The bridge of sighs! Nine months of roadworks split village in two and leave residents with an eight-mile detour to get to the shops

By ANDY DOLAN, GENERAL REPORTER and MARTIN FRICKER Published: 01:11, 24 August 2026 | Updated: 01:11, 24 August 2026 It might be a multiple winner of the county's Best Kept Large Village competition.  But residents in canal-side Brewood say their community has been left in a sorry state – by a nine-month bridge closure which has split the village in two. Since November, residents have had to endure an eight-mile detour to reach schools, shops, pubs and a GP surgery just 300 yards from their homes after the bridge bisecting the Staffordshire village was closed when a sinkhole opened on the structure. The listed bridge, built by Thomas Telford in the 1830s, spans the Shropshire Union Canal but was closed after the large hole, believed to have been caused by a leaking water pipe, appeared on the roadway. Engineers then discovered the damage had also affected the bridge walls and supporting columns. The Canal and River Trust (CRT), which owns the bridge and is responsible for repairs, was initially due to begin work in the spring. But so far only water company Severn Trent have carried out repairs on site – to water and waste pipes – and locals fear it could be next year before the bridge reopens to traffic. They claim a dispute between Staffordshire County Council and the CRT is behind the delays.  The idyllic canal-side village has been split in two by the closure of Brewood Bridge The locally listed bridge spans the Shropshire Union Canal but was closed after the large hole appeared in November Heating engineer Phil Shepherd said if this had happened in China 'it would have been fixed within a week' Your browser does not support iframes. Dil Griffiths, 74, a retired canal worker, spoke to the Mail while waiting to collect his wife from the GP surgery on the other side of the bridge. She walks over to spare him the eight-mile detour. 'It's been a nightmare for everyone in the village,' he said. 'When it happened last November, we all assumed the bridge would be repaired in a few months and life would return to normal. 'The amount of time it's taking is ridiculous.' Phil Shepherd, a local heating engineer, said: 'If we were in China, it would have been fixed within a week.' The 65-year-old added: 'It beggars belief that it's still closed nine months on from the collapse. 'Apparently there was a dispute over who is to blame - did the bridge movement break the water pipe, or did the leaking pipe cause the road to collapse? No way through!  Cars last travelled over the bridge at the end of November Chris Bish and wife Bev live in a canal-side cottage and say the bridge road surface collapsed after traffic detouring off the closed M54 began using the bridge Philip Kavanagh, 67, landlord of The Bridge Inn, said the closure has hit takings at his canal-side pub 'Quite frankly, I don't care whose fault it is, they should just work together to get it fixed as soon as possible.' The village, which has won the Best Kept Large Village award for south Staffordshire five times since 2017, straddles the canal. Mr Shepherd said around 100 houses are on the west side, with the majority of the village on the east. 'If someone on the west side needs to go to the shop, it's a 20-minute drive to get there', he added. 'And likewise, if you live on the east side and need to go to the GP, you have the eight-mile drive to contend with. There is a single-track road that is a shorter distance, but it’s only passable in a tractor. 'The fire station is also on the East side. If there was an emergency, it would take them 20 minutes to get to a fire 300 yards away.' While the bridge is fenced off, water company Severn Trent have been repairing a waste pipe running beside the structure Chris Bish, 76, a retired English teacher, lives close to the bridge with his wife Bev, 67. The couple said a closure on the nearby M54 three days before the 13ft X 6ft sinkhole appeared led to hundreds of drivers using the bridge as a detour. 'It was non-stop traffic,' Mr Bish said. 'Then a few days later, the road started to give way. 'I walked across it to take a look and you could see the Tarmac moving. The next thing, there was a huge hole there.' He said the movement of the brickwork caused the sewage pipe on the side of the bridge to fracture, dumping effluent into the canal. When the Daily Mail visited the village on Wednesday, workers were carrying out repairs to the external sewage pipe. Philip Kavanagh, 67, landlord of The Bridge Inn, said the closure has hit takings at his canal-side pub. 'We don't get the passing trade any more, because there's no way over the bridge,' he said. 'My car park is full most days, not with customers but with locals using it to park up so they can go to the GPs. 'It's really sad seeing elderly people in their 80s have to hobble across the bridge on foot.' The centre of Brewood, which is eight miles north of Wolverhampton, is a conservation area thanks to its black-and-white timbered cottages and historic canal-side setting. The bridge is classified as a Grade A locally listed building - meaning it is deemed to have special architectural, historic, archaeological or local significance. The CRT acknowledged local frustrations and added in a statement: 'The bridge is nearly 200 years old, and it has taken time to fully understand the damage, investigate what happened, and agree the best way to repair it with our partners Severn Trent and Staffordshire County Council.' The charity said repair plans are now with the council for approval, and three weeks of preparatory works are due to begin at the end of the month. It added: 'This will help gather some final information needed before the main repair work begins straight afterwards if the necessary approvals are gained.' But it said it was at this stage unable to confirm when the bridge will be reopened to traffic. Staffordshire County Council said it was 'working with the CRT as a formal consultee on the repairs and want to see the bridge repaired and road opened as soon as possible'. A Severn Trent spokesman said  initial repairs were completed on a burst water pipe, and that 'customer supplies have been unaffected...as we have moved water around our network.' He added: 'Repairs to a separate waste pipe were completed in March, but a further bridge movement caused a secondary burst in July which we hope to fix within the next two weeks.'