A few spare hours, a camera, a bridge
Not being totally averse to focussing on the shortcomings deficiencies and all-round second-rateness of Bedford nevertheless I’m equally as prepared to, in the words of the saying, give “credit where credit’s due” - as I perceive it anyway.
Case in point… a few years ago a new footbridge was constructed over the river just on the outskirts of the town centre.
Its rather unusual design met with mixed reactions - not all of them entirely complimentary. In fact, my impression was that the general feeling amongst the local residents was fairly negative.
The “Butterfly Bridge” as it was named was designed by architects C. Wilkinson & Partners, and engineers Jan Bobrowski & Partners, and was the winning design in a national design competition held in 1995.
The design brief was to “create a memorable landmark to symbolise the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century”.
Unlike many of the people I talked with at the time, I was impressed by the structure from the first. It seemed to me quite elegant and innovative, if maybe a bit out-of-place in the town as it then was.
Well, since I started messing around with all this digital photography lark I’ve been mulling over one or two projects to indulge the interest. And the Butterfly Bridge was an obvious contender. You can see the results on my Flickr page.
