As a local of 66 years I have a reasonable grasp of Fishponds area
industrial archaeology. Last week I set out to see if there was anything
remaining of ‘ Pecketts Bridge ‘ that carried Chapel Lane at Clay Hill over
the railway branch near Kingswood Junction. This branch originally served
Deep Pit , Speedwell Pit , Atlas Works ( Pecketts )and Belgium Pit. It quite
possibly carried bricks from the adjacent brick works too. Anyway I expected
I might be able to find evidence of abutments but was absolutely amazed to
discover the bridge intact excepting the parapets. It is all but invisible
unless you recognize the slight hump in the path and then worm your way into
the undergrowth. Others may be aware of this structure but I urgently bring
it to your attention for two reasons. Firstly self seeded sycamores on both
sides are now squeezing the arch and failure could follow soon. Secondly the
bridge was protected by a line of concrete bollards from the HGVs turning in
and out of the adjacent scrap yard. These bollards have proved inadequate to
the task and have been snapped off at the base leaving it vulnerable. I
consider this an extraordinary survivor , a gateway structure to a huge
heavy industrial area now swepted away.From Rennie Dickins