The 5 pence Toll Bridge - That doesn't add up!

[@pwhitewick]

Just to be clear. There is no implication of any wrong doing implied here. I am still very keen to know more about how this bridge survives on such a small toll. Simple as that! Enjoy.

[@Voting-does-nothing]

It's called - money laundering......

[@mattkinsella9856]

Just some guesses: 1) They could be running at a loss and offsetting profits from other income to minimise tax. This could be done perfectly legally, in certain circumstances. 2) Alternatively, another "angle" to consider would be an unknown number of cars paying an unknown amount of cash with no paperwork, this could allegedly be a way to legitimise a large amount of cash that may or may not be possible to put through other types of businesses.

[@PeterVerbeek]

Simple, people give more than 5 p.

[@rogink]

@@PeterVerbeek Yeah, I think that's the most likely explanation. I never carry cash - not even notes these days. But I do have some pound coins in the car 'just in case' I need them for parking.

[@roblyndon5267]

I used to work at the waterworks just on the other side of the bridge, back in the early 90s when it was literally 1p. If you tot up the number of vehicles going over the bridge, it adds up to a decent sum. But they also get a lot of revenue from commercial vehicles and public transport. The bus company would pay them several grand a month, iirc.

[@LostTerminalVideos]

I actually used to work on this toll bridge for about a year back in around 2015 when I was 15 years old. Because of my age at the time, I was being paid £5/hr and often found myself receiving verbal abuse from drivers, having to redirect traffic whenever there were issues at the bridge, and even had my foot ran over on two separate occasions. I cannot tell you quite how happy I was when I was able to leave my job there and start working at the local Co-Op instead

[@57thorns]

This is how you avoid minimum wage, especially if young workers are allowed to handle money (which they are not in all countries).

[@bob1234881]

​@57thorns well, it is also a great way to get young people into work....

[@57thorns]

@@bob1234881 Yes, summer jobs are great for pocket money and to get some work experience. However, there are a few traps there as well.

[@LostTerminalVideos]

@@bob1234881 I'm sorry, but as somebody who was working there at 15, no it's absolutely not. A 15 year old shouldn't have to deal with getting shouted at by random people on a regular basis, people threatening to beat them up, having their foot ran over, and then berated by their boss for "not collecting all the fares" as if the kid can control whether people speed over without paying or not.

[@jacob1121]

Was it not common for drivers to pay with whatever smallest denomination coin as well and not care about receiving the change as well?

[@Treeborer]

I used the bridge twice a day for over 20 years. My earliest memory was that the original cost was 2p per car (from 1985) and that they had to get a court to give permission to raise to 5p some years later. The main point to note is that during rush hours the queues can be up to a mile long each way, so money flows in quite rapidly.

[@pwhitewick]

Fair

[@ML-qk1px]

I used to work at the Siemens factory near this bridge. Travelling down from Northamptonshire some days the traffic build up was so great I would be forced to park my car in Eynsham and walk the remainder to get to work on time! A motorbike did solve the issue, but so did school holidays!

[@workingguy-OU812]

Have they considered making it an automated toll with sensors for the locals? I'm lucky that the state I live in is all electronic tolls now - I buy a pass for each vehicle I own, register the pass and hook it up to a credit card, and now I don't have to stop to pay tolls.

[@Hairnicks]

Fascinating tale.

[@TheByard]

@@workingguy-OU812 I think the cost of the equipment and ongoing maintenance would outstrip the tolls. Vietnam has installed number plate reader toll machines on their highway system. It cannot handle the flows of traffic at w/e's and holiday's, the one near me handles traffic going north and is a main route from Ho Chi Minh to Vung Tau a beach resort.

[@MrSychnant]

I think the thing to be cosidered is that not everyone will have the correct money(5p) so if its "no change given" they will propablly pay 10,20 or even 50p to cross so the profits can be a lot more .

[@richdmay]

They do give change, certainly for anything under a quid - the operators usually have a bunch of little stacks of change made up in the booth for the common denominations so they can just hand you that directly. I've never tried to pay with a note though - I can only imagine their expression if you did.

[@nsoper19]

@@richdmay depends though. Often they don't have the right change or can't be bothered

[@Bystander333]

My dad used to keep a stack of (think it was 2ps back then) on his dashboard specifically for the Swinford toll bridge as he commuted over it most days. God forbid you don't have the change as there's no way to turn round - bit like the Clifton Suspension. I've had to avoid taking the route more recently as I don't carry shrapnel nowadays. I think they do earn quite a bit from the numerous bus companies that drive over it, though I do remember from decades ago before they had the booth and the collector just stood in the road, where some poor guy got sandwiched between two double deckers which basically rolled him like a sausage and broke most of his ribcage.

[@thirstyguy4652]

Used this bridge as part of a daily commute in both directions for several years. 1. try counting at rush hours - the queues routinely extend for half a mile or more in each direction so traffic flow then is probably more like 2000 per hour. 2. Wikipedia quotes Oxfordshire County Council traffic number estimate at ca 10,000 per day 3. for change on the odd occasions I only had a 10/20p coin handy I would just say it was for the next car or three as well 4. if it suits the route you are on the 5p is sufficiently small to not be a deterrent - especially compared to the alternatives of using the A34 / A40 Peartree interchange which can be a traffic nightmare

[@highpath4776]

so £500 a day, thats reasonable

[@mothmagic1]

Oh how I agree with you. There's always a jam during peak travel time.

