1893 thousands of local people gathered to witness the opening of the Swing Bridge over the River Carron which connected the communities of Camelon and Larbert.

This weekend a similar event will take place to officially open the new Dorrator Bridge which replaced the Old Swing Bridge last year – and continues to connect communities along the Carron!

The opening event, Connections, will take place on Saturday 16th May to celebrate the Dorrator Bridge’s first year and the recently completed River Carron 6 mile
(10km) path loop.

And the bridge will be officially opened by Douglas Harper, the grandson of the architect who designed the original bridge back in 1893 along with music, readings and a blessing of the bridge.

Councillor Dr Craig R Martin, spokesperson for Environment, said: “The River Carron path loop connects the communities of Larbert, Stenhousemuir, Camelon, Mungal and Bainsford and is suitable for walkers, cyclists and buggies.

“Since the new Dorrator Bridge was installed there has been a 700% increase in path use in the area and, over time, hopefully even more people will get out walking and cycling to explore their local area.”

The Dorrator Bridge, costing £247,000, was installed almost a year ago as the old Swing Bridge had reached the end of its 121 years service to the area.

A wide range of path improvements, the creation of both the River Carron path loop and some of the paths connecting into it is now complete and cost around £850k. This now provides a good quality network of paths for recreation and leisure, as well as improved access to local facilities, parks and greenspaces including Carron Dams Local Nature Reserve, Helix Park and the historic River Carron.

These projects were the result of joint working between a range of partners including Falkirk Council, Communities Along the Carron Association, Central Scotland Green Network Trust and Sustrans.

Michael Ewart, Development Officer at Central Scotland Green Network Trust, said: “The CSGNT supports a wide range of environmental access enhancements across the central belt. It’s fantastic to see the opening of the new Dorrator Bridge and the completion of the new six mile walking route. This high quality bridge and path network will bring multiple benefits to local communities, providing them with more opportunities for active travel, recreation and access to areas of employment.”

The Connections event has been organised by Communities along the Carron Association who will also launch their new, one year, Climate Challenge funded project with Sustrans. This will look at reducing waste through local food growing projects, raise awareness of the local path network, and encourage cycling in the Larbert High School cluster.

There is approximately 380 miles (600km) of multi use paths across the Falkirk Council area connecting communities which are well used by walkers and cyclists.