Composer David Stowell has been asked to write music for many different events - but when Caroline Jarrold asked him to come up with a fanfare to be played at the official opening of the new Jarrold Bridge across the River Wensum in Norwich, he admitted it was unique.

Mr Stowell's fanfare for Norwich-based Norfolk Brass will be played for the first time next Wednesday when the new bridge linking the St James Place business development to the car park beside the Adam and Eve pub is celebrated and blessed by the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham James.

Mr Stowell, musical director with Norfolk Brass, said: 'I'm used to getting commissions to write for weddings or competitions, but this is the first fanfare I've written for a bridge. But I hope people like it.'

The fanfare is about four minutes long, and Mr Stowell added: 'I'm just calling it 'Fanfare for Jarrold Bridge'. It was written to the brass band format. I met Caroline here and went straight home and composed it.'

Caroline Jarrold, community affairs advisor for Jarrold, said the idea for the bridge was conceived more than 20 years ago by former Jarrold chairman Peter Jarrold, and it had been open for public use since last December.

She said the fanfare just seemed like a good idea to go with the official opening.

'We had connections with Norfolk Brass through the John Jarrold Trust, which I'm secretary of. I asked them to do it and they agreed,' she said.

The bridge, which is part of a �1.6m investment by Jarrold, has been created to improve pedestrian access to the city centre and railway station, as well as connecting the site to the city's cycle routes.

The bridge was built from weathering steel with renewable hardwood decking, and has been designed in the shape of a 'J', to reflect its well-known namesake.

The largest crane in the county was brought in to add the finishing touches to the bridge, which is the latest stage in the regeneration of the city centre site, off Barrack Street, which began with the letting to Greens Health & Fitness Centre in 2000.

Since then, a new business quarter in the city centre has evolved with the development of five new buildings, which are home to solicitors Mills & Reeve and Birketts, accountants Grant Thornton, Barclays and Amlin Insurance from the financial services sector as well as Defra, the Broads Authority, English Nature and the Environment Agency.

david.bale2@archant.co.uk