"It was a sombre day": Derbyshire County Council shuts 'love locks' bridge to begin repair work

As previously reported, the local authority commenced work on Monday, September 16, to repair the 25-year-old Weir footbridge over the River Wye, and address corrosion to the steel structure.

Earlier in the summer the council asked people to remove locks where possible – recognising many held great emotional significance – and while some people did manage to find their keys or retrieve the locks by force, there were still thousands in place as council workers set out the diversion signs to close off the bridge.

Those locks left will not end up on the scrapheap however, thanks to a plan hatched by a committed Facebook campaign.

A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said: “Work starts on the Weir footbridge at Bakewell today. We’d like to thank everyone who removed their lock from the bridge and took care not to damage other locks or the bridge structure.

“We’ve been working closely with members of the Save the Love Locks at Bakewell group to co-ordinate the careful removal of the locks to their future home at Thornbridge Hall. Our thanks to the members of the group for their help in arranging this.”

There is no timetable for the locks to be removed or re-homed as yet, but members of the group will be storing them safely in the interim.

After visiting the bridge on Sunday, group spokesman Mike Hall said: “I witnessed many a lock being photographed, some being found when thought lost and some being cut off. It was a sombre day and from the conversations I had on the bridge all were pleased that they were being saved.

“This chapter is now coming to an end at Bakewell but the story lives on and the new chapter will start at Thornbridge Hall over the next months.”

The bridge repairs are expected to take around four weeks and, when complete, there will be new tubular railings which will be too thick for reattaching locks.

For more information on the works, go to https://tinyurl.com/52wbmxph.