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peppiB's Photos
Topic Started: Aug 5 2008, 08:56 PM (17,691 Views)
AnnB
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Fantastic reflections. Shame the calm weather didn't last.
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celticsparrow-Jan
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Great photos PeppiB :clap2:
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Davebutterflyman
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Fantastic reflections PeppiB.
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Eric Hardy
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Just seen these lovely photos Peppi, They remind me of my many visits when I had a branch office in Jesmond Road. The Millennium Bridge was well after my time. Beautiful reflections.
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JennyWren
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peppiB
Oct 16 2017, 08:02 PM
After the weird sky colour this afternoon, the sun came out again. Gale forecast, but river flat calm

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:encore: I love the structures and your pics peppi ..i think you must have the most bridges spanning such a short length of a river in the UK .. and thanks for the history :Cool:
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peppiB
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Jen - there are 7 bridges in half a mile or so. I have no idea of the density of bridges in other towns/cities

Just to complete the picture, here is the 7th bridge. Redeugh Bridge is the main road into the City from the Western Bypass and was built in the late 70's

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next bridge - the Scotswood Bridge, is a couple of miles upstream

What bothered me today was this

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It is the Guildhall and is one of the main nesting sites for the Kittiwakes. Before the sheeting was erected, it could be seen that all the nests have been removed
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JennyWren
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Silly question peppi , but are all the bridges really needed or do you have an Engineering College nearby :thinking: I guess students have to learn somewhere other than the lecture theatre on occasions :)
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Davebutterflyman
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Bad news regarding the Kittiwake nests, PeppiB.

Great photos as well.
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Tabatha
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:greatpic: The river was really calm the other day. With those mirror like reflections. :cool:
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peppiB
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Thanks all.

Dave - if they don't net the building it is possible nests will be rebuilt. Will have to wait the removal of the scaffolding to see what has been done

Jen - The Swing Bridge marks the site of the first crossing of the Tyne in Roman times. They piled sand on the Newcastle side to facilitate building, and that area is still know as Sandhill. Various bridges have been there over the centuries. Next came the High Level Bridge, built by Robert Stephenson to carry the railway south. At the end of the Victorian era and in to the 1900's, as rail traffic grew, the Edward VII bridge was built to cope. In 1928 the Tyne Bridge was opened because road traffic was increasing. That was the main A1 and continued from there through the City Centre.

When the Metro was introduced (60's into 70's) it needed a bridge to take the line over the river to Gateshead and eventually Sunderland, so the Queen Elizabeth bridge was erected.

As it was the A1, the centre of Newcastle was often gridlocked so a relief bypass, the Western Bypass, was constructed. The Redheugh bridge carries the bulk of traffic from that bypass into town. The bypass has its own bridge over the river much further upstream. Incidentally, the Western Bypass is the first time anyone travelling from London runs out of motorway.

To celebrate the Millennium, Gateshead commissioned a footbridge to link the redeveloped Baltic Centre and Square with the refurbished, trendy quayside, resulting in the 'Blinking Eye' Millennium Bridge.

So there you have it. If you want to see the way the riverside looked not very long ago, google Ouseburn Warehouse. It is a site supported by lorry drivers revealing their experiences bringing goods to and from the many ships and has many photographs. Hope that helps. All the bridges are rather busy with foot, road and rail traffic
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JennyWren
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:Waves: thanks peppi , lots of interesting info . I think i was wondering why Newcastle above any other area needed so many bridges in one place when other cities have them spaced out ... maybe the City is concentrated in one are ? but then that wouldn't really excuse it ... except that London has a good share of them :cool2: I guess most cities are the same depending on size

However , all the bridges are smashing feats of engineering through the years , and quite a sight , i love the designs , your photos of them showing the structures and reflections :Cool:

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acey
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Great pics !
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peppiB
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Thanks Acey

Jen - we have a number of narrow bridges built over many years to cope with increasing traffic, rather than 1 mega monstrous structure. These bridges serve the busy centre. Upstream there are others, Scotswood, Western Bypass, Newburn, whereas downstream we have the Tyne Tunnel - actually 2 of those now, the second being opened earlier this year, again to cope with increasing road traffic. The tunnel takes the A19 under the river. Further down we have the Shields ferry, running between North and South Shields.
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Davebutterflyman
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Fingers crossed they do rebuild the nests PeppiB.
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Night Owl
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:greatpics: PeppiB the reflections are beautiful :encore:
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JennyWren
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peppiB
Oct 21 2017, 10:32 AM
Thanks Acey

Jen - we have a number of narrow bridges built over many years to cope with increasing traffic, rather than 1 mega monstrous structure. These bridges serve the busy centre. Upstream there are others, Scotswood, Western Bypass, Newburn, whereas downstream we have the Tyne Tunnel - actually 2 of those now, the second being opened earlier this year, again to cope with increasing road traffic. The tunnel takes the A19 under the river. Further down we have the Shields ferry, running between North and South Shields.
That's interesting as well peppi , thanks for that .. sorry to keep asking the questions .
I often wonder if the traffic traveling over the bridges would come to a halt as it converges with the traffic from other bridges if the bridges are close . ... unlike the Forth 3 bridges where they enter different parts of the City .. they are quite a way apart
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peppiB
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Dave - I do hope they refrain from netting the building. It will be a while before we know

Jen - no problems with the questions. High level rail and Edward VII bridges lead into Central Station, all platforms accessed.

High level road is limited to buses and taxis going south. Tyne Bridge leads onto Central Motorway, Swing Bridge onto Quayside and Redheugh Bridge to St James's Park, so the traffic doesn't actually meet anywhere. Windy days the Redheugh bridge is usually closed to high sided vehicles, extreme wind closed to all vehicles, so then the Tyne Bridge and around the city centre experiences gridlock. It can take 2 hours to cover half a mile. Any accidents on the Tyne Bridge then the Swing Bridge and quayside come to a standstill
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JennyWren
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:Cool: thank you peppi , it certainly takes a lot of working out and planning ... and then a few years down the line , who knows . Travel a few kms above the ground ... but then we still need to land somewhere :)

Distribution of the houses and work places around the County ?
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Eric Hardy
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Peppi, if my memory serves me right I used to cross the Tyne Bridge by car when I drove up to visit our branch office in Jesmond Road. I have just looked at an up to date map but it is nothing like I remember it, there seems to be a motorway.
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peppiB
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Eric - that is the Central Motorway, only a couple of miles long. From the Tyne Bridge, the road plunges into an underpass and emerges on that motorway

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It passes under that building - Swan House, home to Metro radio, bars and luxury flats

Looking over the bridge towards Gateshead, the modern building is the Hilton Hotel, standing at the top of Bottle Bank. That used to be famed for its turf roofed lodging houses, popular with sailors and bed bugs, and still the link road down onto the Swing Bridge

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This is the top of Pilgrim Street, looking towards the bridge. It is being redeveloped at the moment so looks very tatty, then looking north up Northumberland Street. Hard to believe that not long ago this was the main A1 between London and Edinburgh

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Hope they jogged some memories for you
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