European adventure 2019
Visiting the remaining transporter bridges in
Europe
First off it's Newport
This year my brother Kevin and I are setting off
from Newport to visit the only remaining transporter bridges left in
Europe. From the original number of
around twenty there are only eight left in the world and we will be visiting
the seven that are located in Europe. We
will leave the last one in Buenas Aries for a future trip.
Day 1
Newport Transporter Bridge
We are starting our journey here at home visiting our own transporter
bridge. Before we set off we had to
climb the old steel stairs again, just to get us in the mood for the journey.
It was a great day and the view from here was exceptional, from northwards
towards the Brecon Beacons and south over the channel to Somerset and
further. Standing here some 200 feet
above the muddy old river below we couldn’t wait to start our journey.
The Newport Transporter Bridge is the oldest and largest of the three
historic transporter bridges which remain in Britain, and the largest of eight
such bridges which remain worldwide. Today, the bridge is widely regarded as
the most recognisable symbol of the city of Newport. It is an imposing
structure that crosses the River Usk and is known affectionately as the
‘Trannie’ locally. The bridge is the first
crossing of the River Usk seen after entering from the Bristol Channel.
It has Grade I listed structure status and is one of eight Transporter
Bridges remaining in the world of which only seven remain operational. It is
one of only three transporter bridges to be found in the United Kingdom, two of
which are fully operational. The bridge a landmark that can be seen for
twenty miles or more from both sides of the Bristol Channel. Although not
unique, it has been described as a work of art and the finest of its type in
Britain. Its light, graceful lines have endeared it to the hearts of the people
of Newport.
Between 1869 and 1889 there was a growing need
for the ability to transport labour from the residential west side of the river
in Pillgwenlly to the east side of the river which was to be developed as the
industrial heart of Newport. Various schemes were put forward for connecting
the two banks of the river, which has the second largest tidal range in the
world and the location was chosen because the river banks are very low at the
desired crossing point. An ordinary bridge would need a very long approach ramp
to attain sufficient height to allow ships to pass under, and a ferry could not
be used during low tide at the site.
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| The type of ship that would have needed to sail under any new bridge |
Around the turn of the turn of the 19th to 20th century
transporter bridges were becoming fashionable, particularly on the Continent,
where a French engineer, M. F. Arnodin, had built this type of bridge across
the Seine at Rouen. Amongst others were those built at Rochefort and Nantes. He
also built one at Bizerta, in Tunis, and is famed for his Pont Transbordeur at
Marseilles, which was destroyed in World War II.
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| M Ferdinand Arnodin |
Members of Newport Corporation visited Rouen to
inspect the bridge there, after which it was decided to invite Arnodin to
design a bridge for our city, in collaboration with the Borough Engineer, Mr.
Robert H. Haynes. Work began in the
autumn of 1902 and four years later, without a life having been lost in its construction,
the bridge was officially opened by the then Lord Lieutenant of the county, the
Rt. Hon. Viscount Tredegar, on 12th September, 1906
As well as a working transport link, the bridge
is also open as a tourist attraction – visitors can climb the towers and walk
across the upper deck for a small charge. The bridge forms part of the
classified highway network and is also where route 4 of the National Cycle
Network crosses the River Usk.
To celebrate the millennium in 2000, fireworks
were fired from its length, it has also been featured in several movies and
television shows. It was the centre-piece of the Crow Point Festival in
September 2006 to celebrate its centenary and is often used for charity events
such as sponsored abseils. It provided the setting for the opening scene, among
others, in the 1959 British film Tiger Bay, starring Hayley Mills and which was
set in Cardiff and therefore, much to the dismay of many Newport residents gave
audiences the impression that the bridge was in Cardiff and not Newport.
The
bridge also appears in an early scene in the 1972 experimental film The Other
Side of the Underneath by Jane Arden and features extensively in the 1996 video
for the song "Talk to Me" by Newport band 60 Ft. Dolls and the novel Clay
Cross by Michael Keyton.
More recently, in October 2018 the moving,
suspended, gondola was used as the stage for a nightly production of Herman
Meville’s masterpiece, Moby Dick by The Tin Shed Theatre Company, where the
cast were joined by the audience as it crossed the river Usk.
As reported in the South Wales Argus ‘Suspended
on a gondola hundreds of feet above the River Usk, the audience were captivated
by the intensity and emotion of the characters, joining them on their voyage
into madness’
There is a Visitor Centre located on the west
bank of the River Usk which features exhibits on the history of the bridge and its
construction. Information on other transporter bridges is also available. Also exhibited is a painting of a famous son
of Newport, David (Bomber) Pearce, the former undefeated Welsh and British
Heavyweight Boxing Champion 1983–1985. Pearce used to run up the steps of the
Transporter Bridge during his training, a much more arduous climb than that
scaled by Sylvester Stallone in the world famous series of Rocky movies.
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| David Pearce in training |
After we came down from the high walkway, we
crossed the river on the Gondola before setting off on our onward journey. Next stop Warrington.
It was the second of two
transporter bridges across the Mersey at Warrington. The first was erected in
1905 slightly to the north of the existing bridge and was described in The 'Engineer' in 1908. A third transporter bridge over the Mersey was the
Widnes-Runcorn Transporter Bridge, built in 1905 and which was dismantled in
1961.
