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THE BRIDGES of THE TYNE

For these reasons, and to create employment at a time when thousands of men were out of work, the Corporations of Newcastle and Gateshead resolved to proceed to the erection of a new bridge, and a joint committee was formed under the chairmanship of the present Lord Mayor of Newcastle (Alderman Stephen Easten) to carry forward the scheme.

It has been decided that it shall carry the famous old name of " Tyne Bridge." Its cost will exceed a million pounds sterling.

The plan adopted was that of flinging an enormous steel arch from bank to bank without any intermediate support. The carrying out of this plan called for the greatest engineering skill, possessed only by men at the top of their profession, and for a pride of craft and a spirit of loyal co-operation on the part of all engaged in tile undertaking

There is not another bridge of its size of the same design in the country and it is the largest arch in England from which hangs a roadway.

It was felt that nothing less noble and impressive than a royal ceremony would adequately grace the completion of this brave effort of civic construction, and the King and the Queen have graciously consented to honour the opening with their royal presence.

It is an honour for which all will be grateful, and by none will their presence be so joyously and loyally greeted as by the boys and girls of the two towns, to whom tile visit of their King and Queen will be a novel and exciting experience to be long cherished in their memories.

Perhaps in the whole world there is not a more striking monument to human energy than is presented by the two towns and their river from the High Level Bridge. But in the process of deepening tile river, alterations have been made which have taken away much of its beauty (Quays and staiths have taken the place of green fields and pleasant woods. Islands have been removed and projecting points cut off. The natural slopes, tile home of flowers and bushes, have been shorn away for stone embankments. health and joy are found in beauty and it should be the constant aim of the future to restore to the river and tile towns something of their former pleasantness.

To the boys and girls, for whom these words are written, who have just begun their passage on the bridge of life, and who will go to and fro on the bridges of the Tyne, there is the lofty call to carry forward to future generations the progress which has brought them their own proud inheritance.

By honest work pursued with good will, by preserving the relics of a rich and romantic past, and by cherishing whatever tends to the health and beauty of their own town, they may launch it on a further course of growing pleasantness, of thriving development and increasing wealth and so make it a fitting home for the joys of peace and the marvels of a modern civilisation.



Opening of The Tyne Bridge page 12
from the book of the opening of the River Tyne Bridge in October 1928 by King George and Queen Mary

Tyne Bridge Opening Book Pages
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

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