Old Oich Bridge.

Listed Structure at Risk.

There is something very sad when you see an historic structure in such a poor state. The Old Oich Bridge is not only in a very sad way, it is also very much still at risk.

Listed as Category B (Scottish equivalent of Grade II or II*, although the categories don’t follow exactly the same guidelines), the bridge is of very significant architectural interest. The original structure dates back to the 18th Century (1746), but only the stone arch to the left survives.

The remainder of the original bridge was swept away in the great floods of 1849. Whilst building the adjacent Caledonain Canal, Thomas Telford trained a local lad as an engineer. This Joseph Mitchell obtained funding to build a temporary wooden trestle to restore the bridge the following year.

Unfortunately, this repair to the Old Oich Bridge is now very much in need of repair itself. Despite being listed, it has been allowed to deteriorate to the point that it is now a dangerous structure, and certainly not usable.

The main road has long since been rebuilt further to east, but the hope is to reopen this as a footbridge. Sadly, though, the preservation society planning to raise the funds for this work appears to have been wound up, and is no longer active, as reported by the buildings at risk register in June 2013.

It would appear that current ownership of the Old Oich Bridge is unknown. Disappointingly, this means that this historic structure is being allowed to further deteriorate which, no doubt, will result in either its complete loss, or a considerably more expensive repair bill than if it had been fixed sooner.

Photograph Details:

• Taken: 4 Aug 2017
• Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 MkIIA
• Lens: Olympus 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6
• Focal Length 14mm
• F/5
• 1/50 Sec
• ISO 800