Sunderland, The Bridges 1900
Photo ref: S263003
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A tram rattles across the old road bridge bound for Grangetown. The 236ft single span cast-iron bridge was designed by Thomas Paine, author of 'The Rights of Man'. Built in 1793-96, it was considered one of the engineering masterpieces of the day. It was replaced by a new Wearmouth Bridge, officially opened by HRH the Duke of York in 1929. Just beyond is the North Eastern Railway's bridge over the Wear.

An extract from Northumberland Tyne and Wear Photographic Memories.

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Bridges

Classic photographs of all sorts of bridges from The Francis Frith Collection, spanning modest streams, rivers and broad estuaries. They include footbridges, clapper bridges, pack-horse bridges, medieval arched bridges, toll bridges, decorative Palladian bridges, suspension bridges, bascule bridges, canal bridges, and railway bridges. Evocative and atmospheric, these stunning images show British engineering at its most innovative and graceful.

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Milestones of Engineering

Stunning archive photos that celebrate our engineering achievements.

Northumberland Tyne and Wear Photographic Memories

Northumberland Tyne and Wear Photographic Memories

The photo 'Sunderland, the Bridges 1900' appears in this book.

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Memories of Sunderland, the Bridges 1900

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. These memories are of Sunderland, The Bridges 1900

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My family and I lived in Seaburn, a suburb of Sunderland north of the River Wear, and from 1942 to 1944 I attended the nursery department of the Sunderland High School, south of the Wear. Every  morning and evening my father, who taught in Sunderland Technical College, would take and fetch me travelling in a tram like the one on this photo.