An amateur film produced by Jack Mills that explores the history of bridges crossing the Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead from Roman times to the present day through a mixture of historic images and interviews with several contemporary exports. The film ends on the Swing Bridge with the camera being allowed to remain on it as it opened to allow river traffic through. Title: Bridging the Years From the Newcastle Quayside looking downstream the three main bridges crossing the River Tyne;...

An amateur film produced by Jack Mills that explores the history of bridges crossing the Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead from Roman times to the present day through a mixture of historic images and interviews with several contemporary exports. The film ends on the Swing Bridge with the camera being allowed to remain on it as it opened to allow river traffic through. Title: Bridging the Years From the Newcastle Quayside looking downstream the three main bridges crossing the River Tyne; the High Level, Swing and Tyne. From Hillgate on the Gateshead side of the Tyne the Newcastle skyline on the far side of the river and the Swing Bridge and nearby Tyne Bridge. A mural depicts the Roman’s building a bridge, possibly the first to cross the Tyne. The Arches, part of Newcastle University and the Museum of Antiquities nearby. Inside expert Lindsay Allison-Jones is interviewed by Don McGuire about the Roman bridge over the Tyne. As she speaks various Roman exhibits on display in the museum as well as views of the current Swing Bridge where the Roman bridge was located. Lindsay points out two Roman alters dedicated to Neptune and Oceanus which were believed to have once stood on the bridge itself. Standing beside a display case Lindsay talks about some of the items recovered from the site of the bridge which are now on display including an oak bridge pile which she handles wearing a white glove. A model on display of the Medieval bridge crossing the Tyne changes to the Side with the railway bridge towering overhead. At the base of the bridge is ‘Dog Leap Antiques’, inside an interview with proprietor Norman MacDonald about local bridges. As he speaks various painting, drawings and photographs of local bridges both in the window display and around the shop. Norman holds up and a drawing of a bridge built in Exhibition Park over the lake changing to a family feeding the ducks on the lake today. As Norman is asked where his shop was before the Side archival footage of a row of shops alongside a painted scene, he advises is on Percy Street where his families once had a shop. The image changes to a modern bank now built on the site. The model of the Medieval bridge again crossing the Tyne with both the River Tyne and Newcastle skyline now visible. Flashing lights and the sound of thunder are used to illustrate The Great Flood of 1771 which saw the destruction of the bridge. As the narrator continues the story fast flowing river water passing under a stone bridge is followed by a series of paintings and drawing showing the aftermath of the flooding and the destruction it wrought. Plans of a temporary replacement known as Town Bridge changes to show a group of school children sitting on the floor writing about the Blue Stone, a boundary stone between the jurisdiction of the Corporation of Newcastle and the Palatinate of the Bishop of Durham that is set into the walks of the Tyne Bridge. On the corner of the Side and Sandhill is Hanrahan’s restaurant, in its cellar an interview with John Ord Principal Chief at the restaurant about the remaining three Medieval bridge arches that are there. He is asked about parts of the old Roman bridge which are also believed to be in the cellar, they also discuss the importance of a door at the back of the cellar which is believe leads to the local mortuary. On Sandhill Bessie Surtees House with the camera focusing in on a plaque above the entrance door. To illustrate the story of Elizabeth ‘Bessie’ Surtees elopement with John Scott a drawing of the scene of her escape and a photograph of the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas where the couple were later married for a second time. Inside Bessie Surtees House Don McGuire speaks with English Heritage custodian Kathryn Thompson about the house and the families who have lived there. As she speaks drawings and paintings are used to help illustrate her comments as well as additional views of the house both inside and out. Kathryn and Don walk over to examine two large ornate fireplaces and an overmantel featuring three coasts of arms. Upstairs in the attic, now the architect office for English Heritage, Kathryn talks about the work done by the charity in looking after 120 properties in the region. She also talks about the room itself as well as some of its features which isn’t part of the original house but built as part of restoration work done in the 1930s by Lord Gort. From one of the windows in the attic panoramic views of the house. A portrait of Sir John Marley, a coal owner, and Queen Elizabeth I who granted him permission to open a mine. Drawing and photographs of local coal mines, collier ships and Keelmen working to transport the coal from the riverside to waiting ships. The Sandgate area of Newcastle with