THESE days, Bristol's most famous bridge tends to make the news for all the wrong reasons.

There is the fact that it has long been a beacon for suicide attempts, there is the always-controversial crossing toll and now, apparently, the monument appears to be cracking up.

One of its 162 vertical wrought iron rods has split and experts are carrying out checks on the others.

But such scares should make Bristolians cherish this stunning construction.

We should cherish its engineering brilliance – Brunel's bridge is a 1,500-ton marvel of rod, chain and girder. Though built in 1859 to carry horses, it continues to carry up to 12,000 21st-century vehicles every day.

We should cherish the bridge's simple beauty. It integrates with the landscape so successfully that the scenery of the gorge is unimaginable without it.

Finally, we should cherish the millions of tourist pounds its spectacle brings to the city every year.

It survives like an anchor in the city's great past and is a symbol of its hopes for the future.