The Gallows Reach lift bridge off Tamworth Road is now Buck's Bridge, after the ex-trustee who sketched it. Donors paid: £39,000 plus a £21,000 legacy.

The new lift bridge on the Lichfield Canal at Gallows Reach has a name: Buck’s Bridge. Former trustee Peter Buck, who drew the first sketch of it, unveiled the nameplate at a ceremony on Sunday 11 October.

The Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust announced the naming on 12 October. The plate reads “Lichfield Canal, Built 2026”.

A footpath bridge that will one day lift for boats

The bridge sits on the old canal line between Tamworth Road and Longbridge Road, where the restored waterway crosses a long-used public footpath. It stays down for walkers. Once boats can reach this stretch, it will rise to let them through.

ProMack Ltd lifted the steel structure into place in a three-day operation in April, after groundwork by Walsh Construction and the trust’s volunteers (LHCRT, 18 April).

The design started with Peter Buck’s concept sketch. The trust says Derek Lord, its Planning and Technical Trustee, then turned that idea into the full technical specification the bridge was built to.

Bob Williams, the trust’s Vice President, said: “Buck’s Bridge is more than a piece of engineering, it represents vision, persistence, teamwork and the generosity of our supporters. Naming it after Peter Buck is a fitting tribute to someone whose imagination helped shape this part of the canal’s future.”

Aerial view of a large group of volunteers and supporters standing on and in front of the white Buck's Bridge lift bridge at Gallows Reach, Lichfield
Supporters and volunteers gather on Buck's Bridge for the naming. Photo: Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust

Who paid for it

The trust says the bridge was “funded entirely through public generosity”:

  • £39,000, including Gift Aid, from its Big Give Christmas Challenge appeal in 2022
  • £21,000 from the legacy of a local supporter

The nameplate itself was supplied by Wallscapers.

What comes next at Gallows Reach

The trust is now raising £100,000 to restore the final 230 metres of canal at Gallows Reach. That is the missing link between the watered sections at Borrowcop Locks Canal Park and Gallows Wharf. A grant bid for this phase failed, so the trust turned to the public.

By 23 August, £25,000 had been pledged, enough for the trust to enter the Big Give Christmas Challenge again (LHCRT, 23 August). Those pledges are used to double donations made during the campaign week in December.

The first 85 metres at Gallows Reach went into water this summer. Our August report on the watered stretch has the trust’s full timetable for the rest of the reach, with final watering targeted for spring 2028.

What it means for you

  • The footpath is open across the bridge. The bridge was built to keep the right of way between Tamworth Road and Longbridge Road, and it normally stays in the lowered position for people on foot.
  • You can help fund the last stretch. Gifts made during the Big Give week in December are doubled by the pledges already made. The trust’s Big Give page has the details.