New replica of Pegasus Bridge build for Southwick Revival in Southwick, Portsmouth on Friday 30th May 2025

The News, Portsmouth

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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.

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