What’s in a name? Those disputing whether the Severn Bridge connecting England and Wales should be named after Aneurin Bevan or the Queen would argue – a great deal.
A row has broken out between Welsh residents and politicians and councillors in South Gloucestershire after the latter voted to rename the mile-long steel bridge across the Severn to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee in 2022, after she opened the bridge in 1966.
The Conservative councillor for Severn Vale, Matthew Riddle, claimed that the issue was “purely a matter for the English” because the bridge, which links England and Wales via the M48, landed in England on both sides of the estuary.
However, those on the other side of the Welsh border disagree and say that if there is a change then the bridge should be named after Aneurin Bevan, who led the establishment of the NHS, or rugby hero Sir Gareth Edwards. One Welsh councillor said it would be “a huge injustice” to not consult the Welsh people on its renaming.
Riddle proposed the motion and councillors voted to write to Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, about the issue. While Riddle’s motion did not contain a specific name for the bridge his preference was the Queen Elizabeth Severn Bridge. He told BBC Radio Bristol: “I believe that she’s carried out her duties in an exemplary way. [The bridge] was designed and built at the beginning of her reign.”
Noting that the bridge hits land in England on either side of the Severn estuary, before moving across the Wye river into Wales, he added: “I believe the naming of the Severn Bridge is purely a matter for the English, and not the Welsh Assembly or any Welsh county council. It is a fact that the Severn Bridge only connects England to England.”
The crossing is made up of several constituent parts, including the Wye Bridge, but the crossing is managed and maintained as one unit, and Highways England refers to it as the Severn Bridge.
Armand Watts, a Labour councillor in Monmouthshire who represents a Chepstow ward on the Severn Bridge’s western side, said it would be “a huge injustice” to not consult the Welsh people on its renaming.
He said that if it is renamed, it should be done so after NHS founder Aneurin Bevan.
“It’s unclear if South Gloucestershire council realise there is already a bridge named after Queen Elizabeth II at Dartford,” Watts said. “What’s clear is South Gloucestershire county council haven’t carried out any cost-benefit analysis. A lot of public money was spent on renaming the Second Severn Crossing and people still call it the second Severn crossing.”
Andy Trotter, chairman of Oxleas NHS Trust and a former chief constable of British Transport Police, suggested that the bridge should be renamed after rugby player Sir Gareth Edwards. The Welsh rugby union football player led the Welsh national team that dominated European play from the mid-1960s through the 70s.
Riddle said that he hoped that Highways England would begin looking into the cost of the project.