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Beams supporting woodland path damaged

Jonny Manning
BBC News, North East and Cumbria
BBC The section of the Derwent Walk supported by the wall. The stone wall has been built half way up a river bank. A wooden fence stands on top of it. Four wooden beams are supporting the wall. Two have clear gaps and breakages while the third has toppled over.BBC
The four beams on Derwent Walk have been damaged and one has fallen over

Wooden beams supporting a country park walk have been damaged and split open.

The four beams are on a section of the Derwent Walk in Gateshead and have degraded over time, with one collapsing altogether.

They support a retaining wall, which holds up a section of the path on a steep bank overlooking the River Derwent.

Gateshead Borough Council said it was sending members of its structural engineering team to inspect the supports.

The path of the Derwent Walk runs along the top of the wall, which prevents earth from falling down the bank and into the river.

The view looking down at the beams from the path. Three beams can be seen. The middle beam has collapsed while the far right beam seems to have been damaged over time. The river can be seen at the bottom of the bank.
The wall is supporting a path overlooking the River Derwent

But pictures of the beams, which are on the opposite side of the river from Blaydon Tennis Club, show they have become damaged over time.

The council said it would provide an update once the beams had been inspected.

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