A multi-arched bridge is this week's photographic prompt from Sepia Saturday, so here I am taking you on a journey over bridges that span two centuries and cross rivers and moorland. Hear about the Marriage House at Coldstream used by runaway couples from England, the riots at Kelso Tollhouse, the heavy loss of life in building bridges, and the place where poet Robert Burns first set eyes on England. I finish by looking at bridges with links to my family history.
What struck me in writing this post is the length of time - i.e. 200 years - that many of these old bridges served their community, before replacement structures were built - progress sometimes seems very slow!
The Three Leaderfoot Bridges, near Melrose in the Scottish Borders
Built 1776, 1865, and 1974
A charming tinted postcard c.1900 of the rail viaduct.
An
unusual view of the lower old Dryburgh road bridge built 1776-80. It
replaced a ferry crossing over the River Tweed, on the route
that is now the main A68 north to Edinburgh. Its narrow structure, more
used to horses and carts, remained in use for 200 years (conroleld by traffic lights) until a new
road bridge spanned the river in 1974.
In the background
is the famous Leaderfoot Viaduct built in 1865 and the major engineering feat of the Berwickshire Railway
Line from the east. The statistics are impressive - the
viaduct stands 126 feet (38 m) from the floor of the river valley, and
its 19 arches, each has a 43 feet span. It was named after the meeting of the Leader Water with the River Tweed, though Interestingly it was referred to in a newspaper article of
December 1864 as the Drygrange Viaduct.
A local paper of 3rd September 1863 gives a graphic account of an accident to a work on the viaduct.
The Berwickshire Railway was badly affected by
severe flooding in 1948 and services to the east of the county were particularly affected. The last train ran over the viaduct in 1965. It is now under the care of Historic Environment Scotland.
A steam train crossing the Leaderfoot Viaduct, c. 1959
One of the last trains to travel over the Leaderfoot viaduct in 1965.
Copyright © Bruce McCartney All Rights Reserved.
at http://www.geoffspages.co.uk/monorail/bmcc01.htm
The Viaduct remains a popular spot for photographers today - here a view taken from the old road bridge which is now only open to walkers and cyclists.
A view of the three bridges, spanning two hundred years of history.
Craigsford Bridge, Earlston, built c. 1737.
Craigsford
Bridge over the Leader Water at Earlston was
built around 1737. Until the building of the new toll road (the later A68) at the end
of the century, it was the main route to Edinburgh. It was sometimes referred to as the Mill Brig, being close to the Simpson & Fairbairn Mill that produced textiles until its closure in 1969.
A modern view taken from
my daughter's cottage.
The Leader road bridge at Earlston carrying traffic on the main A68 route to Edinburgh. You can make out in the background the arches of the old Craigsford Bridge, and the tall chimney of Simpson & Fairbairn Mill.
Carolside Bridge, late 18th century.
The graceful late 18th century bridge spanning the Leader Water links the neighbouring estates of Carolside and Leadervale.
"The Statistical Account of Scotland" of 1834 gives us a beautiful description of Carolside
"Poised on a green plateau beside the River Leader and sheltered by
surrounding slopes of its own extensive woodlands, as a sweet and
secure asylum from the toils and troubles of the world'."
Two views of the bridge in more recent times:
A view of the Leader valley, looking down on the little Carolside Bridge.
With thanks to the Auld Earlston Group for the use of photographs in their collection
Coldstream Bridge, built 1767
The bridge over the River Tweed marks the boundary between Scotland and England and opened in 1767, built at a cost of £6000 - £725,000 in current values. (www.measuringworth.com). It was paid for by a government grant, local
subscriptions and loans from Edinburgh Banks, to be paid back from the
bridge tolls.
But Coldstream
Bridge Tollhouse at the north end of the bridge, was more than just the location for collecting taxes. For it was akin to Gretna Green towards the west as the location for a Scottish "Irregular
Marriage". This was in
the form of a verbal declaration by the couple
giving their consent before
witnesses and did not require a clergyman, but anyone who took on the role for
a fee. No notice, such as banns, was required, no parental consent and no residency requirement. Such marriages were valid in Scotland but
were increasingly frowned upon and became less
and less acceptable.
In
the meantime, however, many English couples in particular, eloped
to places just across the Border, to
escape the stricter English marriage laws and obtain a quick, easy and cheaper
marriage.
It was on the bridge that Scottish bard Robert Burns had his
first glimpse of England, as marked by a plaque. (Wikipedia)
The Rennie Bridge at Kelso - 1803.
Another
crossing of the River Tweed with the Rennie Bridge at Kelso. It was
built in 1800-3 to replace one washed away in
floods of 1797. Designed by John Rennie, it was an earlier and smaller
scale version of the Waterloo Bridge, which he designed for London.
The
Toll House, where the payment had to be made, was the scene of a riot in
1854, when local people objected to continuing to pay the tolls
when the building costs had been long cleared. It still took three
years for tolls to be withdrawn. For nearly 200 years, this narrow bridge remained the only
bridge across the Tweed at Kelso until the building of a new one in
1998 to the east of the town.
Ribblehead Viaduct, North Yorkshire, built 1870-1874.
Image from Picabay
A striking view of the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire on the scenic Carlisle to Settle railway line. It
took over a thousand navvies over four years (1870-1874) to build it.
On the wild windswept moors of the Ribble valley, they established
shanty towns for themselves and their families. Around 100 men were
killed during the construction, and illnesses were rife in the harsh living
conditions. The graveyard at nearby Chapel-le-Dale has around 200
burials of men, women and children who died during the time of the
viaduct's construction.
Bridges with Family History Links
My parents, John Weston and Kathleen Danson - taken in 1937 at Kirby Lonsdale, where they got engaged. This remained one of their favourite spots to visit.
Kirby
Lonsdale in Cumbria on the edge of the Lake District is a fascinating
small town with a mix of 18th-century buildings and stone cottages
huddled around quaint cobbled courtyards and narrow alleyways with names
such as Salt Pie Lane and Jingling Lane. The town is noted for the its
three span Devil's Bridge, first built across the River Lune c.1370. You catch a glimpse of it here.
These photographs comes from my father's album. During the war, Dad
served in the RAF Codes & Ciphers Branch and was seconded to General Bradley’s US 12th Army Group
HQ. He was
stationed in Luxembourg in winter 1944 prior to the Battle of the
Bulge. Dad had fond memories of the city and the people he met
there. The
Bridge, built between 1900 and 1903, became an unofficial national
symbol, representing Luxembourg's independence and was named after
Grand Duke Adolphe who reigned Luxembourg from 1890 until 1905.
My brother standing in front of the cast iron arched Ironbridge over the River Severn in Shropshire, where our father spent his childhood. It was the first ironbridge built In 1781 and often described as "the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution".
It is now a World Heritage Site.
Although Dad was born in Bilston, Wolverhampton, he moved to Broseley, across the river from Ironbridge, when he was five years old and he regarded it as his happy chidlhood home. He went to school there, sang in the choir from the age of seven and began his working life at a grocer's shop, delivering goods by pony and cart. Dad's father had a 35 minutes walk across the bridge
each way every day to get to his work at the Coalbrookdale Power House in the Severn valley.
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Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share
their family history and memories through photographs.
Click HERE to see what bridges other bloggers have come across.
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My mother Kathleen Danson (right) with her sister Edith, c.1916
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