In 1838 a wooden bridge was constructed to connect Byers Green with Sunnybrow, Bowden Close, Stanley Crook etc.  The railway used this bridge, the Pay Bridge, to cross the river. The West Durham Railway was a hybrid system that used a standing steam engine and cables to haul the trucks up the Todd Hills incline from Newfield where they were connected to a locomotive on the West Durham Railway.

From Byers Green, the West Durham line allowed coal, coke, bricks and tiles to be transported to Hartlepool and on to ships that would transport the coal to the industrial centres in the south of the country.

The current bridge uses the same foundations but is only a foot bridge.