27/04/2026
The Wolffs Road Footbridge Society Inc (WRFSI) is leading the restoration of the historic suspension bridge, a heritage-listed pedestrian bridge in West Eyreton, North Canterbury. Group chair, Tim Fulton, tells the story.
The Wolffs Road Footbridge, spanning 73 metres, consists of steel rail iron towers with four wire rope suspension cables.
The bridge originally provided pedestrian access across the Eyre River when water flow prevented the use of the adjacent vehicle ford.
Users frequently took sacks of potatoes, peas and other grain across in sack barrows.
It was also used to carry cans of cream, and to allow
distribution of daily mail and newspapers to residents on the south side of the river.
The Eyrewell Forest Camp Village, which at one time numbered around 200 residents, used it for getting such provisions.
In a major flood of 1951, both the top (Oxford) and bottom (Ōhoka) car bridges were washed out.
Wolffs footbridge was the only access for people living on the south side of the river between View Hill and
Mandeville. Provisions from Oxford were brought across the bridge for the people of View Hill.
The bridge and land were given to the Eyre County Council by the Wolff family in 1978.
In 1983, a car bridge was built on Poyntz Road, on the next ford downstream.
The bridge has been in a state of disrepair for many years and is currently not safe for use.
The bridge was listed as a
Category 2 Historic Place in February 1994.
Following recent public consultation by the district council and community board, the council gave ‘an indication that the community may wish to contribute to the restoration’.
WRFSI is now leading that contact with the community, in partnership with WDC.
To support WRFSI, please contact
[email protected]
WRFSI is a registered charity and welcomes new members.
The History
Wolffs Bridge is a wire rope suspension footbridge spanning the Eyre River, designed in 1937-8 but not built until 1945-48, after the Second World War. The bridge follows an orthodox Public Works Department design and is an example of self-help ‘Kiwi ingenuity’.
Local farmer and county councillor Rudolph George Wolff started advocating for a bridge across the Eyre River at Horrellville when he was elected to the West Eyreton riding of the Eyre County Council in the mid 1920s. For most of the next 20 years, the council and community debated the best location for the bridge – and how to pay for it.
In the end, Wolff decided to take matters into his own hands by building a bridge himself.
Wolff bought land on the north bank of the Eyre River on 19 July 1937 and designed the suspension footbridge soon after. Construction was delayed by the outbreak of the Second World War.
Construction was eventually begun in 1945 and continued, as time permitted, until 1948. R. G. Wolff built the bridge himself, with help from his family and various neighbours in the Horrelville District.
The Wolff family were well known in the district, the ford and road being named after them.
The basic design of the bridge was adapted from a standard Public Works Department plan, the final design and specifications being checked by Professor Calvert of the Engineering Department of Canterbury University College.
The plans are believed to be the same as a bridge over the Mangakahia River in Northland.
The Wolffs bridge towers were made from tram rails that had been taken up from the streets of Christchurch when the Transport Board made the change from trams to buses.
The main suspension cables used for the bridge had been purchased from the war Assets Realisation Board. The main span of the bridge is 73 metres.
Bridge users frequently took sacks of potatoes, peas and other grain across in sack barrows. It was also used to carry cans of cream, and to allow distribution of daily mail and newspapers to residents on the south side of Eyre River.
The Eyrewell Forest Camp Village, which at one time numbered around 200 residents, used it for getting such provisions. In a major flood of 1951, both the top (Oxford) and bottom (Ōhoka) car bridges were washed out.
Wolffs Bridge was the only access for people living on the south side of the river between View Hill and Mandeville North.
Oxford provisions were brought across the bridge for View Hill people. The bridge and land were given to the Eyre County Council by the Wolff family in 1978. Later, in 1983, a car bridge was built on Poyntz Road, on the next ford downstream.
