What does a giant Crunchie, a massive Cornish pastie, a golden slug, a folded crumpet, a fortune cookie and a chunk of cheese have in common? Well, these are all the nicknames given to the divisive golden bridge which was lifted into one city centre two years ago.
The landmark 160ft long footbridge links Swansea city centre to Swansea Arena which opened a year later in March 2022. When the bridge was first erected on Oystermouth Road as part of the Copr Bay development, it caused controversy as people described its appearance in the most imaginative of ways.
Some said it looked like the inside of a crunchie, some likened it to a crispy pancake and others celebrated its distinctive look. Two years on, people are still divided over the glistening gold bridge and shared their thoughts on the unique landmark. You can get more Swansea news straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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Natalie Lousie Jones-Haanen is one of those who reflected on the appearance of the bridge two years on. She said the bridge "makes me think of tacos, we all laugh in the car when we drive under it and we all shout 'taco bridge!'" Natalie's family are not the only ones to have given the bridge their own nickname, Vicky Pattinson said her grandchildren love it and call it the "cheese bridge".
Gillian Jones said she liked the shape and colour but others said their main issue with the bridge was its distinctive golden hue. Julie Thomas said "if it had been copper as per one of the original designs I saw, it would be much nicer." Sarah Enoch said she has walked through it many times and thinks it is better than the old bridge as it less exposed. But she added the colour is "hideous" and joked whoever came up with it must have been on drugs.
Hazel Israel thinks it is "really fab that it was designed by a Swansea-born artist" and although she would prefer it to be painted a different colour like turquoise, she described the shape as really interesting.
Lisa Jones is also a fan of the bridge - although she did also call it a folded crumpet - and said: "I love it. It’s weird, it’s different, it’s unexpected and it doesn’t fit in with anything. It’s the way the world works now - anyone or anything can be whatever they want. If you want to be a golden honeycomb bridge then so be it. It’s better than concrete and drab grey. In Barcelona they have a 40ft giant rusted metal crab on the seafront. A folded crumpet bridge is our speciality. What does it really matter ? There’s lots more to worry about than that."
Other creative descriptions of the bridge included Richard David Shields' comparison of it to a metallic armadillo and Mike Hanbury's description of it as looking like a chip. While Phillip Owen said he had never seen such an incongruous feature in the landscape of a city, Mike Kristiansen said he liked the bridge and so did everyone he had spoken to about it.
Clearly, the eye-catching golden bridge is still keeping Swansea residents talking years later.
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