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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/31/world/europe/norfolk-fairy-bridge-uk-national-trust.html
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| A Footpath in England, Torn Down, Keeps Being Rebuilt by ‘Fairies’ | A Footpath in England, Torn Down, Keeps Being Rebuilt by ‘Fairies’ |
| (2 days later) | |
| A small, beloved footbridge in the county of Norfolk has been dismantled twice only to be replaced by “local fairies,” according to village lore, in a long-running dispute between a coastal English village and the National Trust, a conservation charity. | A small, beloved footbridge in the county of Norfolk has been dismantled twice only to be replaced by “local fairies,” according to village lore, in a long-running dispute between a coastal English village and the National Trust, a conservation charity. |
| The bridge, which provides a pathway to beloved salt marshes on the English coast, had been used for more than 50 years until the National Trust took it down last year, citing safety concerns. | The bridge, which provides a pathway to beloved salt marshes on the English coast, had been used for more than 50 years until the National Trust took it down last year, citing safety concerns. |
| Villagers received no warning of the plans to remove a crucial route, said Ian Curtis, a resident campaigning to have the bridge replaced. | Villagers received no warning of the plans to remove a crucial route, said Ian Curtis, a resident campaigning to have the bridge replaced. |
| “There was an outcry in the village — ‘they've took our bridge down, we can’t get on the marsh!’” Mr. Curtis said. He said the National Trust, which owns the salt marshes, was being heavy-handed, and compared the dynamic between the Stiffkey villagers and the group to that of peasants and the “lord of the manor.” “It’s medieval times, that’s what it’s like here,” Mr. Curtis said. | |
| For locals and tourists alike, Norfolk’s salt marshes are a haven for wildlife watching. The twisting muddy creeks, flooded daily by the tide, are a conservation area for breeding birds and shellfish like blue-shelled cockles. Without the Stiffkey bridge, which stretched over a tidal creek, visitors could get stranded in the marshes because of changing tides. |