Monmouth celebrates Inglis Bridge reopening with community picnic

LOTS of residents gathered for a community led picnic on Vauxhall Fields, welcoming the reopening of Inglis Bridge in Monmouth.

The community led celebration was held on August 31, starting at 2.30pm and was organised by Councillor Jane Lucas and local resident Jane Flemming. Residents were pleasantly greeted by entertainment from Monmouth band and Dav the Sax. There was a ribbon cutting opening and games for the whole family to take part in, including rounders which many enjoyed.

The day was attended by councillors who came down to support the event and lots of people brought their own picnics, chairs and positive atmosphere to celebrate a memorable day as the bridge is a main walking link for many people in the area.

Councillor Jane Lucas shared her appreciation to the amount of people who gathered for the community celebration on the bank holiday.

“There are loads of people here, it’s been a wonderful turnout. The brass band have been fantastic, Dav the Sax has been brilliant. Thank you for the sponsorship for the loos, it has made all the difference to everybody coming,” said Cllr Jane Lucas.

“It’s all about the residents.”

Posters were put up around the town to advertise the event in preparation for the community picnic and were designed by a local resident and Graphic Design Graduate, who showcased her creative skills when putting them together for the event.

Graphic Design Graduate and local resident, Antonia said: “I am a local resident so I use this bridge pretty much all the time so when it closed it was a bit of a shame. I love doing this loop around Vauxhall so I am really happy it has reopened, I think it looks great.

“It took me a few hours to design the poster. I am a graphic design student, I have just finished university at Arts University Bournemouth. I like illustrating and because I know this bridge quite well it was fun doing it.”

The event was more than highlighting the reopening of the bridge, it was about uniting the community. For many people the bridge was a key link they used to shorten their journeys and for some they particularly felt the impact when it closed.

Local resident, Rachel Lilly said: “It is really exciting. We use the bridge everyday for the school run. We used to cycle our bikes everyday to school but we couldn’t do it anymore through the town because it was too dangerous especially with the little ones. We have been driving a little bit more and walking through town which has been a little bit more hectic.”

Another local resident, Fred, said: “We moved in two years ago and within a few months the bridge had closed so we were really disappointed because we couldn’t walk through the fields into the town, especially as we have a dog and we like to let her off the lead because she likes to run around which she can’t do on the street.”