Poole Bridge (also known as Poole Lifting Bridge and Hamworthy Bridge) is a bascule bridge in Poole, Dorset, England. Constructed in 1927, the bridge provides a road link across a busy boating channel. In February 2012 a second bridge was completed intending to operate in conjunction with the existing bridge
Poole Bridge is situated on the western end of Poole Quay and spans across a narrow channel between Poole Harbour and Holes Bay, a tidal inland lake which lies to the north of the harbour. The bridge provides a road link as part of the A350 road between Poole's town centre and the suburb of Hamworthy, avoiding a journey of 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) around Holes Bay. [1]
The existing bridge is the third to be located on the site. William Ponsonby, a Member of Parliament for Poole, was responsible for building the first bridge in 1834. Ponsonby promoted his own Act of Parliament to build the wooden toll bridge at a cost of £9,612. However, the bridge had a steep gradient that caused problems for horses and in 1885 it was replaced by an iron swing bridge with gentler approach gradients. [2] [3]
It was privately owned and collected tolls up until 1926, when it was purchased by the Borough of Poole and replaced with the third and present bridge which opened in on 11 March 1927. [4] The opening ceremony included a blue ribbon cut by the Mayor, as well as a visit from "Father Neptune". [5] It has seven time-tabled lifts a day and another ten unscheduled lifts for commercial boats and it is estimated to lift over 6,000 times a year. [4]
Poole Borough Council marked the bridge as worn out with cracks appearing in the concrete, closing it for repairs costing £4.2 million for nine months from September 2016. [6] Both sides of the bridge will be demolished and rebuilt, it will be expected to last a further 120 years after the repairs. [7] The bridge reopened in January 2018 after many months delays and a sixteen month closure. [8] On 15 December 2022, the bridge closed to vehicles for emergency repairs. [9]
Poole is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is 21 miles (34 km) east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. The town had an estimated population of 151,500 making it the second-largest town in the ceremonial county of Dorset. Together with Bournemouth and Christchurch, the conurbation has a total population of nearly 400,000.
Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley (ria) formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement stretching to pre-Roman times. The harbour is extremely shallow, with one main dredged channel through the harbour, from the mouth to Holes Bay.
Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in west London. It links the southern part of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the north side of the river, and Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, on the south side of the river. The current bridge, which is Grade II* listed and was designed by civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette, is the second permanent bridge on the site, and has been attacked three times by Irish republicans.
Upton is a town in south-east Dorset, England. Upton is to the east of Holton Heath and Upton Heath, and to the north of the Poole suburb of Hamworthy. It is the second largest town in the Purbeck Hills.
Poole is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Robert Syms, a Conservative.
Hamworthy is a village, parish, peninsula and suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. It is sited on a peninsula of approximately 3 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi) that is bordered by the town of Upton to the north, Poole Harbour to the south, Lytchett Bay to the west and Holes Bay to the east. Poole Bridge, the southern terminus of the A350 road, connects the suburb with the town centre. Hamworthy is the location of the Port of Poole ferry passenger terminal and cargo handling operations.
Poole railway station is on the South West Main Line serving the town of Poole in Dorset, England. It is situated in the town centre next to Holes Bay. It is one of four stations in the Borough of Poole and is 113 miles 62 chains (183.1 km) down the main line from London Waterloo.
Ringwood is a closed railway station in the county of Hampshire, England which served the town of Ringwood. It lay on the former Southampton and Dorchester Railway, the original main line from a connection with the London and South Western Railway at Southampton through Brockenhurst to Dorchester.
Dorset County Council (DCC) was the county council for the county of Dorset in England. It provided the upper tier of local government, below which were district councils, and town and parish councils. The county council had 46 elected councillors and was based at County Hall in Dorchester. The council was abolished on 31 March 2019 as part of structural changes to local government in Dorset.
Sandbanks Ferry is a vehicular chain ferry which crosses the entrance of Poole Harbour in the English county of Dorset. The route runs from Sandbanks to Studland and in doing so connects the coastal parts of the towns of Bournemouth and Poole with Swanage and the Isle of Purbeck. This avoids a 25-mile journey by road on a return trip.
The Southampton and Dorchester Railway was an English railway company formed to join Southampton in Hampshire with Dorchester in Dorset, with hopes of forming part of a route from London to Exeter. It received parliamentary authority in 1845 and opened in 1847.
Wimborne was a railway station in Wimborne Minster in the county of Dorset in England. Open from 1 June 1847 to 2 May 1977, it was sited just north of the River Stour in what is still Station Road. Built for the Southampton and Dorchester Railway, the station was operated from the start by the London and South Western Railway, which took over ownership in 1848. It was then operated by the Southern Railway (1923–47) and from 1948 by the Southern Region of British Railways which traded as British Rail from 1965.
Broadstone was a railway station in the northern part of the Borough of Poole in the county of Dorset in England. It opened in 1872 under the name of New Poole Junction and closed to passengers in 1966. Between these dates there were several changes of name for a station which at its height provided a suburb of Poole with four substantial platforms and a goods yard. A prominent feature of the station was the large footbridge needed to span the four running lines.
Fleetsbridge is a small area of Poole, Dorset, centred on a busy gyratory and flyover. It lies north of Poole town centre and borders the neighbouring suburbs of Waterloo, Creekmoor, Oakdale and Canford Heath. The use of land varies between residential, retail and some light industry. The area is also home to Parkstone Grammar School when it moved there from Lower Parkstone in 1962. The site of the Tesco at Fleets Corner was, up until the 1980s, the home of Hamworthy Recreation Football Club before the land was sold and the club moved to Canford Magna on the northern extreme of the Borough of Poole. Opposite to Tesco, across Waterloo Road, is the home of the headquarters of the global company, Hamworthy Combustion Engineering. Fleets Industrial Estate lies to the south of the gyratory off Fleets Lane and is adjacent to Wessex Gate Retail Park, which has large retail outlets such as DFS, Currys and PC World.
Royal Marines Base Poole is a British naval base located in Hamworthy a suburb of Poole, Dorset, England on the Poole Harbour and is the centre for Special Boat Service activities.
The East Cliff Railway, or East Cliff Lift, is a funicular railway located on the East Cliff of the English seaside resort of Bournemouth. The line serves to link the seaside promenade and beach with the cliff top and the town behind. Following a landslip in April 2016 which damaged the line and associated structures, the railway is out of use indefinitely.
Turlin Moor is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England, located between Hamworthy and Upton.
The Twin Sails Bridge is a double leaved bascule bridge in Poole, Dorset, England. The bridge provides a second road link from Poole Town Centre to Hamworthy. The intention is that the bridge will allow development of four major sites, two in Poole Town Centre and two in Hamworthy, including the old power station, which was closed in 1988.
Holes Bay is an intertidal embayment off Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. It lies mostly within the Borough of Poole and is close to Poole town centre. It is an important wetland bird haven.
The Party for Poole People is a movement and local political party in Poole, Dorset, England. Defining itself as neither left or right wing, the party has stood in elections for the former Poole Borough Council and the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council which replaced it. On the council it is part of the Poole Independents Group, which includes all three Poole People Councillors, one Alliance for Local Living (ALL) Councillor and one independent Councillor. It was previously part of the "Unity Alliance" administration on Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council from 2019 until a vote of no confidence in 2020, after which the party has been in opposition. It was founded in 2010 by Mark Howell, and has contested three local elections, as well as the Poole constituency in the 2015 UK general election.
