Monday 8 August 2022

Bridges of Tyne

A couple of days ago I unearthed an old photo album containing some of my earliest efforts at B&W photography. Among them were a series of snaps from Boxing Day 1984. I'd just turned 20, and my dad ran me down to the Quayside on a crisp, clear morning to indulge my latest fad. I've included five of the many images I gathered that day - a little short of 38 years ago. Bloody Nora.


The first is the classic shot from a little in front of the old Milk Market. There were six bridges grouped together betwixt Newcastle and Gateshead at this point in time, with four clearly visible here (Tyne, Swing, High Level and Metro). And that's the Tuxedo Princess floating nightclub, of course, moored on the Gateshead side. I had my stag night there in 1987. 


Here's the awesome sight of the High Level Bridge from the Newcastle end - soak up that winter sunshine!


The High Level Bridge again, with the Swing and Tyne Bridges in the background.


And further evidence of the day's sparkling weather, as the sun glints through the girders of the recently-built Metro Bridge (opened 1981). The King Edward VII Railway Bridge can be seen in the background, as can (just) the underside of the new Redheugh Bridge (opened a year or so previously, in 1983).

Hard to believe that these photos were taken almost two decades before the Millennium Bridge saw light of day!

Oh, and on the way home we had to dip down to Scotswood to capture good old 'Scotchy Bridge':


When this bridge opened in the Spring of 1967 I was a very young nipper. At the time, my dad rode to work on a bike from Denton Burn to Blaydon Haughs - crossing this bridge as he went. In my innocence I assumed that he had to pedal over the fullness of the arch!

Boy, those photographs took some peeling outta that album. Suppose they had been sitting there for a long time, mind.

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