Liskeard and Caradon Railway, Minions, Cornwall - April 19, 2017
Rillaton Bridge, Minions.
Rillaton Mill bridge was demolished on Sunday 1 April 1945 by 259 (Wessex) Field Company of the Royal Engineers as an experimental exercise using junior staff. 259 Field Company were a reserve force and never saw service outside the UK: they were based at Uffculme in Mid Devon.
The demolition rubble was cleared from the road beneath and taken to a dump offsite on the same afternoon as the explosives were detonated.
The Bridge had previously been inspected in May 1935 by the GWR Plymouth Divisional Engineer Ernest Lake, in the company of Edgar Collcutt, the Cornwall County Surveyor. Colcutt was then of the opinion that the arch of Bridge 22 would require demolition if double-deck buses were to be introduced on the Rilla Mill-Minions-Liskeard route.
This did not happen and the bridge survived until 1 April 1945.
During GWR ownership the the bridge was number 22 on the structure-numbering system for the line from Buller Quay in Looe, and had a 20 foot span and was 15 foot height.
With acknowledgement to the Caradon Heritage Project for the information on the demolition of Rillaton Bridge.
http://www.caradonhill.org.uk/
