Cameron visits Barker crossing

David Cameron and shadow farms secretary Nick Herbert were in Cumbria today: their itinerary included a visit to Barker crossing - the new footbridge built by the army in Workington and named in honour of PC Bill Barker who lost his life while saving those of others during the floods.

I was of course pleased to see David and Nick making the effort to visit Cumbria and see the work which is being done to recover from the floods.

One spontanous incident which I found particularly moving happened at the bridge just before DC arrived. One of the people who met him at the bridge was the Brigadier commanding the unit which includes all the regular and TA units in the North West of England, 42 Brigade, which provided the majority of the 200 soldiers who built the bridge. As he was telling us, there were service people from various parts of the country involved, particularly armoured sappers who are used to building bridges for tanks, but also local TA members who were helping their own community.

One of the Workington residents who was using the bridge on her way from Northside to the town centre recognised the Brigadier, and stopped to thank him and his team for what they had done for the people of Workington.

She had just a few well-chosen words to say but they obviously came from the heart.

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