The cottage is so called as there was once a private footbridge here for the Kingsmeadows estate. The bridge abutment on the N bank can be seen below the cottage. The bridge was a suspension type; it was destroyed by trees carried down by a flood many years ago. A photograph (undated) is given in 'Peebles Remembered' (The Tweeddale Society, Peebles 2005), source of this information on the bridge's history.