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… I SEE YOU 
As mentioned in my previous post this was the first major bridge of its kind to be designed for vehicles.
Project 2020 which is community group local to the bridge have produced a leaflet full of interesting facts about the bridge:
The remarkable bridge was built by Captain Samuel Brown RN in 1819-20 to demonstrate patents. Brown had pioneered the development of wrought iron anchor chains and rigging whilst still in the navy. On his retirement in 1812, he set up an iron works at Millwall,, London. In 1816 he registered a patent for the manufacture of chain links. The following year he filed another patent for ‘improvements in suspension bridges’ which included his flexible chain link design which had been developed from ships’ rigging blocks.
The opportunity to put his theories into practice came in 1819 when the Berwick and North Durham Turnpike Trustees commissioned Captain Brown to build the Union Chain Bridge. The bridge took less than a year to build and, with a record-breaking span of 137m/449ft, cost just £7,700, significantly cheaper and quicker than constructing a traditional stone bridge.
The bridge was opened with much ceremony on 26th July 1820. Captain Brown demonstrated its strength by driving across a curricle, followed by 12 loaded carts, estimated to weigh 20 tons! These were followed by 600 spectators eager to cross to the other side. The event was witnessed by leading Scottish engineer Robert Stevenson and soon the bridge attracted visitors from all over Europe. Leading French engineer Charles Navier, accompanied by eighteen year old Isambard Brunel travelled here in April 1823 to study this remarkable structure. Isambard’s father Marc, the famous engineer, visited two weeks later.
Maintenance was paid for by the revenue from tolls. The Toll Keeper’s Cottage was originally built into the red sandstone cliffs on the English side. Around the 1900s a family of five lived in the two rooms. The cottage was demolished in 1955, a commemorative plaque marks where it stood.
14 Comments CherryPie on Jan 3rd 2012
This was the glass I raised in my New Year’s Eve Toast to all my friends.
Those of you who read the original post will notice I had a faulty memory about the colour of the champagne.
10 Comments CherryPie on Jan 3rd 2012
The inspiration for my ‘100 Reasons to be Glad’ series of photos can be found on ‘100 photos 1 ::‘. I intended to post them all in 2010 but the project slipped and it took me two years in the end. There were some reasons I would have liked to include but didn’t get chance to take photographs of the themes, examples of these are Red pandas, String Quartets and Maya Gold Chocolate.
The full list can be found below or you can browse through the photographs without the distraction of accompanying words on the blog 100 photos.
I do have another ‘100 photos project’ lined up for this year which I will be starting soon.
- 100 Photos 30 :: Memories (duplicate of 59)
- 100 Photos 40 :: The Countryside (duplicate of 74)
- 100 Photos 59 :: Memories (duplicate of30)
- 100 Photos 74 :: The Countryside (duplicate of 40)
13 Comments CherryPie on Jan 2nd 2012
CHEERS!! I raise my glass to you. Thank you for sharing life’s journey with me, I hope that any troubles from 2011 will fade into distant memory and I wish you, your family and friends a happy, healthy and peaceful 2012.
xxx
10 Comments CherryPie on Dec 31st 2011
