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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.
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