TOLLS ON A BRIDGE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 111, 13 May 1932, Page 10

TOLLS ON A BRIDGE

HELD UP FOR TWOPENCE. HALFPENNY FOR PEDESTRIANS. Imagine it! A toll bridge at one of the principal gateways to go-ahead, beautiful Bournemouth in 1932, says a Daily Express correspondent. People held up in their motor-cars for twopence, cyclists forced to pay a penny, and pedestrians a halfpenny—all for the privilege of crossing a little iron bridge which links Christchurch with Southbourne, Boscombe and Bournemouth. The writer says: “I came down to Bournemouth to see how people like this antiquated form of levy. My motor-car was held up at the foot of Ttfekton Bridge by old Horry Boulton —polite, but businesslike. It was ‘tuppence, please/ to cross the little bridge over the picturesque Stour. Harry Boulton has been taking tolls on this bridge for over 11 years. “I stood at the toll gate this afternoon with Harry, while he held up all and sundry with his little rolls of tickets. It was fairly busy, even on this slack Wednesday afternoon, when the town shuts down for the weekly half-holiday. What upsets the toll-keeper more than anything else is that some people think he is pocketing the tolls he exacts. That is far from the case. The money is pocketed by Bournemouth and Christchurch, and goes to relieve thn rates.” The toll bridge was built 25 years ago, and, according to some people, it will be another 50 years before the bridge pays for itself and these irritating tolls are swept away.