Severn Bridge

I report here on a local matter which has infuriated/amused the locals. We live on the West side of Severn and must cross the river in order to get access to England. Go the other way and you are in Wales in no time. The Severn is a very big river and there are only a few bridges . During any flooding, I have to plan very carefully to go East. Sometimes it is necessary to drive into Wales and pick up another road to get over a specially high bridge at Bristol.

This blog is about the bridge at Upton-on-Severn which is my preferred route to the South. It was built in 1940 and is quite high as there is a lot of river traffic. In 2011 it was thoroughly refurbished and there was a lot of consultation with the locals about what colour to paint it. Eventually duchess blue with touches of  gold was selected. It was wrapped up in plastic sheeting for months while it was painted and, when the plastic was removed, it was -- Turmeric yellow with touches of black. Instant uproar. Choleric inhabitants of Upton, furious Council, local papers having a field day. It had been very disruptive of traffic with a complicated traffic light system. And I might say, it was a very nasty shade of yellow.

In January, they started wrapping it again and it is still wrapped up. Except that when I drove over on Thursday, some of the plastic had been removed and I could see the new paint scheme. Gorgeous. A lovely shade of mid blue verging on dark blue and real gold touches. Worth the trouble. It will be quite something when it is finished. In the meantime, we are back to the complicated and slow traffic control system and long delays. So I must leave early to get to the Weaving Class - and to add to everything, they have closed the motorway.