The covered footbridge that has linked London Bridge station with the 1980s development next to the river is to be demolished.

Built in 1986, it created a link between the mainline railway station and the shops/offices in what is officially, if rather rarely, called the Cotton Centre.

Although it was at the time a very useful route across the road from the mainline railway, since the station was rebuilt, most people now arrive at ground level and cross the street there. Although not entirely abandoned, the walkway is a bit of a ghostly echo now, and the cost of maintaining it will soon prove to be less than desirable.

The other issue is that at the Cotton Centre end, the escalators are on a raised dais which swallows up a lot of pavement space and is not disabled-friendly either.

Hence the plan to demolish it.

The hole in the wall where the footbridge connects to London Bridge station would be filled in with matching bricks, and ventilation slots, whereas the other side of the street will see the podium removed to open up more space on the pavement.

There’s a curious affection for the old footbridge. Its design fits fairly well with the 1980s buildings and with the floor to ceiling glass walls, it was never a pokey dirty old space to avoid. We can build up rather odd fond memories of paths like these, these familiar paths we tread that mark the start of our commutes home, or arrival at work.

Born of the aspirations of the docklands redevelopment, which included this part of town, its demise is due to another massive redevelopment – this time of the railway station.

Its no longer of much use to anyone, but I still suspect there may well be a few sad faces on the day a massive crane turns up to remove the walkway from its home.