New replica of Pegasus Bridge build for Southwick Revival in Southwick, Portsmouth on Friday 30th May 2025
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00:00Okay, my name is Martin Bazley, I'm the chairman of the Southwark Revival event, which is taking
00:05place at the weekend of the 7th and 8th of June.
00:09It's the 10th annual event that we've put on.
00:13We started this in 2014 and we raised money principally for military charities, mainly
00:19SAFA and others and other local causes such as the Rowan's Hospice, which is local to
00:25us and situated on the Southwark estate where we are now.
00:30The theme of this year's event is D-Day to VE Day, it's the 80th anniversary of VE Day
00:35this year, as we know has been commemorated already on the 8th of May.
00:40But our theme is D-Day to VE Day and D-Day really, you could say, all began when the gliders
00:48landed at midnight at Pegasus Bridge, just off the coast and Pegasus Bridge was a key objective,
00:55had to be secured so that the troops could make their way inland once they'd secured
00:59the beaches.
01:00So Pegasus Bridge, absolutely key, gliders landed at midnight in the dark, absolutely incredible
01:06feat and took the Germans completely by surprise and managed to secure the bridge.
01:12So this is the first objective of D-Day, it's also the first thing that our visitors will
01:17be crossing when they arrive and park their cars in the car park in which we're standing
01:21now.
01:22So the walk across Pegasus Bridge, this is the first part of the whole immersive experience
01:27of their visit to Southwark Revival.
01:29On the other side of Pegasus Bridge, there will be the fuselage of a horse glider, which
01:34is what the troops landed in, the airborne troops.
01:38And then a little bit further up the path, the ticket office which is fashioned as Café Gondré,
01:42and that was the first house that was liberated in France on D-Day itself.
01:47So there's a whole immersive experience that we're trying to create for our visitors, together
01:51with once they arrive in the village at the event, the French Quarter, the Liberation of
01:56Paris will be commemorated with Petonc, with Can Can, with accordion playing and French food
02:04and music.
02:05So we're trying to create a really immersive experience and commemorating D-Day to VE Day.
02:12Okay, so my name is Barry Ring, I have my own company, White Dell Engineering.
02:17I do a lot of work for Southwark Estate, maintenance and fabrication of everything really, from gates
02:24to machinery.
02:26So Martin approached me, with regards to building, the potential of building a bridge.
02:31So he came up with this simple idea of using a container and brought it in the workshop,
02:37and that's about it really.
02:40Was it quite easy to put together or, I mean...
02:43Yeah, it was fairly straightforward really, yeah, yeah, it was fairly straightforward.
02:47Me and my son did all the work, so, and it took us about three or four days really in
02:51total, the actual fabrication of it.
02:53So, yeah, it was quite a simple project, so getting into position was the trickiest part.
02:59I don't understand, it's like, yeah, it has to be quite precise in regards to...
03:04Yes.
03:05Yeah, yeah, yeah, so we had the ground works done by one of our other contractors, so he
03:09put the twist locks in the ground.
03:12That was the most delicate part of the operation, I'd say, because we had no play on that, it
03:18had to be very precise, so.
03:20So, yeah, it all went together very well, and it went straight on, no problems at all,
03:24so.
03:25It was very happy.
03:26Yeah, I'm chuffed to bits of it, yeah, I think it looks great.
03:29So we'll, the bridge will probably stay in over the summer, because we'll maybe use it
03:32for more to remove livestock across there if they start grazing, so.
03:36But they have to be removed before the winter, because we're on a flood plain for the Wallington
03:40River, so.
03:41And it floods a lot higher than most people think, so.
03:45No, absolutely.
03:46So it should be quite easy to take on and off.
03:49In theory, yeah, with literally ten minutes it could be lifted up and put back on a trailer
03:54and whisked away to somewhere safe, so.
03:56And I'm ready, ready for the next time.
03:58It's okay.