EXPLAINED: Solving the mystery of Welsh’s Bridge over Inverness train tracks
If you are in the habit of travelling to or from Inverness by train, on the eastbound line, you might have caught a fleeting glimpse of a sign that reads ‘Welsh’s Bridge’, just outside Inverness station.
Chances are you never gave it a second thought, but when one works in an archive centre one is inclined to ask questions such as ‘Who was Welsh? Why did Welsh have a bridge named after them? Where indeed is the bridge?`
A little investigation in our archive collections uncovered the answer to these questions, and with it the age-old tale of one person locked in a ‘not in my back yard’ dispute with the authorities. Older readers, especially railway enthusiasts may recall there being a signal box called Welsh’s Bridge, but not an actual bridge.
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With the aid of some of our archive resources, we were able to piece together a little of the story. Born in Inverness in 1786 to William Welsh and Marjory Alves, Welsh appears in the Census of 1841 living at Millburn House. Under the heading of ‘occupation’ he is listed as ‘of independent means’. A little detective work on the Scotland’s People website shows that he never married.
Millburn House was approximately where there is now a parcel distribution company in the Longman Industrial Estate. The stretch of Millburn Road can be seen on a section of an Ordnance Survey map from 1869; Welsh’s property had a sizeable piece of garden land to the south of the house.
When the railway came to Inverness in the middle of the 19th century, Welsh’s lands were to be divided by the new line. Plans of the line were sent to Welsh by the Railway Company, and we can tell from an item of correspondence that a revised plan was also sent at a later date. We have the letter sent by Welsh to Andrew Dougall, manager of the Inverness and Nairn Railway Company dated July 9, 1860, in which Welsh claimed that the amendments to the original plan were so slight that he did not notice them until after he had signed in agreement to them.
At first he wanted the railway line to run across his front lawn but he later changed his mind and wanted it to run behind his house. He argued that the railway would cut off his access to water from the Mill Burn and make it more difficult for him to get to the south side of Millburn Road. This extract from the letter gives an indication of the depth of his consternation: “…making to deprive me of a portion of the water of the Mill Burn, to which I am fully entitled, and which any person on the spot must at once see is not of the smallest use to the Railway.”
The bridge was built to provide access to Welsh’s house, as there were no roads to the north of the railway at that time. It was dismantled in 1898 to make way for the new line to Aviemore and the signal box was closed in 1987.
Next time you are on a train immediately to the east of Inverness station, you might spot the signpost bearing the name of the bridge.
