Herefordshire Business News: Toll bridge gears up for Hay Festival (From Hereford Times)

Herefordshire Business News: Toll bridge gears up for Hay Festival

12:40pm Tuesday 29th May 2012 in News By Mark Bowen

A HEREFORDSHIRE toll bridge is bracing itself for the impact of the Hay Festival.

Maggie Taylor and Grahame Penny, who run the Whitney-on-Wye toll bridge, are preparing for an influx of a predicted 200,000 visitors starting on Thursday.

Many of them will cross the bridge to enter the town to avoid a six mile drive.

“I think you could say that we are bracing ourselves,” said Maggie. “During a normal week we see around 2,000 or so vehicles cross the bridge. This year Hay Festival organisers are predicting over 200,000 visitors over the 10 days.

“The toll charge goes towards running and maintaining this 17th century historic monument.”