Chatting on the doorstep with Bassingbourn residents, the matter of the opening up of the Ivy Farm Bridge, over the A505, comes up often.

Love of walking and wandering across the countryside, and between villages and settlements, is one of the great joys of living in this part of the world – but roads and transport infrastructure so often sever natural connections (as the East West Rail consultation is illustrating). Royston and Bassingbourn are separated by very little as the crow flies! The Ivy Farm bridge has only ever been accessible to farmers and has never had public access rights, but there it sits as the obvious safe walking link over the A505.

The good news is that Hertfordshire County Council, which owns the bridge, have said they would like to open it to a public right of way, and are actively working on it. It’s not straightforward as this will require creating public access links directly to it on either side of the county border – but work is in progress. Thanks to Herts and Cambs County Council officers who all recognize the importance of the project to people in both counties.

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