RATHER than be made redundant as your correspondent on December 24 suggests I think the sturdy, attractive little footbridge near Bedford Bridge could have a useful function as part of a riverside walk.

The new bridge, with its splendid long views will be part of the national cycle path; the little one over the River Walkham can with a little work on the footpath be made accessible for the enjoyment of the river and its environs by local people.

Perhaps the golfers can have a bridge over the main road and the walkers have their path.

But why name the new bridge 'Gem'? Commemorating a mine now hidden and forgotten in the nearby undergrowth, but on the site of one of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's largest timber and masonry viaducts and easily located by taking the river's name. Named as was the original it would relate to one of Brunel's finest structures.

Graham Kirkpatrick

Tavistock