[@hairyneil]

Do they give change? If not they maybe make a fair bit extra that way. Firstbus in Glasgow (and likely other places) don't and used to have fares like 87p, but if you only have a £1 coin, they just keep the extra 13p. I'd love to know how much extra they made each year from being a bunch of .....

[@transformersguy234]

It's worth noting that before they commenced the works to the rail bridge going over Botley Road in Oxford, the S1 and S2 buses would pass over the toll bridge. Currently only the E1 service does so. As the buses don't stop at the booth, I assume that Stagecoach has an agreement where they either pay monthly or annually. Whether that's the toll amount of £5500-6000pcm or a little more to help cover maintenance costs of the bridge is anyones guess. Regarding the hourly rate of cars, it's typically much much higher on weekends on account of it being a way into Oxford that avoids the A40, but with the aforementioned works meaning the road into Oxford itself is closed, the rate at which it is used is lower at the moment. I suspect if you were to recount the cars per hour once the works finish at the end of October, you would find that it would be somewhat higher than the 588 you recorded.

[@princethe7]

That would be correct ive spoken to the bus drivers on the S1 frequently about that and also the E1 as I live in Eynsham and its a known bit of info that they pay annually by working out how many buses will be going over the bridge and pay a lump sum

[@JackWilliams-bt8wg]

I just found your channel some great videos. Once a car in front of me paid the 5p toll with a fun size snickers In all seriousness as someone from oxford and the shire this road and bridge is busier and more important than you think.

[@pwhitewick]

Welcome.

[@peterclift7335]

It is an absolute pain! The collectors appear to finish at 4pm at the moment but you can never be sure if they will be there or not.. There is a local rumour that it is owned by a French company although how true this is I don't know. It may appear to be a quaint thing in the middle of nowhere but it is used by many people to get into Oxford, especially as the A40 at Wolvercote is down to one lane. They spent millions (of our money) making the A40 two lanes, which improved traffic flow and then spent millions more (yes, of our money) making it one lane again!. So you can either queue at Wolvercote or queue at the toll bridge to get into Oxford.

[@WC21UKProductionsLtd]

I’ve used that toll before and never gave the viability a second thought - I like the way your mind works, Paul!

[@peterharris3563]

Before the Oxford Northern Bypass was opened in the mid 1930s, this bridge was on the A40 London to Fshguard trunk road. I used this bridge a couple of times during my work travels, I even claimed the 5p toll as an expense. I don't recall whether it was actually paid, as I couldn't provide a receipt.

[@SteamCrane]

The best part of dealing with toll collectors is to sit there demanding a receipt!

[@ChrisShortyAllen]

Don't you mean a shilling?

[@kathrynwhitby9799]

those of us in BT (as it was) were able to claim our fee back on our weekly timesheet. :)

[@iankemp1131]

Impressed that you were working in the 1930s, can I buy your elixir of life? (Just putting 2 and 2 together to make 5)

[@BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne]

As a seasoned HGV driver I cannot think of a road so frequently closed as the A34 between Oxford and Newbury is.

[@pwhitewick]

Yup, absolutely agree

[@Sarge084]

It's even worse if you're dragging a 16' 2" double deck trailer, it's difficult finding an alternative route that doesn't have low bridges. It doesn't help that on my Truckers atlas the A34 bridge over the A40 is indicated as being 15' 9", which I since established is wrong.

[@perkinscrane]

@@Sarge084Years since I worked in Road Transport, I then used 16’ 6” as the National bridge headroom standard so I guess that at 16’2” you’ve got a problem virtually everywhere you go.

[@chrisbrace2204]

probably a conspiracy by the toll bridge people causes that. :-D

[@davidberlanny3308]

Hi Paul, What a quirky place that is!! At one time tolls were quite common, I'm guessing that they have been eliminated in the busy places these days. As far as I recall it was once free to travel to Gosport on the ferry for free but you had to pay to go to Portsmouth ... there was also a party campaigning for duty free on the ferry, it's a ten minute crossing, if that!! Lovely to see Rebecca!! All the best!!

[@martinfleming7001]

I used the gosport Ferry for the first time in many years and found out there is now a charge to go from Portsmouth to Gosport!

[@highpath4776]

@@martinfleming7001 what , they pay you ?

[@6panel300]

I remember working in gosport over 40 years ago. I used to take my motorbike over on the ferry then ride home via Fareham to save paying the fare (15p or 25p I think) on the way home.

[@robnorth480]

A car load of four of us pitched up at this bridge back in the late 1980s (main road must have been closed) and the only change we had between us for the 2p charge was a 50p coin which didn't make us particularly popular with the toll collector! It will always be 'The Tupenny Bridge' as far as I'm concerned!

[@stjohntownsend3019]

Lorries are a little more expensive but motorcycles are free, also it’s not in the middle of nowhere it’s right by Eynsham and the road leads directly towards Oxford, so if you want to skip the overcrowded A40 at the rush hours it’s a nice alternative.

