__NOTOC__ Keadby is a small village in

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Bar ...

, England. It is situated just off the

A18 A18 or A-18 is a three-character acronym that may refer to: * A18 road (disambiguation), in several countries * A-18 Shrike, a Curtiss Model 76A twin radial engine monoplane service test aircraft of the mid-1930s * Aero A.18, a Czech fighter aircra ...

, west of

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

, and on the west bank of the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

. Keadby is in the ceremonial county of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. The appropriate

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

is called Keadby with Althorpe with a population at the 2011 census of 1,930.

Community

Keadby's economic significance lies in that it was chosen as the destination for the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, opened in 1802. The canal is now mostly a leisure waterway for pleasure boaters, with Keadby being at the "end of the line". There is a lock between the canal and the tidal

. At Keadby is

Keadby Power Station Keadby Power Station is a 734 MWe gas-fired power station near Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire. It lies near the B1392 and the River Trent, and the Scunthorpe-Grimsby railway. Also nearby is the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, which is part o ...

, and 'Port Services', a small port for inward-bound timber and scrap metal. The village was served by the

South Yorkshire Railway The South Yorkshire Railway was a railway company with lines in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Initially promoted as the South Yorkshire Coal Railway in 1845, the railway was enabled by an act of 1847 as the South Yorkshire Doncaster and ...

. A

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

served the village until the late 1870s-80s. When it was closed and instead another station opened at

Althorpe Althorpe is a small village in North Lincolnshire, England, west of Scunthorpe and the same distance south-east of Crowle, on the A18 road. The population details are included in the civil parish of Keadby with Althorpe. History The ''Dome ...

. This is the closest one to the village.

King George V Bridge

Keadby Bridge, from Althorpe Railway Station

The King George V Bridge (also known as Keadby Lifting Bridge) provides a crossing for twin rail lines, a road and a pedestrian walkway over the Trent, connecting the

Isle of Axholme The Isle of Axholme is a geographical area in England: a part of North Lincolnshire that adjoins South Yorkshire. It is located between the towns of Scunthorpe and Gainsborough, both of which are in the traditional West Riding of Lindsey, and ...

and the rest of

. The bridge opened on 21 May 1916, at which time the 3,000-ton lifting span was Europe's heaviest

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

. The lifting span was fixed in position in 1955 and no longer opens.

Moveable bridges

The King George V Bridge is not the only

moveable bridge A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with , and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical d ...

in the vicinity of Keadby. There are canal locks at the point where the Stainforth and Keadby Canal connects with the River Trent in Keadby. On the canal, just before these locks, the B1392 road crosses the canal over the Keadby Swing Bridge. Approximately farther along the canal, a railway line crosses the canal over the Keadby Sliding Bridge, also known as Vazon Sliding Railway Bridge. This is an unusual

retractable bridge A retractable bridge is a type of moveable bridge in which the deck can be rolled or slid backwards to open a gap while traffic crosses, usually a ship on a waterway. This type is sometimes referred to as a thrust bridge. Retractable bridges d ...

that can be rolled out of the line of the canal to allow boats through. Just beyond the sliding bridge is a small manually operated

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

References

External links

*
Isle of Axholme websiteFriends of Althorpe and Keadby Primary SchoolPathe newsreel of flooding (unknown date) & bridgePathe newsreel of the King George V bridge being lifted
{{Authority control Villages in the Borough of North Lincolnshire Road-rail bridges