A fo ben, bid bont
A new bridge for a forward-looking haverfordwest
Haverfordwest’s new pedestrian bridge was officially opened on Friday 10 October 2025. The bridge along with the wider regeneration project in which it sits has been the subject of a great deal of debate, with many local people vocal about the necessity and cost of this new river crossing.
In her address at the official opening of the signature bridge, Wales’ First Minister Eluned Morgan MS gave an account of the tale of Bendigeidfran, a giant and a mythological king of Britain. The story sees Bran, as he is sometimes known, using himself as a bridge to allow his armies to cross a river as he came to the aid of his sister Branwen.
In doing so he is said to have proclaimed “…a fo ben, bid bont” or “…to be a leader, be a bridge”.
Haverfordwest’s signature bridge was opened on 10 October 2025
Reports indicate that the old bridge was no longer fit for purpose, and was showing “extensive corrosion throughout”. In addition to this, the old bridge was too narrow for modern accessibility standards and was also not compliant with flood resilience expectations (source: https://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/objview.asp?object_id=10551).
At a reported £5.7 million this has not been a low-budget endeavour. However, a significant proportion of that figure (about £5.1 million) is understood to have come from the UK Government’s Levelling Up funding which was only ever intended to be spent on regeneration projects such as this. If the local authority hadn’t applied to use the grant in this way, the likelihood is that the funding would have gone somewhere else entirely. It is also perhaps worth noting that the figure apparently covers a much broader area than the bridge alone, with many of the public realm enhancements around the bridge and the refurbishment of the former Cleddau Foundry also covered under that cost (source: https://newsroom.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/news/towns-new-signature-bridge-is-open).
The contemporary asymmetrical design of the bridge doesn’t suit all tastes, and on this point it’s difficult to find a counter-argument. We happen to like the design of the bridge, but everybody’s taste is individual and we are all entitled to our own opinion.
With the tale of Bendigeidfran in mind, it is strange that a bridge has been so divisive. Bridges are physically and metaphorically seen as unifying pieces of architecture, and in some places like Derry-Londonderry in Northern Ireland the Peace Bridge was specifically commissioned to bring communities closer together.
Bridges are feats of engineering and architecture that not only serve the practical purpose of allowing access and transportation, but in themselves can often become spectacles of their own accord. Manhattan’s Brooklyn Bridge, the Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and even the Gateshead Millenium Bridge, a footbridge across the Tyne in north-east England, are all architectural wonders which both unite communities and draw tourists.
Whilst much smaller in scale and scope, can Haverfordwest’s new pedestrian bridge start to do the same for this town on its journey into regeneration?
One positive for us is that the bridge has got people talking about Haverfordwest and discussing what they think should happen in the town. We hope that this interest and this conversation doesn’t go away.