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Sunday 13 September 2015

Bridges - Sunday Stamps II

I have always had an interest in bridges. I crossed the Forth Railway Bridge when going to and from St Andrews University in Scotland. Where in the 1950s, there was a very heated debate in the Student Union about the need for a road bridge over the Forth. English students were howled down when they demanded to know why the Scots wanted another bridge - what had they done with the other three?

It was a pleasant surprise for me this week when I was given an album which contained among other things this FDC.

Great Britain - Opening of the Forth Road Bridge.
To my delight, on the 6d stamp, you can make out the structure of the Rail Bridge in the background.

Forth Road and Rail Bridges
On 5 March 2015 Royal Mail issued a set of ten stamps commemorating the engineering feats of bridge building dating from pre-1600 to as recently as 2011.


From left to right:
  • Tarr Steps, a clapper bridge over the River Barle in the Exmoor National Park. The name clapper derives from the medieval Latin "claperius" - a pile of stones. The Royal Mail dates this as 'pre-1600.' It's now a scheduled ancient monument and dates from c1000BC
  • Row Bridge is probably 18th century. It's a packhorse stone bridge over Mosedale Beck in what is now Cumbria.
  • Pulteney Bridge spans the River Avon in Bath and dates from 1774. It features shops built across the full span on both sides.
  • Craigellachie Bridge crosses the River Spey near Abelour, Moray, Scotland. Thomas Telford designed this cast iron arched bridge in 1814
  • Menai Suspension Bridge (1826) is another of Telford's famous bridges. It connects the island of Anglesey with the Welsh mainland.

  • High Level Bridge over the River Tyne (1849), carries road and rail traffic and is the wrought iron bridge between Newcastle and Gateshead
  • Royal Border Bridge (1850) between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Tweedmouth is a railway viaduct designed by George Stephenson. Despite its name it is in Northumberland a few miles south of the Scottish border.
  • Tees Transporter Bridge, Middlesbrough's icon, affectionately know as "The Tranny" is the bridge furthest down stream on the River Tees. This steel bridge passed its centenary in 2011.
  • Humber Bridge is a single span suspension bridge carrying road traffic over the Humber which links Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Once the longest in the world it dates from 1981.
  • Peace Bridge (2011) crosses the River Foyle in Derry, Northern Ireland.
Now you need to cross over and follow the links at Sunday-Stamps-II-39. to see bridges from elsewhere.



9 comments:

Joy said...

I like how they spanned the ages with the this year's bridges set, must have taken many meetings to decide on which bridges to show on the set.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Bob .. love bridges - two of my grandfather's are here ... Forth Road Bridge and the Humber ... I'd love to have spent time with him - but he died when I was very young; his son, my father's elder brother, took over ... and again I didn't see enough of him - and he was one of the reasons I came back. I saw an exhibition on the gantry of the Tower Bridge, which I still need to write about ... bridges around the world.

Cheers Hilary

Jo said...

I was fascinated by the clapper bridge. Never heard of that before. It's amazing how bridges have changed as engineering became more able to do things. Stamps really do cover history don't they?

Mail Adventures said...

I have received (and posted today) two of these stamps. I think bridges are an excellent topic for stamps. And Postal Services around the world seem to think the same, because there are plenty of stamps about bridges.

I love the stamp from 1964. The design is amazing. How coincidentally that you have obtained it this week!

viridian said...

great variety! I looked and I don't have any to share this week, sadly.

FinnBadger said...

Great selection. I also thought this year's Bridges set was excellent - and featured one today also.

VioletSky said...

I have a soft spot for the Forth Bridge. That is a fine set of bridges - interesting to see how the bridges have become sleeker over the centuries.

Heleen said...

Beautiful stamps, and great to see the whole serie!

Billy Blue Eyes said...

I need to get some more FDC's