[@pwhitewick]

True. I felt remote though

[@orangew3988]

As someone who has lived their entire life in the UK, i have never heard of Eynsham. So whilst i agree it is right by a place, it's not exactly a busy metropolis, the kind you usually expect to pay a toll to access. Glad it works for the locals though.

[@highpath4776]

@@orangew3988 I cycled over it once when I lived in Oxford

[@landroversforever]

@@orangew3988 It's really not that far from Oxford! When you take into account the limited options for crossing the thames.... it's a fairly major route in the area.

[@mothmagic1]

Except that in rush hour the delays on the toll bridge are nearly as bad as (or sometimes even worse than) the A40 approaching the Wolvercote roundabout.

[@marcomcdowell8861]

Absolutely fascinated with British history and the long-lived procedures and traditions involved. I'm one of the few Americans that view the history of the UK as a part of the history of the US. Since American history seems to be roughly Columbus, Pilgims, Pocahontas, Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, then the world being created in 1775, everything prior to the War for Independence is pretty much background noise😂I appreciate the lessons and travels that you two take us on.

[@andycap6786]

Regarding maintenance, at 3:14 the act says that 'They do not have to repair or replace unless they wanted to'. So unless its in imminent danger of collapse the owners wont be spending much money on it, although I suppose they need to pay a structural engineer to tell them, so costs are presumably kept pretty low!

[@beeble2003]

The Act of Parliament might not care about maintenance, but their insurers and the Health and Safety Executive certainly will.

[@Alan_UK]

There is a toll bridge further downstream at Whitchurch near Pangbourne. According to the web that one charges 60p. They have a kiosk in the middle of the road with 2 people collecting. A May 2022 article on toll bridges gives the income as £190,000 pa Another one near me is the one at Batheaston near Bath over the river Avon. Last time I came through I recall they accepted contactless. TripAdvisor says it was £1 in May 2023 and the collectors are very grumpy. Again, another very old bridge. The same article says this bridge rakes in £1.3m pa

[@iankemp1131]

The Swinford bridge is really hamstrung by the need for an Act of Parliament to increase the tolls. I remember them going up from 2p to 5p in the 1980s. Nobody has tried since, hardly surprising given legal fees. Otherwise I am sure it would be at the Pangbourne/Batheaston levels by now.

[@thecuttingsark5094]

Whitchurch takes cards

[@CaseyJonesNumber1]

It is amazing that until the current route of the A40 north of Oxford, which opened in the 1930s, this bridge used to be on the main A40 London to South Wales route.

[@tomlee812]

This one was fascinating, and fun. You do find some great subjects to keep us..er..subjects of yours... entertained.

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you kindly!

[@sianwarwick633]

Quality analysis. That's why we're here

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks Sian

[@paulinehedges5088]

Another really fascinating video. Thank you both. 😊😊😊

[@robinpeach-toon2595]

fabtastic video of a bridge i have has to cross many hundreds of times for 14 years sweating on the old 100 witney to oxford and s1 service, i always wondered how much stagecoach paid in volume

[@peteregan3862]

Wow!!! The big gun, Rebecca, came out to do the accounting - definitely looks like a boss good at counting things.

[@pwhitewick]

Oh yes indeed.

[@laurendamasoruiz]

I led my first group walk from here to Oxford a few years ago and I told them about the bridge. We didn’t believe how much money it made but never did the maths to certify this. This was a very interesting video!

[@pwhitewick]

It remains a mystery!

[@davidhamilton2214]

My sister lives near Pangbourne on the Thames and they have a toll bridge ( think its now 20p), which the locals use. More convenient than a large detour. Closed a few years ago for maintenance and caused chaos!

[@ogjimbob]

Try 60p per crossing it hasn’t been 20p for years ! Still better than the alternatives

[@keldsleepnot7961]

Your missing loads. The first thing I would mention is that you most definitely picked a day with much lower levels of traffic than I remember being the norm. I lived on a traveller site by Siemens for a few years so I've seen it all go by. In the mornings and between schools letting out and closing the bridge is dealing with hundreds and hundreds of cars an hour in both directions. As others have mentioned the queues are extensive, especially going back to Oxford by getting on for a mile. Also I think you might be quite surprised at the amount of lorries and buses that use it during the day. With many artics and tippers using it throughout the day all of which pay by the axle. And what alot of people don't realise is that there is alot of lorries because of the 18t weight restriction on the A415 bridge at the Rose Revived. And there are really quite a lot of tippers from the gravel pits at Stanton Harcourt that can't use the A415. And on most days throughout the day there is alot more traffic than on your video. Even though nowhere near as busy as rush hour it's unusual not to see a few cars in both directions queueing for a few cars back at that time of day. Also as others have mentioned the A40 being closed due to accidents is an unfortunate, fairly regular occurrence. So they regularly get sudden influxes from one of the busiest roads in the country. To an extent that will give massive injections of cash. May I also suggest that if you do go back it's worth a wander into the village. Johnathan and Lucy run a most excellent organic veg and health food shop with lovely cafe and garden attached. And opposite them Ollie is running the most excellent off license with an amazing selection of wines, beers and spirits. My favourite being his rather lovely whisky selection. The village center is literally a five minute walk from the bridge. But if really want to get a feel for it turn up on a week day at 8am and start counting. I think that you'll be astounded.

