18/11/2011. This is the 5th location for this cache but I do like it here. This location should be secure however please note. 1) The location is now no longer particularly child friendly. Take care with young children. 2)I have removed the Wheelchair and pram icons and upped the terrain rating.
03/02/2010 The cache is back and since I set it those crazy urban explorers have been across the walkway!
The Runcorn Gap is the section of the River Mersey which narrows between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes, it has been bridged three times. This cache takes a look at the first bridging of the gap Aethelfleda a.k.a The Runcorn Railway Bridge.
In some ways Aethelfleda is overshadowed by it's neighbour the The Silver Jubliee Bridge . Not only because when you say "Runcorn Bridge" people immediatley think of the road crossing but also because it's hard to get a proper look at it without your attention being drawn to the Silver Jubilee Bridge. There is unfortunately no longer a walkway across Aethelfleda (it was closed in 1965), and the walkway on Jubilee is on the opposite side of the road to Aethelfleda so you can't take a look at it from what would have been a great vantage point.
Despite all this it's worth remembering that by the time Jubilee was finished Aethelfleda had already been in place for nearly a century, and until the Transporter Bridge was built in 1901 Aethelfleda was The Runcorn Bridge. Work started in 1861 (exactly 100 years before Jubilee was finished) and the first train made its crossing in 1869. One unusual thing about Aethelfleda is that it actually predates one of the things underneath it, The Manchester Ship canal which was built in 1890.
Thanks to Carlos and the Birdie Crewe for uploading this picture of Aethelfleda when it was the only crossing. I believe it to be from the Ferryman's hut (note the absence of the ship canal).
The name Aethelfleda may not be familiar but I understand this to be the actual name of the bridge (I have also seen it referred to as "The Britannia Bridge"). Aethelfleda was a Saxon Queen and a castle erected in her honour was on the site of the Runcorn side. This explains why the bridge is castellated. Next time you are travelling across the Jubilee Bridge from Runcorn to Widnes, at the entrance have a quick (and safe!) glance to your left. It really looks like you are entering on the drawbridge of a castle.
The cache site is one I chose where you can get quite good look at what a great job the victorians made of Aethelfleda. There are three shields bearing the arms of the London,Britannia and the Liver Bird of Liverpool. To save you the job of counting the arches I can tell you there are 49 on the Runcorn side and 33 on the side of Widnes.
A final note concerns the road that takes you up to the cache site. Its not very nice as it has large pot holes and lots of fly tipping. Its much better to use the given parking coordinates. You get an interesting walk underneath the two bridges, and if you haven't already done so you can bag the Transporter Bridge cache.
The very last note is to say that the River Mersey may soon be bridged once again
