A-Z Challenge 2018 - British Rivers: 'T' Tees

There are so many rivers beginning with 'T' - Tay, Tweed, Tyne, Tees, Trent,Thames, Test, Taw, Tamar - it's impossible to cover them all.

So I'll stick to the one I know best.

River Tees 'looping' round the town of Yarm

Here you can hardly miss the railway viaduct that appeared in my 'Theme Reveal' post.

Railway viaduct crossing the River Tees

That's it, together with the road bridge, at the left of the first photo.

Upstream of the viaduct the river looks very peaceful. A seal has been fishing there this week.

You can see the road bridge with the viaduct behind from this shot taken from down stream.

The name of Yarm is derived from the Anglo Saxon 'yarum' meaning 'fish pools'

The road bridge was built in 1400 by Walter Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham; now it is twice the width of that 1400 bridge, but original stonework still makes up part of the pillars you can see.

The first bridge over the Tees at Stockton, further downstream, was built in 1771. Until that time the port of Yarm had been the nearest place to the North Sea where River Tees could be crossed. As ships got bigger port facilities moved down river, first to Stockton, then and now to Middlesbrough.

When we first moved to Yarm in 1970 the Tees was a tidal river up to and beyond the town. It was not uncommon for the town to be flooded; high water heights are recorded on some buildings.

In the 1990s a tidal barrier was installed between Stockton and Middlesbrough. The Tees at Yarm is now no longer tidal with the water level controlled by the Tees Barrage.

Geese on the River Tees at Yarm

Raised floodgate on the Barrage

High Tide

Low Tide

Meanwhile back at Yarm the geese line up - 

For their turn in a gala on the River

We cannot leave the Tees without taking a look at some bridges further down river,

The Infinity Bridge at Stockton
(with the Tees Barrage in the background)

The Infinity Bridge was erected to celebrate the end of the 20th century.

You can walk alongside the River from the Infinity Bridge down past the Tees Barrage, alongside the Portrack Nature Reserve. Then if the mood takes you can cross over to the other side via - 

Newport Bridge

Designed as a lift bridge to allow ships to past, the road section is now fixed in place and only small craft pass to go up to the Barrage and through its lock to Stockton and beyond.

Along that stretch of the Tees you may, if the mood takes you, indulge some bird watching.

A curlew in the mud

Closer to the sea you come to Middlesbrough and the bridge that has become an icon for the town.

Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge in action

The Bridge at Yarm

A-Z Challenge 2011 - B

The Bridge at Yarm

There has been a bridge over the River Tees at the North Yorkshire town of Yarm for 800 years. Before 1771 when a new bridge was built at Stockton, Yarm was the nearest place to the North Sea where the river could be crossed, the road from York to Durham passing through the town.

Three arches of Yarm Bridge from downstream - the structure behind is a railway viaduct

Records show there was a bridge at Yarm before 1300 and it is probable that the first timber bridge existed in 1200. The right to bridge tolls (pontage) was granted by the King to the person responsible for making repairs. We know one such pontage was granted by Edward I in 1305. 

The bridge too decrepit for use by the end of the century was replaced in stone by Walter Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, in 1400. Skirlaw’s bridge, repaired many times and widened, still stands and carries road traffic to this day. The original stone bridge had five arches; three of these can still be seen on the upstream side. A drawbridge inserted in the arch on the northern side, in use during the Civil War, was removed in 1785 and the arch rebuilt in its present semi-circular form.

The increasing in traffic by the end of the 18^th century led to the decision to replace it with a new single-span iron bridge. However before the new bridge could be opened to the public it collapsed into the river. The old stone bridge was widened and provided with new parapets in 1810. With the addition of pavements each side and a tarmac surface it remains the same 200 years later.

 Yarm Bridge in front of railway viaduct