Cedar Party (Creek) Bridge

The Cedar Party Bridge is done-

That is – it’s just been mended;

Its age is over sixty one,

Fine service it has rendered.

 

But still it’s got “the rattles bad”-

Its wrongs can’t all be righted;

The Councils ought to try, bedad,

To have the “Old Girl” knighted.¹

In 1938, the Cedar Party Bridge was on the boundary of both the Wingham Municipal Council and the Manning Shire Council. The above extract describes the Councils’ collective frustration when their decade long request for a concrete bridge to replace the old wooden one was denied.² Instead the “Old Girl” was repaired and tarted up with a lick of paint in an attempt to extend her longevity. Built in 1896, she got another facelift in the early 1960s and substantial reconstruction around the 1990s that would carry her through until 2024.³

The bridge we know today as the Cedar Party (Creek) Bridge was the second one built in this spot. The first was built in 1869 by Tinonee surveyor George Ochs and named ‘The Forster Bridge’ after politician William Forster.⁴ It was the first bridge to span Cedar Party Creek (once known as Pahpoo Creek)⁵ and provided much needed access between Wingham and Taree.

A series of floods saw ‘The Forster Bridge’ rebuilt in 1896 and raised by 8 feet.⁶ In 1910, when the North Coast railway line was under construction the bridge was reinforced with steel to help carry the weight of building materials being transported from the Wingham Wharf to the rail cutting.⁷

In 2024, the wooden bridge will be replaced with a modern one, more able to cope with floods and traffic demands.⁸ But oh, the stories the “Old Girl” could tell of the drunken nights spent by railway navies beside the bridge,⁹ of the penniless swagmen camped underneath,¹⁰ the tragic tales of death¹¹ and even ones of romance.

Author: Janine Roberts