[@brian_jackson]

You're* missing loads*

[@keldsleepnot7961]

@@brian_jackson why do you do that? You're basically picking on someone with dyslexia. I bet you were the sorta kid that made my school life a f*cking nightmare. Bullying and picking on people like me because we had to do extra remedial reading and writing lessons. It must be a sad and pathetic life you lead thinking that such pointless pedantry is clever!!!!

[@thomaswilliams6690]

So four men carrying large amounts of money all simultaneously drowned in a relatively small river. uh huh.

[@pwhitewick]

Well..... I did wonder!

[@SteveInskip]

People were shorter in those days 😉

[@ChrisRowland-c7w]

@@pwhitewick You need to see the Thames in flood. 10 to 100 times the flow. And that money was heavy silver, get knocked off your feet and it's game over.

[@rodchallis8031]

Not being up on the details leading to the English Civil War, I searched out "Ship Money" and discovered how deeply hated this run around Parliament psuedo-tax was. Not one of Chuck the 'eadless' better ideas.

[@Fairyfink]

Woollen clothes hold a lot of water; not many people could swim plus they didn't want to let go of the rich bloke's money, which would also have weighed them down.

[@clivestevenson8589]

The 2 toll collectors live together in the Toll House - so maybe there is some deal to be paid in kind? At rush hour this bridge can be rammed with cars - those 5p's coming in as fast as they can be collected. Some random days however the booth is not manned at all.

[@pwhitewick]

🤷‍♂️

[@katrinabryce]

In terms of minimum wage law, providing living accommodation can only account for 50p per hour of the minimum wage.

[@widders1]

Went through there at about 4pm a few years back and it was queued back for a good distance on both sides, I was surprised you got such a high count at 12 so I guess the morning and evening rush hours push those numbers up considerably.

[@princethe7]

with botley road closed at the train station the traffic is a lot quieter over the bridge previously it used to queue into the village of enysham now at 8am you can go straight down and maybe queue for a minute or 2 if that

[@frankgulla2335]

Thank you, Paul. Most of the "silly" tolls don't his side of the pond have been eliminated of replaced by bigger tolls. Thanks for this peek at some English "quirkiness."

[@Deepthought-42]

Tolls set by an act of parliament. As an aside the Severn Bridge toll used to be 2/6 (two shilling and sixpence). When the UK currency was decimalised in 1971 the conversion would have been twelve and a half New Pence. The Ministry of Transport (as it then was) did not want the additional administration of collecting half (new) pennies. It required a revision the Act to increase the toll, therefore the toll was reduced to 12p. This was the only time the toll was reduced until they were removed completely in 2018.

[@WillKemp]

It might be worth pointing out that 2/6 was half a crown, which was a very common denomination of coin. Handing over a single coin would probably have been the most common way of paying, whereas 12p requires at least two coins.

[@Deepthought-42]

@@WillKemp Correct. Speed of collection was a limiting factor for bridge capacity at peak times. When the Severn Bridge was strengthened in the late 1980s there was a fear (remote possibility) that under extreme queuing and load conditions the bridge could “unzip” and collapse. To avoid the possibility of queuing on the bridge while tolls were being collected, the toll in the eastbound direction was removed and doubled in the west bound direction (requiring amendment to the Act of Parliament ) and giving rise to the jokes that you had to pay to go into Wales but it was free to get out.

[@handpaper6871]

The toll for motorcycles was removed in the 1990s(?), as it was such a pain to collect. IIRC correctly, it was 20p.

[@peternash6206]

I recall the bridge, occasionally, being manned by volunteers from various local charities and bikini clad girls would walk amongst the cars with collecting buckets - this strategy stopped the queues and filled the buckets!!

[@princethe7]

yes on a bank holiday they open to local charities to man the bridge and all money collected goes to the charity

[@davidioanhedges]

the astounding bit is that it's 5p not because it was fixed at a price many years ago, but because that was the price agreed with Oxfordshire CC, to allow them to make a small profit ...

[@iankemp1131]

But wasn't that at the time of the last increase, in the 1980s? They may have futureproofed it a bit, but surely not that much?

[@handpaper6871]

I thought the price had been set by Blackstone's law at "a shilling per cart" or similar...

[@iankemp1131]

@@handpaper6871 The original cost was 5d which became 2p at decimalisation. It was changed to 5p in the 1980s and I think it needed an Act of Parliament.

[@StreakyP]

The Lymm bridge in Cheshire had (has) a 12p toll which I'm presuming was a half crown specified in statute & they never remembered to index link it.

[@effiemills5251]

Is it due to go up to £1 next month? It might just be a scare story to distress the residents of Lymm …

[@beeble2003]

Index linking wasn't a thing until pretty recently. When the value of currency was tied to precious metals, prices didn't change a whole lot.

[@q654621]

Ah yes! Isn't this this bridge where the toll is to cross the empty ditch that used to be the River Mersey and not, as some people perhaps think, the massive structure over the Manchester Ship Canal just round the corner on the same road?

[@Richardincancale]

Reminds me of my childhood in Bristol 50+ years ago! Had to cross the Clifton Suspension Bridge which charged a 5p toll (1 shilling before 1971) per car. It was collected by a couple of guys with big leather pouches who sometimes gave you a ticket! Underground investigations showed they were pocketing about half the tolls! Next step - Harry Dolman (later Sir Harry) had a firm in Bristol that made slot machines and he sold some automated barrier systems. Later he kindly subsidised a new stand for Bristol City FC where he was a director and later chairman!

