It’s official: landmark named after WW1 nurse

A landmark bridge near Queenstown has been formally named - a century after it opened.

The single-lane road bridge spanning the Shotover River at Arthurs Point has been called the Edith Cavell bridge for virtually its entire history.

But not officially. In a gesture anticipating the 100th anniversary of the bridge’s opening on February 13, the Queenstown Lakes District Council yesterday formally adopted the name.

Edith Cavell was a British nurse executed in 1915 for her role in helping Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War 1.

In a report for yesterday’s full council meeting, corporate services general manager Meaghan Miller said gold miner Jack Clark, who lived in a hut overlooking the bridge at the time, lobbied to have it named after Cavell.

Although the borough council of the day disagreed, Clark’s perseverance won out. He painted a sign for the bridge and also painted the name on the bridge itself, and it stuck.

The bridge was listed by Heritage New Zealand as a category 1 historic structure in 1987.