Originally opened on June 16 1932, the Foryd Bridge designed by RG Whitley and constructed by Messrs Dorman, Long and Co, and spanning the mouth of the river Clwyd at Foryd, Rhyl, was designed to link Wellington Road and Rhyl's Promenade with a new road from Foryd to Pensarn. Major Hugh Peel, chairman of the Bridge Committee, responsible for realising the new bridge, along with council officers and elected councillors, formally opened the bridge in 1932 by pressing a lever. This in turn lifted the barrier placed across the Rhyl entrance and signalled the firing of rockets and a rush of people wanting to take their first steps on this new bridge. The bridge replaced a privately-owned bridge constructed in 1895 by Middlesborough's Messrs McClune and McKenzie at a cost of £10,000. Despite its completion on budget, the project proved a financial failure - due in part to Rhyl having a small population and Kinmel Bay not being established to pay for its construction and maintenance by way of tolls. It also only provided one-way traffic and towards the end of its lifespan, with the pressures of increased motor traffic able to achieve greater speed, proved unfit for purpose.

Photographed during RCAHMW aerial reconnaissance on 27 July.

O Davis, RCAHMW, 27/03/12