{"id":3772,"date":"2026-05-01T15:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=3772"},"modified":"2026-05-01T15:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:46:19","slug":"ferry-replaces-rotten-temple-footbridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dhwnews.com\/?p=3772","title":{"rendered":"Ferry replaces rotten and removed Temple footbridge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Pizza chef deliv\u00aders ferry ser\u00advice amid bridge clos\u00adures<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Special delivery: Justin Whelan on Bryan Ferry, which will transport passengers at Hurley.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1 May 2026<br \/>\nA NEW com\u00admunity ferry service link\u00ading the river\u00adsides at Hur\u00adley and Temple has been launched.<\/p>\n<p>The elec\u00adtric, solar-powered boat called Bryan Ferry will carry walk\u00aders from one side of the River Thames to the other while Temple Bridge remains closed.<\/p>\n<p>The cross\u00ading, just upstream from Temple Lock, was shut in May 2023 after sur\u00advey\u00adors from the Envir\u00adon\u00adment Agency said it had \u201cdeteri\u00ador\u00adated faster than expec\u00adted\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The agency is now work\u00ading to com\u00adpletely replace it after the side spans of the bridge were found to be in \u201cvery poor con\u00addi\u00adtion\u201d fol\u00adlow\u00ading an inspec\u00adtion in Feb\u00adru\u00adary. [This will take years]<\/p>\n<p>Busi\u00adness\u00adman Justin Whelan came up with the idea for the cross\u00ading ser\u00advice so walk\u00aders can avoid using the diver\u00adsion, which takes them on to Temple Lane, a 60mph road.<\/p>\n<p>The ven\u00adture, which oper\u00adates from Temple Lock, is described as a \u201clabour of love\u201d and has taken a year to develop, which included the res\u00adtor\u00ada\u00adtion of the 50-year-old ves\u00adsel.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Whelan, 58, said: \u201cAs soon as the bridge stopped being avail\u00adable to people, I recom\u00admen\u00added to some friends with boat hire busi\u00adnesses to set up [this ser\u00advice] but it was simply not fin\u00adan\u00adcially viable for them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe bridge diver\u00adsion took people on to a rel\u00adat\u00adively busy road so I thought, if no one else is going to do it, then I might as well do it myself. I bought the boat for this pur\u00adpose a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 12-pas\u00adsen\u00adger boat will carry walk\u00aders across the river as part of a wider route between Mar\u00adlow and Hen\u00adley.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Whelan, who has lived on boats between the two towns for 20 years, said: \u201cThe Thames Path can\u2019t be com\u00adpleted without detours now because the bridge is down. I spend a lot of time on the water and I was aware there was a lot of frus\u00adtrated people. It seemed there were many reas\u00adons to do it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople get\u00adting out and people\u2019s men\u00adtal well\u00adbeing \u2014 walk\u00ading in nature is fant\u00adastic for every\u00adbody \u2014 so there needed to be a solu\u00adtion. It was one of those I could do, so I chose to do it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would go through the locks on my boats and occa\u00adsion\u00adally give people a lift from one side to the other because they star\u00adted a walk and then failed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a lot of frus\u00adtra\u00adtion because of the detour. Once you\u2019ve walked and been told you can\u2019t walk on, you\u2019ve got to walk back again, so it throws people\u2019s day com\u00adpletely out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope this will reduce the chance of some\u00adbody get\u00adting hurt on the road, and it means more people can enjoy the coun\u00adtryside around where we live.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr Whelan, who owns Pir\u00adate Pizza, a boat which sells pizza on the Thames, includ\u00ading in Hen\u00adley and is also a chim\u00adney sweep, believes the greater good of provid\u00ading the ser\u00advice out\u00adweighs the fin\u00adan\u00adcial bene\u00adfits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a slightly afford\u00adable loss,\u201d he said. \u201cIt won\u2019t make a profit. If I star\u00adted it any earlier, then I\u2019d run out of money, so I\u2019m try\u00ading to make my money last as long as humanly pos\u00adsible. I think I\u2019ve been a con\u00adsumer for too long and I want to be more of a cit\u00adizen. I\u2019m in a situ\u00adation where I can afford the time and it\u2019s time to pay back. Not hav\u00ading the bridge is a huge dis\u00adad\u00advant\u00adage for people and it has been massively well-received.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ferry will run between 10am and 3pm on Wed\u00adnes\u00addays, Sat\u00adurdays and Sundays and this could expand to seven days a week dur\u00ading the school hol\u00adi\u00addays once a volun\u00adteer rota is estab\u00adlished.<\/p>\n<p>Dogs and bicycles are wel\u00adcome on board. Pas\u00adsen\u00adgers can board from the Temple side and travel across to Hur\u00adley, or vice versa, with fares set at \u00a32.50 each way for adults and \u00a31.50 for chil\u00addren under 12.<\/p>\n<p>Last May, the Depart\u00adment for Envir\u00adon\u00adment, Food and Rural Affairs inves\u00adted \u00a3500,000 to be split equally into repairs for Temple Bridge and Marsh Lock Horsebridge in Hen\u00adley, which has been closed since May 2022 fol\u00adlow\u00ading com\u00adplaints about its con\u00addi\u00adtion.<\/p>\n<p>[<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Following a structural inspection, the Environment Agency closed Marsh Head Horsebridge in May 2022 due to numerous structural and safety concerns.<\/strong><\/span>]<\/p>\n<p>The refurbishment of this bridge is being treated as a priority as we know how important it is to both local people and visitors using the Thames Path.<\/p>\n<p>A spokes\u00adman for the Envir\u00adon\u00adment Agency said that it was pro\u00adgress\u00ading out\u00adline designs for a replace\u00adment bridge at Marsh Lock, which will meet cur\u00adrent stand\u00adards.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationaltrail.co.uk\/en_GB\/short-routes\/thames-path-marsh-lock-footbridge-closure-and-diversion\/?trail=thames-path\">Thames Path Diversion at Marsh Lock<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>From The Henley Standard<br \/>\nBy ANAKA NAIR news@hen\u00adley\u00adstand\u00adard.co.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pizza chef deliv\u00aders ferry ser\u00advice amid bridge clos\u00adures Special delivery: Justin Whelan on Bryan Ferry, which will transport passengers at Hurley. 1 May 2026 A NEW com\u00admunity ferry service link\u00ading the river\u00adsides&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[366,99],"class_list":["post-3772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-temple-ferry","tag-temple-footbridge"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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