keep you updated every step of the way.

I visited Ely Bridge in Wales, along with Friends of Powick Old Bri...

05/10/2026

🤩 Sorry we’ve been a little quiet!

Holidays, catching up on an ever-growing pile of reading material… and keeping up with everything Powick Old Bridge!

Today, we had the chance to visit the Ely Bridge tree catcher in Cardiff and see a working debris-catching system in action. 👀🌉

It was a really useful visit, giving us plenty to think about and some valuable insight into what might, or might not, be possible at Powick on the Teme.

To be clear, we’re not suggesting that a tree catcher is simply installed at Powick Old Bridge. The next step is a properly funded feasibility study to investigate the engineering, location, environmental, flood-risk and cost implications, and how any solution could work alongside the bridge restoration.

That needs leadership, joined-up thinking and funding.

The County Council has already recognised the need for a practical engineering solution that takes flooding into account, and Cabinet has agreed that external funding should be pursued as the restoration progresses.

So today was about looking, listening and learning.

🌳🌊🌉 We’ll share the full update once we’ve had time to write it up properly.

For now, here’s a little taste of what we saw… 👍

23/09/2026

We are blessed to have such dedicated and supportive historic societies keeping our bridge front and centre

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1A3C29dozD/?mibextid=wwXIfr

23/09/2026

10/09/2026

New works underway but we're not clear about the purpose of these works. It looks as if a new telephone cable is being installed across the bridge, linking to the telephone pole on the Worcester side of the bridge — this has previously been mentioned by the County Council as required works. We’ll continue pressing for flood debris mitigation measures upstream of the bridge. We’re in contact Tom Collins, MP for Worcester and Tom Wells, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways & Transport, Worcestershire County Council and hope to have a meeting next month to understand some potential solutions.
We’re grateful to Discover History for campaign to help raise the profile of saving this significant national monument. Discover History and Friends of Powick Old Bridge

08/09/2026

Pre-work for next Springs restoration, not sure what this will achieve but if it gives any stability to the vulnerable bridge then this is a positive move. Let's hope the flooding arrives late this year as we're now pushing if this will take over 6 weeks

Contractors have returned to Powick Old Bridge to begin a programme of advanced site work that will run for approximately six weeks, Worcestershire County Council has confirmed.

07/09/2026

05/09/2026

🤳🐾 OSCAR NEEDS YOU! 🐾🤳

has had enough. He’s demanding more bridge selfies! 😂

He was absolutely devastated to see our historic Powick Old Bridge still looking so sad, so being the dedicated campaigner that he is, he grabbed his selfie stick and headed down there himself. 🤳🐶

Yes… he’s 91 in dog years.
Yes… he brought his own selfie stick.
And yes… he’s probably more committed to saving the bridge than some people we could mention. 👀😂

If Oscar can make the trip, so can you!

📸 Get yourself down to Powick Old Bridge
🤳 Take your bridge selfie
🐾 Tag Friends of Powick Old Bridge and Discover History and
#️⃣ Use

The bridge might not be the most glamorous destination right now, but it’s an important piece of our history and we want to see just how many people care about it.

Oscar has done his bit. Now it’s your turn. 🐶💪🌉

Come on… don’t let a 91-year-old Westie out-campaign you! 😂🐾

03/09/2026

... work not started yet, but a reminder how important Powick Old Bridge is for many historians enthusiasts and of course the people of Worcester 🥰

03/09/2026

🏛️ There is real hope for Powick Old Bridge 🤞🤞

This October Worcester Civic Society is visiting the Ely tree catcher in Cardiff, a working scheme that stops flood debris before it hits a bridge. It was designed, built and is still run by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the Welsh public body that looks after rivers and flood risk.
In England that job sits with the Environment Agency. The Agency does not own Powick Old Bridge, Worcestershire County Council does, but it is the body we need alongside the Council if a similar catcher is ever to be funded and kept going on the Teme.

Our visit is so we can help WCC take a clear, practical case to the Environment Agency: what the option looks like, what it costs to install and run, and who would monitor and clear it.

✊ We will not be going alone, joining us:
• Tom Collins MP
• Cllr Tom Wells, the County Councillor responsible for Highways
• a Council officer Cllr Wells wants on site so they can also see the option and ask any relevant questions

That is the right group on the bank: campaigners, our MP, Highways and an officer who would have to make any scheme work.

🛡️ Repair is on the table. Repair without protection is not!

Ely shows another way 👍 poles that catch the large timber while the river keeps flowing. October is about learning from the people who already do this, then coming home with something we can all put to the Environment Agency.

🙏🙏 But we need your help!!! Help us arrive to that meeting with a thousand voices behind us. 🙏🙏

✍️ Sign and share the petition, we have ~850 signatures but we want 1,000 signatures before the October visit:

https://www.change.org/p/protect-powick-old-bridge-worcester-uk

📜 This Grade I Scheduled Monument is not just a closed path behind barriers. It is the ground where the Civil War began, and where it ended. We did not build it, and we will hopefully not be the last to stand on it or beside it. We are only its current custodians. Protecting Powick Old Bridge is how we keep faith with everyone who crossed it before us and everyone who should still be able to cross it after we are gone. 🙏