Lambston doesn’t have any major river crossings or any photogenic bridges. All the bridges which we have are twentieth-century utilitarian structures. It is easy to forget today how much difference the change from a ford to a bridge must have made to life in the parish.
The stream crossings are;
Roads
- Crossing Walesland Water between Lambston and Dunston. This was shown as “Ford and footbridge” on 1889 and 1907 OS maps and footbridge on 1964 edition.
There is a family story about James John, who moved to Lambston hall from Pelcomb in the 1900s. Apparently he continued to attend the Baptist Chapel in Camrose until one day he and his family were nearly washed away crossing the ford on the way to church. he felt that this was a sign that he should move his attendance to Sutton Chapel. - Crossing Lambston Water below Sutton Chapel. This was shown as “Ford and footbridge” on 1889 and 1907 OS maps and footbridge on 1964 edition. Local residents recall a ford crossing here.On 22 April 1904 the Pembrokeshire Herald & Advertiser carried a report of the Rural District Council meeting.
(Source Pembrokeshire Herald via NLW online archives).
- Crossing the Walesland Water below Fairview Farm (Then Black Patch). This was shown as “Ford and footbridge” on the 1889 OS map. Neither ford nor footbridge shown by 1907 so presumably it had been bridged.
Bridleways
- Bridleway crossing at the foot of Sutton Mountain now a ford and footbridge. Neither are shown on 1889 and 1907 OS maps but there was a track crossing the stream. Today there is an actively used ford and footbridge.
- Bridleway crossing at Pelcomb Brook, north of East Hook. Shown as “Ford and footbridge” on 1889, 1907 and 1964 OS maps and still with these today though the ford is out of use. The footbridge has been moved upstream and if you look downstream you can see where a ford might have been.