This tubular, twisted glass and steel footbridge links the building housing Marks and Spencer and Selfridges to the Arndale Centre across Corporation Street.  It was designed by Hodder Associates and Ove Arup and built in September 1999.  Beneath it you can see a red pillar box which is an important part of the story of the bridge.

Three years earlier a much plainer rectangular bridge had spanned the street at this point.  You can see it in the distance in the image below.

On June 16th, 1996, the IRA parked a van beneath the bridge beside the red pillar box and at 11:17 a.m. the bomb inside the van went off causing devastating damage to the buildings around it.

Ironically, the only survivor on Corporation Street that day was the pillar box and it stands today as a reminder of the explosion.  A brass plaque has been added to commemorate the event.