traffic travelling around a roundabout near The Barley Mow bar on City Road, in the distance across the Tyne the Baltic Flour Mill. The Newcastle Quayside from the Gateshead side of the Tyne with Newcastle Crown Court and the tower of the Keelmens Hospital in the distance. Construction work is currently underway along the quayside as part of the area’s re-development. Across the road from the Keelmens Hospital on City Road an older man talks to a younger one about the building history. A tablet on the front of the hospital gives a construction date of 1701, below the two men wall past along the pavement. More drawings of coal mines and staithes built along the Tyne as well as images showing the development of horse dawn wagonways and later steam locomotives. At the Bowes Railway at Springwell near Gateshead the incline railway in operation pulling several coal wagons along a steep railway track. Superimposed over the footage an exhibition relating to the railway inside its museum. A photograph of Locomotion No. 1 at Darlington Bank Top Station changes to a replica of the engine. A picture of George Stephenson with his family changes to those of his Rocket engine built for the Rainhill Trials in 1829. A replica of both Stephenson’s Rocket and Timothy Hackworth’s Sans Pareil working in tandem along a section of track at the Bowes Railway. Another model of the Gateshead side of the Tyne is followed by a second of Oakwellgate railway station and surrounds as it was in the 19th century intercut with views of the same site today. The remaining buildings and stables of the station now form part of a scrap metal yard. Plans showing proposed railway bridges crossing the Tyne including the High-Level Bridge designed by Robert Stephenson are followed by a series of illustrations and drawings of the bridge when it opened in 1849. From the Quayside a bus travels across the lower road deck of the bridge with the railway line above. Archive footage of a horse-bus travelling around Newcastle changes back to contemporary footage of the High-Level as well as Swing and Tyne bridges as seen from an elevated position on the Newcastle side. A model railway with two steam locomotives travelling around the track in opposite directions. A diesel model locomotive travels around the track changing to the modern railway line crossing the High-Level Bridge into Newcastle featuring overhead electric cabling. Several 19th century painting of Newcastle Central Station are intercut with contemporary views of the station itself both inside and out. As the narrator tells the story of the opening by Queen Victoria, her statue in St Nicholas Square. More drawing and archival photographs of Newcastle in the mid-19th century are used to illustrate the Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead in October 1854. In the wall outside St Mary’s Church in Gateshead a memorial stone to the fire. Views of the exterior of the church featuring the Tyne Bridge in the near distance. A sign for Philips the fine art auctioneers stands in the churchyard, inside the church customers look over tables of China and other table wear. Back along the Gateshead quayside the Swing Bridge changes to photographs of its engine built at the nearby Elswick works of William Armstrong. More photographs of large calibre naval guns being made at the Elswick Works along with historic postcards of the works themselves along the Tyne where ships are being fitted with their armaments. More drawings and paintings of the Tyne are used to illustrate the demolition of the Town Bridge in the 1860s as well as images of both the newly constructed Swing Bridge which opened in 1876 and the nearby Dunstan Staithes. Inside the Discovery Museum models of ships built at the Elswick Works on display in cabinets followed by photographs of ships travelling along the Tyne passing through the opened Swing Bridge. In the Pilot House on the Swing Bridge itself custodian George Fenwick starts the procedure for opening it. He pushes the buttons on a control panel that sounds an alarm for road traffic advising that the bridge is to be opened. A line of cars sit behind a barrier as the swing part of the bridge begins to move. In the Engine Room hydraulic engines in operation while back on the bridge itself a boat passes through the gap below. Back in the Pilot House George Fenwick takes control bringing the bridge movement to a stop back in its original position. The barriers go up and traffic once again begins to cross the Tyne. More archival photographs of people using the Swing Bridge with the narrator telling stories of some of the more interesting Tyneside characters associated with it such as Cuckoo Jack who was paid to collect bodies from the river. The film ends further upstream along the Tyne nearer to the Blaydon Bridge, in the distance a train crosses the High-Level Bridge into Newcastle. Title: Our thanks to Blandford House Museum, Bowes Railway Museum, British Rail, English Heritage, Hanrahan’s, Joicey Museum, J&R Jennings, Laing Art Gallery, Mansion House, Newcastle University, Newcastle Keep, Philips, Port of Tyne, Shipcote Gallery, Title: A. Campbell, G. Cummin, N. MacDonald Credit: Production Team Fred Cowling, Bill Ferguson, John Gee, Geoff Mellor, Don McGuire, Jack Mills End title: The End 1993