Black Bridge

The black bridge was a railway foot bridge situated at the bottom of Duke Street for the residents who lived in Locomotive Street. The signal box was there as well, and the crossing gates which had to be opened to allow vehicles such as coal lorries to get to Locomotive Street. Often in our school dinner hour we would stand on the bridge and wait for a train to come so we could stand in the thick black smoke. Sometimes it meant suffering the punishment of the cane from our teacher for having dirty hands