Crawford Bridge re-opens on Congewai Road

Following two months of works, Cessnock Mayor Bob Pynsent officially opened Crawford’s Bridge on Congewai Road last Wednesday.

The bridge is named after Thomas Crawford, a Scottish immigrant who settled at Congewai Valley in 1825.

Mr. Crawford lived at his farm, ‘Brown Muir’ at Congewai for many years before he died in 1875, aged 72.

Mr. Crawford’s great-grandson Doug Crawford, who still lives in the region and grew up on Brown Muir, attended the opening.

“I swam underneath the bridge when I was a kid. The bridge is right in the middle of the Brown Muir property,” Doug said.

“My father was partly involved in building the first bridge. He delivered timber to it.”

Doug said his family ran a large dairy farm on the land for many years before focusing just on cattle.

“I worked on the property after I left school. I naturally took over after my father. He took over from his father before him and so on,” he said.

Fellow relative Jill Crawford-Lane, who rode her horse to the bridge opening, still lives on a parcel of Brown Muir.

She said Congewai was a close community and they valued the picturesque road and the wooden bridges along it.

The original timber handrail was refurbished and refitted to the new bridge to preserve its history as well as its country look.

The new bridge cost council $224,000 and was replaced due to extensive deterioration.

There are a number of bridges remaining in the Cessnock local government area that have been earmarked for refurbishment and replacement as part of council’s bridges construction program.