[@davie941]

great video again Paul , well done and thank you 😊

[@pwhitewick]

Very welcome

[@pacificostudios]

One car every two seconds in both directions is about half the maximum capacity of such a bridge. One can see why the toll collectors are so insistent about getting your 5 p in a hurry.

[@DavidHarberRadio]

Wonderful video. And my TripAdvisor review made the cut. Great work as ever Paul.

[@pwhitewick]

Haha.... which one??

[@DavidHarberRadio]

4:04 here. Really loving your videos. You should come up the road to Overton and let me buy you and R a drink at The Red Lion.

[@beeble2003]

As others have said, I think the main thing you're missing is that the busy time will be the rush hour. Eynsham is basically a commuter town for Oxford, and the two ways to get to Oxford from Eynsham are this bridge and the A40, which is notoriously congested. Friday lunchtime is probably pretty quiet, on average, because most people are at work.

[@matthewbooth9265]

I must admit I avoid the bridge as i don't like the queues that sometimes form on it...i go otherways:) Pretty cool that you were so close to my home, wish i'd bumped into you:) looks like you found something very rare in the uk...a sunny day:)

[@pwhitewick]

It was a great round walk we did. Lovely area

[@watsonwatt7984]

Very interesting video and great to see the lovely Rebecca again if only briefly

[@kevinfitzpatrick444]

Possibly worth mentioning that traffic over this bridge might be less at the moment with the Botley Road being closed under Oxford station. I know the S1 buses are routed away from this bridge during the works with a less frequent shuttle doing this route

[@michaelwelsh1899]

The S1 bus route between Oxford and the town of Carterton crosses the Swinford toll bridge, and those buses have a frequency of about 1 every 15 minutes in both directions. This is not the case currently as the Botley Road is currently closed to through traffic due to works being carried out on the railway bridge that crosses said road and the S1 carries on along the A40 and enters Oxford from the north rather than the west. However, as the S1 bus is a double decker and the charge for a double decker is 20p, therefore during regular service (before Botley Road closure) Stagecoach would have been paying the Swinford Toll Bridge £1.60/hr, £14.40/day, £5,265/yr (assuming 1 bus every 15 minutes for 365 days).

[@malcolmhenderson3866]

£14.40/day at £1.60/hour means the buses only run for 9 hours a day. It's actually about 20 hours, and they run about every 20mins not 15.

[@michaelwelsh1899]

@@malcolmhenderson3866 However the toll bridge is only open from 08:00 - 17:00 and they therefore won't be taking any tolls before and after those hours. The bus does run all day and night.

[@scruffymid]

Just read some more of the trip advisor comments, surprised no one has thrown one of the toll takers off the bridge if the reviews of their attitudes are true !

[@pwhitewick]

Yeah. I coukd have included anyone of MANY!

[@JB-kk5vg]

Been over the bridge umpteen times and nobody has ever been rude to me - or probably said anything except "thanks mate". Then again I've never asked to pay by cheque, or for change for a fiver, or to pay 10p on the way back because I didn't have any cash, or run anyone's foot over (as far as I know).

[@beeble2003]

Conversely, there's a comment from somebody who worked collecting the tolls as a teenager. They say they were regularly abused by drivers, so it's unsurprising that they'd be in a bad mood most of the time.

[@teepee9466]

I used this bridge every day on my commute for about a year, and I got so sick of the queues I changed job. If you hit this at the wrong time of day, it’s a nightmare. The immensely irritating thing is that it is a critical bit of local infrastructure as there are no other crossings nearby. Yet if the bridge failed structurally or needed maintenance, I can’t see the owners surviving the bill for repairs and it would fall on the council. It should be a council owned crossing with the toll removed, it is just an anachronism.

[@TheWoodlandhoBo]

Just travelled the A420 past there today. Never knew this. I’m passing next week too for a break away. I’ll surprise the girlfriend. She will find this funny. Nice one guys

[@pwhitewick]

Leave a trip advisor review 🤪

[@TheWoodlandhoBo]

@@pwhitewick haha will do

[@mikedjames]

If it hadnt changed hands, it could have been like the London Bridge Trust that continues to make charitable donations in the millions of pounds per annum based on interest and investment of money collected from medieval and later toll payments. But obviously there arent any investments like that in this case.

[@tsram]

People who drive over it regularly have in countless occasions asked for some sort of monthly pass or tear off book which you can pay for in one go. I think there is a pass system for elderly and disabled who live in Eynsham, the nearby village.

[@MrDannyDetail]

Do they have the same policy that the buses by me used to have, of never giving any change? Someone scrabbling around for 5p they didn't know they were going to need may well proffer a 10p, 20p, 50p or even £1 then find out they aren't getting any change, hence the toll collectors may be collecting notably more money than was modelled for here.

[@pwhitewick]

Thats a great point. I think so!

[@TheCornish123456]

Depends if the person in the booth takes the tips. But yes seems the only way the numbers make sense. Or there is a Guy Richie style plot going on.

