Report and photographs courtesy of Rob Evans. (President and Chairman Pentewan Old Cornwall Society.
During 2023 Pentewan Old Cornwall Society applied to the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies for a grant towards the cost of timber to renew the access footbridge to the Holy Well at Towan in the parish of St Austell. The grant application was successful and after further discussions between Pentewan society and St Austell society it was agreed that the work involved would be a joint project. After many visits and discussions, the work to renew the footbridge has now been completed by members Brian Jacob and Arthur Britton, and Richard Waite. All three of them have experience in the building trade Arthur formerly working on several historical building projects for a Cornwall based heritage company.
Lengths of timber were ordered, and cement and granite chippings which would be used to form a solid base each side of the gulley which the bridge would have to cross. Total cost of the materials for the work was £604, with the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies Grant of £250 contributing a large part of the cost. The timber after being delivered was transported down across two fields on a large trailer by landowner and farmer Enoch Pengelley. The first morning’s work began by removing the two existing timbers which were old and rotten in places and the ground each side of the gulley was prepared for a mix of concrete for the foundation. A small ladder had to be used as access to the other side was obtained by stepping down about ten feet into the gulley which was about a foot deep in water. The stream runs through Towan and on down the valley, through the woods and enters the harbour at Pentewan.
The second morning concrete was mixed and laid each side of the gulley, and the four large lengths of timber were slid off the back of the trailer, along an existing pipe and lifted into place each side, onto the concrete foundation. A wooden handrail was also erected on one side of the new bridge.