This is the amazing Rolling Bridge, a movable footbridge which can curl itself up like a hedgehog, or unroll until flat. There is a video of the rolling bridge being rolled up on youtube here (second bridge in this video).
Here is a photo of the rolling bridge in transition from one state to the other.
Image used under creative commons license, details here
The Rolling Bridge was conceived by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, designed by SKM Anthony Hunt with Packman Lucas, and built by Little Hampton Welding Ltd. The Hydraulic design and development was done by Primary Fluid Power Ltd in the North West. The bridge consists of eight triangular sections hinged at the walkway level and connected above by two-part links that can be collapsed towards the deck by hydraulic cylinders, which are concealed in vertical posts in the bridge parapets. When extended, it resembles a conventional steel and timber footbridge, and is 12 metres long. To open, the hydraulic pistons are activated and the bridge curls up until its two ends join, to form an octagonal shape measuring one half of the waterway's width at that point.
GPS signals here are badly affected by tall buildings so the hint is very specific. Please use the hint if there are people around. The logbook is very small so initials only please. I placed the original cache here (GC6X2TV) in 2017. Sadly this bridge needs repairs and is currently not being opened (April 2025), but it is still in place and can be seen "unrolled" at the waypoint below. Please do not visit at night. The difficulty rating of this cache is partly due to poor GPS reception (high buildings / urban canyons / multipath reflections = difficult to get an accurate position, and also the high muggle density (please don't put the cache at risk and use the hint if neded). This cache can be accessed from a wheelchair.
There is another amazing bridge just a few hundred yards away, the Fan bridge. This opens from one end rather like a handheld fan but on a massive scale. This bridge opens regularly, in April 2025 the enclosed webpage says the fan bridge opens on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 12pm (but please check the page for the latest here). This page also has details of events. There is a video of the fan bridge being opened on youtube here (first bridge in this video). I have included waypoints for both the rolling bridge and the fan bridge on this cache page.
The Little Bridges series was started by Stanthews in 2009 to highlight small footbridges in remote parts of Wiltshire. Since then, the series has been expanded by others all over the country and starting to spread fast. There is a stats listing, so you can see how many Little Bridges you have found, you can find it here: - Little Bridges Geocaching Series (littlebridgesseries.co.uk). If you would like to add to the series, please go to this site, on the tab Get Involved click number request and fill in the form. To qualify, the bridge must be a foot bridge too small for vehicles, please make sure your title exactly matches “Little Bridges # xxxx then the name” including spaces so it will get picked up and added to stats list.