[@petitebiogeek]

A Canadian/American asks if one could pay a pound, and ask to pay for... you do the math(s) for the proper number of vehicles behind to cross? (particularly helpful in the congestion situation you called... "tailback...?"). (I love the, "you say tomato, I say napkin" game.)

[@firesurfer]

@@petitebiogeek Probably everyone pays, even if someone ahead pays for them. I doubt there is a legal obligation to abide by the drivers wishes.

[@GazzaJAnimal]

Another great video, I really enjoyed that one! Quirky old England.

[@cherylmillard2067]

Can a business that's operating at a loss be used to offset the taxes of another business that's operating in the black?

[@pwhitewick]

Purely in my opinion.. nope

[@stephenrowley4171]

Tax offsets don't really work like that.

[@cherylmillard2067]

@@stephenrowley4171 I'm from the US and that's valid as you're taxed on your total income after deductions.

[@paulketchupwitheverything767]

Yes. Limited companies in a 75% ownership group can claim group loss relief for Corporation Tax. It's most efficient for the loss to be used by the company in the group who's profits are charged at the highest marginal rate. CTA 2010.

[@paulketchupwitheverything767]

@@stephenrowley4171 Please Google group relief available for limited companies in 75% ownership groups. Losses can be used by other profit making companies in a group,

[@peterkitts8815]

I went over that on Saturday. Got family who live nearby. Always like when videos cover somewhere I'm familiar with.

[@polymath9372]

"For whom the bridge tolls..."

[@colintyrrell3670]

This is great. Love these types of stories.

[@TheByard]

Hadley Common had gates and as a school kid we had a day trip to watch the gates being closed. Traffic and pedestrians had to pay to cross the common, we were told the one day fee was to keep the common or a portion of it in private hands. Be interesting to know if it still happens. Hadley Common, Great North Road, Barnet, Herts.

[@Dav1Gv]

Very interesting. I lived in the area until about 1970 and used the bridge quite often but I never thought about the overall finances. By the way there's another toll bridge between Pangbourne and Whitchurch which I used to cross on my way to school. How about a video about that?

[@Stuffandstuff-999]

A previous owner used to let local charities collect on the bridge on occasions. I remember collecting the tolls for a charity one Sunday when I was a kid. The buses would stop while we went round their passengers with the collecting bucket 😆

[@angelaknisely-marpole7679]

Like Warburton toll bridge over the Mersey "In January 2022, a cross-party motion was approved which objected to the proposals by Peel Ports to increase the bridge toll from 12p per rossing to £1. This eight-fold increase was also objected to by both of Warrington's MPs, Trafford Council and local residents."

[@chrisbiewer-rallye-info]

I vaguely seem to remember a story that there is a many many years old contract that whoever runs this bridge was not allowed to change the price. So 5p may have made them rich 100 years ago, but now they have no choice but to operate at a loss.

[@beeble2003]

It's not a contract: it's an Act of Parliament.

[@chrisbiewer-rallye-info]

@@beeble2003 Thank you for correcting that, I wasn't entirely sure.

[@andywindy]

Ending remarks Paul, No Rates to pay, they are a Tax!

[@frasermitchell9183]

The bridge at Warburton over the Manchester Ship Canal has been 12p since decimalisation. The toll was set by Act of Parliament for the construction of the canal at 2 shillings and 6 pence (half a crown), so quite expensive for the time (1890s). The canal company have now got the government to update the toll to £1, but the company have to carry out a load of maintenance first. The toll booths will be replaced by CCTV and one will have to pay via the internet. So why 12p as its less than a conversion of 2/6d. Well, you can't collect more than the amount defined in law, so the 1/2 p was never added on because it would have been too difficult to collect.

[@Sim0nTrains]

Very interesting video and a nice bridge as well. Had a nice day for counting cars as well.

[@malcolmrichardson3881]

I suspect in rush hours there are considerably more cars. Oxford County Council apparently estimates the bridge is used by some 10,000 vehicles per day - so I guess that covers the wage bill. But, I would not be surprised to learn that the crossing is operated on a shoe string - which might explain the ill-temper of the toll collectors.

[@beeble2003]

Well, even if they were paid well, look at the bigger picture. From the motorist's point of view, the toll amounts to paying a pointlessly small amount of money for the privilege of being stuck in a queue that only exists because everyone has to stop to pay the pointlessly small amount of money. Road tolls are very rare in the UK and a lot of people don't carry cash any more. Most of the bridge's "customers" are annoyed by the time they get to the toll booth and, apparently, many of them are abusive to the staff. So it's not really a surprise if the staff aren't all laughs and smiles. Also, the reviews are heavily slanted by selection bias. The majority of the bridge's users are people who live in Eynsham and think that paying 5p to go over the bridge to Oxford is a better deal than the traffic on the A40. Few of them are going to leave reviews about how the bridge saves them time at minimal cost. The reviews are posted by people who aren't from the area and are p***ed off and surprised that the toll even exists. All it takes is a member of staff saying something other than "thank you, enjoy your day" and a bad review goes up.

[@tsram]

As someone who used to live on one side of the bridge and had to cross the bridge for work everyday, They only collect toll during rush hour (8-9 am) (4-5pm) though not very consistent. And it's usually pretty old guys who do this.

