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Friends Of Friargate Bridge Blog
After years of frustration, the stars seem to be aligning for concrete progress to be made on the restoration of Friar Gate Bridge. The City Council, which owns the Bridge, now has a four year term; moreover, Wavensmere Homes has bought the Goods Yard site from Clowes Developments and actually started its housing scheme. The focus of other interested parties straight away moves from the Goods Yard to the Bridge.
Now that the surrounding picture is clear, the Friends of Friar Gate Bridge Trustees are pursuing practical options for use of the Bridge. The City Council still has no money available for this project, but at least the Council Leader, who also heads Regeneration and Tourism, recognises the value of its asset so the Council is expected to actively support applications for funding.
For us to take advantage of this situation, The Friends of Friar Gate need help from more active volunteers and trustees and will be holding a meeting soon for those interested in participating. Meanwhile, contact is welcome any time via friends@friargatebridge.co.uk.
Kind regards
Howard Thomas
Chair
Friends Of Friargate Bridge
Just a quick reminder of The Friends Of Friargate Bridge AGM on 4th February 2022 at 7.00pm. The venue is The 102 Social Club, 73 Friar Gate, Derby , DE1 1FN. There is to be a presentation by Robert Hepwood, Director of Clowes Developments/CWC Holdings, so it should be very interesting to hear what he has to say about redevelopment of the Goods Yard. All are welcome but only existing members can vote at the meeting. If you would like to join on the night we will be welcoming new members. Come along and support us in our endeavour to restore this beautiful (or potentially so) Derby landmark. Come and meet the Trustees who will be happy to answer any questions you may have about the bridge
- Kieran Lee from the Friends of Bennerley Viaduct was a guest at this meeting and we had a discussion on how his organization had managed to achieve so much progress towards the restoration of the Viaduct. Kieran is to give a presentation at our AGM on 20th January.
- Another key speaker at the AGM will be Matthew Holmes, Deputy Leader of Derby City Council. This will be the first formal appearance of a Councillor at our AGM. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say and we need to have a good number in the audience.
- We agreed the brief to be offered to students of the University to investigate the history of the Bridge, particularly its social history
- It was agreed that we should pursue making the case for the Bridge to be relisted as Grade II*.
- While Peter Moseley has a few more presentations about the Bridge booked in his diary he would like to have the opportunity to talk to many more general interest groups, history groups, railway and engineering societies etc.
- Our “horse race night” team have another event booked but would also welcome more opportunities. We supply the films and run the event, splitting the proceeds with the host organization.
Just a quick reminder of The Friends Of Friargate Bridge AGM on 20th January 2020 at 7.30pm. The venue is The Greyhound, 75-76 Friargate, Derby, DE1 1FN. We have invited a couple of special guests to address the meeting and it should be very interesting to hear what they have to say. All are welcome but only existing members can vote at the meeting. If you would like to join on the night we will be welcoming new members. Come along and support us in our endeavour to restore this beautiful (or potentially so) Derby landmark. Come and meet the Trustees who will be happy to answer any questions you may have about the bridge
Our chairman, Howard Thomas has had the following letter published in today’s (24th July 2019) Derby Telegraph. Please contact us at: friends@friargatebridge.co.uk if you have any comments or would like to register your support. The more support we have gives us a greater influence to get the council to DO something!!
Have you seen the new video done by Alex Kingswell, a second year student at Derby University? It is called Forgotten History: Derby Friar Gate and features footage from our very own Howard Thomas and Elizabeth Heaton. Do give it a view and don’t forget to give it a ‘like’ as Alex has put a lot of work into this project. Well done Alex
Our AGM on Monday was attended by a company of loyal Friends of Friar Gate Bridge, including once again a member who came all the way from Cambridgeshire.
The existing trustees were re-elected and we are delighted to have elected two new ones: Cath Feely is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University with a special interest in the late 19th and 20th centuries; David Cross is from Rolls-Royce and has a strong programme management background. We are glad of their involvement as individuals, and grateful for the support of the University and Rolls-Royce that they represent.
We received the report of activities during the year, of which the main focus was our Heritage Lottery-funded Scoping Project. The scoping project allowed us to do some work on our governance to ensure that we are a resilient organisation, and included an Options Study by Lathams Architects on potential uses of the Bridge. Illustrations from Lathams’ report were on display at the meeting. There was some discussion about next steps for the Bridge, acknowledging that it is difficult to move forward whilst plans for the adjoining Friar Gate Goods Yard and Bonded Warehouse remain unclear. There was also some discussion of the need to seek alternative funding streams, as Heritage Lottery funding is becoming less readily available than in the past.
Finally, there was the opportunity to mingle and chat – and to sample the excellent wares of the Greyhound pub which very kindly provided our venue once again.
MONDAY 4th February @ 7.30pm
The Friends of Friar Gate Annual General Meeting. For any further information please email friends@friargatebridge.co.uk
Including any interest of becoming a Trustee. There will be up to date information as to where the organisation is heading and the opportunity to join. Members only have voting rights at the AGM.
HOT OFF THE PRESS
Finally released. The Viability Report on the potential uses of Friar Gate Bridge. See the documents page on the website to view this exciting document https://friargatebridge.co.uk/documents.html
We would welcome your comments. Please email friends@friargatebridge.co.uk if you have anything you would like to say about this document.
Here are some key points from the meeting of trustees and key volunteers on Monday 4th June 2018:
- We elected Gordon Inglis as an addtional trustee, and are very happy to welcome him. Gordon has been away from Derby for some years but is returning as the Headteacher of the new Cathedral School.
- Gordon will work with Steve Jackson (a retired headteacher) to help Friends of Friar Gate Bridge to achieve its educational remit, focussing on the remarkable character and achievements of Andrew Handyside, who created Friar Gate Bridge in his Derby foundry.
- The Friends of Friar Gate Bridge presentation to the Derby Renaissance Board in May was favourably received. This has made us some new friends who support our objectives of restoring the Bridge and stimulating regereration in its vicinity.
- We are continuing to seek comments from important stakeholders on the draft options study report produced for us by Lathams architects, to understand better how the regeneration of the Bridge will relate to other developments in the area.