recent articles about the history of Weymouth’s Town Bridge prompted Edinburgh resident Dennis Anderson to contact us with a touching and humorous family memory.

He writes: “When I was in Weymouth recently I read your article in the Echo about the Town Bridge being 80 years old on July 4. I meant to write to you immediately on my return to Edinburgh but unfortunately time has passed and I have missed the birthday celebrations.

“Today when travellers of any description are held back when the Town Bridge is opened they should sit back, relax and grit their teeth – and enjoy an experience that was not always a regular occurrence.

“I first visited Weymouth in 1963 when I went with my then girlfriend to visit her sister at Wyke Regis.

“When I returned to Scotland, one of the first questions that my future father-in-law asked me was: “Did you see the Town Bridge open?” To my answer, “No,” he explained that he had been visiting his daughter at Wyke sine 1951 and had never seen the bridge open.

“That was it. From then on, there was a serious competition between us – who would be first to see the bridge open. While I visited Weymouth (with my this time wife) about every two or three years I felt that I was at a disadvantage in the competition in that my father-in-law visited every year in July.

“So one year I decided to cheat. I advised the council that I would be on holiday in Weymouth during a certain fortnight and asked would the bridge be open at any time during that period. One day during my stay a council worker called at my sister-in-law’s to say there was going to be a test opening of the bridge, and I was informed of the time and date.

“The day arrived and I took up my position early to get the best picture. I was going to win the competition.

“The workmen duly turned up – I think away back in 1970 the bridge may have been cranked up by hand, I’m not sure. Anyway, whatever it was when the workmen started the bridge would not budge – it had become jammed with the heat. There’s an old adage ‘cheats never prosper’ and that certainly applied to me.

“My father-in-law continued to visit Weymouth every year in July and never saw the bridge open. Sadly he passed away in 1975.

“In 1982, my family and I were on holiday in a caravan near Sandsfoot Castle and I was detailed to fetch fish suppers for tea. I was coming out of Bennets on the Waterfront with the fish supper when I heard a peculiar noise. It took me a little time to realise that the bridge was about to be opened!

“But how can one take a picture with a fish supper? By a stroke of luck I spoke to a student from Morpeth in Northumberland who was on the first ever visit to Weymouth and he had his camera. I explained to him that the bridge opening was a very rare occurrence in those days and he was very lucky.

“The student very kindly took two pictures and sent me one. I never got his name or address.

“At last, after visiting the town over a period of 19 years, I had seen the bridge open. Now when I am delayed by the bridge opening I think of my father-in-law, a real old gentleman who I tried to cheat in a competition.”