THE new Osney bridge in Botley Road, Oxford, was opened with little ceremony.

Officials were probably embarrassed that because of legal arguments, it had taken more than three years to replace the bridge which had partially collapsed.

As we recalled last week, the 120-year-old bridge had to be closed after part of it fell into the River Thames on December 2, 1885. Rhoda Elizabeth Miles, 11, drowned and several people had to be rescued from the water.

The new bridge was opened on January 7, 1889 with some officials unaware that the ceremony was taking place.

The chairman of the Oxford Local Board, Mr C Laker, gave a short speech before the barrier was removed and he and Councillor Cooper climbed into a cab and were the first to go over the bridge in a vehicle.

Jackson’s Oxford Journal newspaper reported: “Three other cabs followed and then came two laden coal carts, a donkey and cart, a mineral water van and other vehicles, the great utility of the thoroughfare being in a few moments amply demonstrated.”

The three-year closure of the bridge has caused much inconvenience and annoyance. Although a temporary bridge had been provided near Osney lock, heavy traffic between Oxford and the west had to take a lengthy diversion through Wolvercote.

Peter Bowell, of Deanfield Road, Dean Court, Oxford, who has been researching the story of the collapsed bridge, writes: “The long delay was hugely disruptive and caused considerable hardship for tradesmen, carriers and residents, especially those living west of the Thames.

“The prolonged loss of one of the principal approaches to the city was said to have been ‘a scandal to the City and County of Oxford’.

“The partial collapse of the bridge set off a long legal dispute between the Local Board and the County Council, one side trying to get as much as they could towards the cost of repairing or rebuilding the bridge, the other trying to pay as little as possible.”

Agreement was finally reached, but amid all the wrangling, everyone seemed to have forgotten that a little girl tragically lost her life when the bridge collapsed.As Mr Bowell says: “Spare a thought for young Rhoda when you next cross Osney Bridge.”