Newcastle Bridges, September 2006

13 September 2006. I'm in Newcastle for the night and take the camera for a walk along the Tyne bank.

It's one of those warm, sunny evenings that you get in September when Summer seems to want to hold on to the year and not let go. This is the Millenium Bridge.

The Tyne Bridge is the most famous and is an icon for the city. Behind it low down is the Swing Bridge and further on again the High Level Bridge.

The Tyne is at a considerably lower level than the city and the approach road to the bridge from the Newcastle side is an elevated roadway above rooftop height.

From the approach road, before you get to the actual bridge there are some unique views of the quayside slopes and buildings.

Designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson engineers, it replaced a series of wooden and stone bridges the earliest of which was Roman and on the site of the current Swing Bridge and last a stone bridge of 1779. Tyne Bridge was opened by King George V and Queen Mary on 10 October 1928. The King's opening speech was recorded by Movietone News and released on a single-sided 78rpm record whilst the reverse blank side carried an engraved image of the bridge.

The Swing Bridge of 1876. 171 metres long (561 ft), it has a central pivot allowing the central length of 85.6 metres (281 ft) to swing at right angles to allow tall ships and yachts to pass up or down river. Behind it, the High Level Bridge of 1849 was having some renovation work done, hence the drapery along the sides. It was designed by Robert Stephenson as a dual level bridge allowing trains from the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway and later the Great North of England Railway (GNER) to pass along the lower level whilst road and pedestrian traffic used the upper level carriageway.

Having crossed the road and returned back to stand over the northern bank of the Quayside, we are looking once again at the Millenium Bridge with the modernistic Sage Centre on the Gateshead side of the river over to the right.

On the Millenium Bridge. This is a curved pedestrian-only bridge, the curve being the same radius as the arch which acts as a balance for when the bridge is opened to allow ships to pass underneath. The walkway tilts upwards as the arch swings downwards to form a dual archway and the effect for onlookers on the quayside is a little like a winking eye.

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Best Overall Photograph

A bit of good news yesterday when I found one of my photos had won Best Overall Photograph in a photo competition at work.

This was the first such competition organised by the University of Northumbria and I suspect there may be more entries next time... But, having said that, I don't want you to get the impression that it was the best out of only three entries or anything! There were some excellent photos on display in the foyer of Northumbria's Ellison Building in Newcastle and I'd not have liked to have been the judge!

I like to think of myself as a serious photographer so it's perhaps a little embarrassing to have to admit that this was taken on my phone! It shows the Tyne Bridge silhouetted against the sunset and was taken as I crossed the river on the Millenium Bridge.

Thanks to Northumbria University and their judge for excellent taste and to Janette Hillicks for wielding the camera to take my photo with my photo for the photo ...er... at the top of the page!

Thanks also to Northumbria for the Boots gift voucher that was the prize. Miss Franny has now given me a list of things to buy with it... She has allowed me to spend some of it on myself too! The list includes razor blades...

Large view of the winning photo at Flickr (click "All Sizes")

The Tyne Bridge Opening, 1928

I've had an email from someone who had been looking at my web pages on 78rpm Records. It said:

Hello John,
I would be interested to find out if you know anything about a 12" record I have, it plays like a 78, it is the speech of H.M. King George V opening ceremony of the Tyne bridge Newcastle, dated 10th (October) 1928 and, on the reverse side is the address of welcome to King George V by the town clerk ,I would be grateful of any knowledge you may have about this many thanks Ellie Reid

The record is shown above right and is one of a number of 78rpm records commemorating speeches and events. The Tyne Bridge was a marvel of its age, the BBC have a number of short silent films downloadable from this page including the construction (health & safety? What's that?) and one film of the Royal Opening Ceremony.

As with all records of this type, the value depends on completeness (it had its own designed sleeve) and in the end it is worth whatever someone would give for it!

Thanks Ellie for a fascinating journey through a few web pages though!

Were any readers at the ceremony or can you remember the bridge being built? It's almost 80 years ago so this might be unlikely, but is there anyone whose father or grandfather worked on it? Or does the Tyne Bridge have a fond place in your heart?

Send me some memories either by email or by clicking to add a comment to this blog entry!

The photograph right kicks us off - it was the first time I saw the Tyne Bridge, January 2003 and it had snowed. I'd just been appointed to JISC infoNet, an advisory service for colleges and universities that is hosted by the University of Northumbria at Newcastle and was still working my notice period when I came across the country this night for a meeting the following day.