A PLAN is afoot to create a new circular walking route in Ivybridge that could see an ancient bridge over the river Erme reinstated.

The idea has been dreamt up by the Ivybridge Heritage and Archive Group, which researches and collects information on the town’s history.

The group has a particular interest in Stowford Mill, and members have discovered that there used to be a small bridge just above it. So they came up with the idea of creating an easy, accessible circular walk that would bring locals and visitors alike face to face with Ivybridge’s past.

Lesley Thatcher from the group stressed that the scheme was in its very early days.

She said: ‘The piers of the old bridge are still apparently there, just above where the mill is now. We’ve got this lovely old map, and it has pictures of the bridge on it.

‘The circular walk would go up past the main mill gate on Harford Road, then into the housing estate and along the river bank. We’d create the pedestrian bridge again, then it would continue down through Longtimber Woods.

‘Our idea is to get the heritage of Ivybridge visible everywhere, so we would have information boards along the way.

‘It’s very much at the investigation stage, but we hope it will go further. It would be lovely, and it would start to stimulate what Ivybridge is desperate for – more of a tourism industry.

‘We could tie in with the beginning of the Two Moors Way as well, and signpost up to it.’

More in tomorrow’s Ivybridge & South Brent Gazette