[@Anarchy4Angels]

If it's tax free, do they have to submit any kind of financial return? If so, is it ever auditted? If not, it would be a great way to wash a bit of dodgy cash...

[@davomyarse]

Exactly what I was thinking. No tax return, nobody counting the cars. Would be so easy to fiddle…like hair dressing, or nail bars or even burger vans…..

[@mbak7801]

Yes but so little cash as to be pointless. Typical money laundering you are looking at millions to tens of millions and up a day. Rather difficult at 5p a pop.

[@q654621]

It's not cash laundering, it's profit reallocation. If the tax exemption applies to the body corporate (the company that owns the bridge) rather than the earnings from the tolls, then ANY income, for example from a number of multi-national subsidiaries would be free from tax too...

[@Brian3989]

There is a similar road toll bridge at Whitney on Wye in Herefordshire., also around since 1700s.

[@tucker9162]

What about the A57 toll bridge at Dunham - they must be raking it in as its a very busy road and the toll is ten bob for cars and a quid for vans.

[@lindamccaughey6669]

Really enjoyed that thanks. Please take care

[@mikecopinger7180]

There's a little more to it. It's also immune from inheritance tax and capital gains. Approximately 4million vehicles pass over it per year. BUT repairs are extortionate so it's a miracle that the toll has stayed so low. It's a tax free house that pays you 200k a year as long as you can find a way to maintain it cheaply.

[@pwhitewick]

Oooh didn't consider the other taxes you mention!!

[@geirmyrvagnes8718]

But why collect road tolls in a way that probably doesn't even pay for the collection of the road tolls? Would they lose the tax exemption if they didn't?

[@beeble2003]

@@geirmyrvagnes8718 Not sure what you mean. The video showed the bridge making a profit even on a Friday lunch time, which is going to be one of the quieter times. At rush hour, there are long queues of cars waiting to pay to cross.

[@geirmyrvagnes8718]

@@beeble2003 Even if you are very generous, the vast majority of the money collected is used to collect the money, so people might as well throw a coin in the river as they pass. And it even causes queues. So if you use a few million pounds to refurbish the bridge, or even whatever it costs to resurface it... It would not make sense economically on its own.

[@JRattheranch]

Just have to love quirky British history!

[@TController]

The Warburton road bridge over the Manchester ship canal (U.K.), near me, charges 0.12p one way & .25p for an all day ticket.

[@robertkeyes258]

I remember trying to cut a penny in half for the ha-penny bridge in Dublin. I was told that I could prepay my return, so all was well!

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

To be sure, to be sure! 😂

[@merlijnwiersma7801]

Assuming the monopoly is still in place, as is the regulation that the owners are not required to rebuild the bridge if necessary (and in such, they're not required to deliver a service at all), wouldn't that mean that they kind of can blackmail the local authorities into handing over some 'voluntary' contribution in upkeep of the bridge? Apart from other government grants for it probably being a listed structure?

[@ChrisShortyAllen]

No

[@bigjimny]

Is there perhaps a local authority or Highways maintenance contribution helping out?

[@jonescrusher1]

Didn't Tom Scott do something on these quirky toll crossings? There's a similarly priced river crossing where a man rows you over on a dinghy somewhere, some relic of a statute.

[@tommytron2000]

Just preparing a nice cup of lemon and herb when you’re video popped up Fitting. Cheers

[@smallsleepyrascalcat]

Lovely video. I love these quirks of rural England. Such a bridge would be impossible in Germany.

[@pwhitewick]

Why so?

[@smallsleepyrascalcat]

@@pwhitewick There are no privately owned publicly used roads or bridges. The only toll collected in Germany is on the Autobahn and it's only for lorries. If there was a bridge toll to be installed, the public entity building the bridge (for an Autobahn bridge it would be the federal government for example.) they had to found a publicly owned company that collects the toll for the government. And never would a toll be unchanged for hundreds of years. 🤣

[@Samsthings]

@@smallsleepyrascalcat The Nurburgring would like to disagree

[@smallsleepyrascalcat]

Not a publicly useable road.

[@DizzyDooDar]

There is a toll bridge near Warrington that charges 12p per crossing, or 25p for unlimited crossings. However, this is due to go up to £1 in the near future.

[@456ArmyGuy]

Its a two-way toll bridge which means that the vehicles are coming and going in an uneven fashion than one side, if it was a one-way toll bridge, the math could be done evenly and correct as that type can be counted evenly. When dealing with two sides coming at the same time its harder to count because there might be more coming one way than the other side

[@tinalefauve3698]

Thank you for these Maths. Compared to any business I've been involved in, these numbers don't add up. If every 4 or 7 years a crowd of masons show up and take proper care of those lovely arches? One more number to add to your enlightening equations. Today I learned about this 17th century tax code

[@wybird666]

It's a major commuter route - the traffic is non-stop during rush hour. It's very surprising how many cars use it for such a small, seemingly insignificant, road.

[@gazonatrike7005]

Aldwark near Yok is an interesting tollbridge, surface is old railway sleepers or something like. 40p? i think

[@matthewjones726]

There is a bridge like this on the manchester ship canal. Its tolls are set by an act of parliament

[@nowt2957]

Is the bridge perhaps maintained by Highways and the toll is just a rent to the land owner? Might not even need to make a profit if it's in some way retaining the ownership?

[@pwhitewick]

Nope, fully owned by the last person that purchased it.

[@nowt2957]

@@pwhitewick But is it maintained by the owner or highways? i bet the road has been resurfaced there a good few times - would the owner pay whoever is resurfacing the rest of the road to do their stretch. So the land owner owns it as long as they collect a nominal charge but it's maintained by somebody else?

[@emmo999]

How many have noticed that in your intro sequence, all the cars are going backwards 😂😂

[@pwhitewick]

Impressive huh

[@MervynPartin]

Perhaps the bridge owners pay them for crossing backwards?

[@MarcUK]

They didn't have 5p on them and had to reverse. :-)

[@JustSomeVideos0]

Does that mean they get given 5p?

[@bill8784]

There aren’t that many (privately owned) toll bridges in England AFAIAA.

[@pwhitewick]

Yup

[@peterbustin3662]

Whitney Bridge, Whitney-on-Wye, Hereford HR3 6EW

[@bill8784]

@@peterbustin3662 Yes, been across it a few times. And a handful of others I think.

[@IngramMk]

Dunham Toll Bridge, Lincoln

[@MervynPartin]

@@peterbustin3662 Take the wrong turning out of Hay-on-Wye and you will end up on this bridge.

[@rogeroneill1539]

On a normal day the road is the main commuter route I to Oxford from West Oxfordshire and beyond so gets very busy when traffic is avoiding queues on the A40. (Though at the moment the Botley Road is closed so this may not be as attractive) So the profitable time is not middle of the day. I suspect it is mildly profitable with the tax concessions making this economic.

[@actua99]

Is the tailback not part of the idea? It's a great way to deter people from driving that way, especially with google traffic in there. I know a little village between Rotterdam and Delft that does just that, and they're getting a cut for bridge maintenance from the council, in return for 'traffic calming'

[@beeble2003]

No, tailbacks of motor vehicles were not the idea of erecting a toll bridge 270 years ago.

[@actua99]

@@beeble2003 Now that would be a serious amount of foresight :D What I meant was that the tailback could be a reason to _keep_ it a toll bridge.

[@beeble2003]

@@actua99 I don't see the logic there. Keeping the traffic moving makes everybody except the toll collector happier, and reduces pollution.

[@actua99]

@@beeble2003 The logic is that the people who are in the traffic jam each day (or google) learn that this route is useless, and they pick another one.

[@beeble2003]

@@actua99 The only other plausible route is the traffic jam on the A40. And the only problem with the route over the bridge is that everyone has to stop to pay the toll. Aside from that, it's a reasonable capacity road -- it's a B-road, not some little country lane.

[@margaretrowlands8162]

I seem to remember that there is a similar bridge toll in North Wales.

[@pwhitewick]

Ooooh. Pray tell

[@chijohnaok]

Here is my possible theory (I preface this by saying that I do NOT live in the UK, nor do I have an understanding for how taxes (property taxes, income taxes, etc.) work in the UK). So it was mentioned that there is also a cottage adjoining/part of the property. I presume that this cottage (and whatever yard/land around it) would normally be assessed some sort of property tax (if it were not part of the bridge property). . If the bridge last sold for over 1 million pounds then presumably the cottage makes up a certain portion of that amount. If the cottage itself is not subject to a property tax (as part of the bridge), then the owner would save the amount of property taxes (that would normally be assessed on any other cottage/home in the area). So, in a sense, this lack of a property tax, helps underwrite/offset any costs incurred in the bridge. The value of the bridge is the tax exemption that it provides for the cottage. Does that make sense? Does my theory have merit given the tax laws in the UK?

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you. I will let someone more qualified than me answer!

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

I lived near here, there's a very nice pub not far away. You could say that of any point on the map in The UK.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

I used to keep a whole load of five pence coins in my ashtray. The easiest way round forgetting change, was to take out the smallest coin I had and give them that for the next however many vehicles.

[@nede7527]

I wonder if theres a launderette on the bridge

[@VINTERIUM..EXPLORIUM.1]

Nice Work & Video 👍

[@tysonator5433]

Wonderful story. As for turn over figure I suspect there may be a government grant involved.

[@markstarmer3677]

Been over the bridge several times. I think its very unique and quaint.

[@pwhitewick]

I agree most of the time... but when its used as a diversion its not sustainable.

[@wharpblast264]

Perhaps the owners are property speculators. Any increase in prices would instantly increase the value of the bridge. Also making future increases more likely.

[@crankjazz]

Stationery for letters. Stationary for not moving.

[@terylou-u2i]

Think of the ar in car 😊

[@chrisrasku2261]

More traffic on holidays and school hours.

[@pwhitewick]

Yup

[@philiptaylor7902]

Why don’t they put up the toll? The similar Bathampton Toll Bridge in Somerset charges 80p as does the nearby Batheaston Bridge. Is the charge controlled by act of parliament?

[@davidn3394]

I expect they would need an act of parliament to do so and that may open up a can of worms perhaps, im no expert just a thought.

[@pwhitewick]

Spot on. And the judgement was... no

[@grahamshakeshaft2373]

The Severn Bridge toll has now been scrapped. Maybe the same could happen here. It would reduce congestion, and thus reduce pollution from idling cars.