A postcard with a view of the Newport Bridge, Stockton. Date unknown
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A postcard with a view of the Newport Bridge, Stockton. Date unknown
In response to an earlier query I can confirm that the Newport Bridge definitely “belongs” to Stockton and is administered by the Highways Network and Transport Agency, The Transporter is looked after by people from Middlesbrough Council.
The Highways Agency got together with a local company the prosaically named, Stainton Lighting,, based at Billingham Reach who do display lighting. They have installed special LED lighting on the Newport Bridge which is put on special occasions. It is an extremely well engineered and well thought out arrangement. Staintons have also done much of the new lighting in Stockton High Street.
My guess is that this picture was taken soon after the bridge opened in 1934. In 1961 my first proper job was as a trainee metallurgist at Dorman Long. They had a building which was just to the right of the photograph and was called Central Research. One of the main topics was the plastic coating of steel. The practical work went on in a group of buildings which were about a quarter of a mile on the downstream side of the bridge. These cannot be seen, as they are behind those on the front of the river. By 1961 the buildings in the picture had been demolished, and the area had been grown over with grass and scrub. I am also sure that the cabin and crane on the right hand side of the picture had disappeared. I suspect that they were used in the bridge construction.
Yes Mike, you”re right. Stockton, Billingham etc was/is County Durham while Thornaby, Middlesbrough is Yorkshire. Strange though, how Port Clarence is North of the Tees but is referred to in some maps as being part of Middlesbrough and I THINK it has a Middlesbrough postcode as well.
West side of the bridge, left as you view the picture, stood in Durham. Whilst the other side was on Yorkshire soil. I belive that the boundary follows the course of the Tees, right down the middle of the river.
Someone please correct me if what I think is wrong, but I have always considered Newport Bridge to be located in Middlesbrough as opposed to Stockton. Which is right??, and where is the boundary between Stockton and Middlesbrough
I remember the day in 1990, lots of people stood on the bridge and it was raised and lowered several times.
This is definitely the Newport bridge with the road section raised in this photograph for a vessel to pass under, probably on its way to or from Stockton Quay or the Flour Mill. In those far off days before they built the Tees Viaduct, when the Transporter and Newport bridges were the only crossing points from Billingham into Middlesbrough the sight of it raising as I approached it on my way to work at Jordisons on Cargo Fleet lane would bring some special curses. A colossal number of man hours must have been lost with rush hour traffic held up as far back as what is now the Portrack interchange and sometimes further. I was there with the crowds when it was raised for the last time in November 1990. Both bridges were great pieces of engineering providing needed crossings on the Tees and deserve their iconic status but for me and many others in the late 1950″s and 60,s getting to work some days could be a bit of a lottery, the wind could stop the Transporter and a cargo on the river could bring traffic on the approaches to the Newport Bridge to a standstill.
YES IT IS NEWPORT BRIDGE, THE GAS HOLDER SHOWING IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER WAS IN CANNON STREET FOR YEARS, IF MY MEMORY SERVES ME RIGHT.
Barry Jones – Barry yes it is, before it was permanently sealed into a non lift bridge in 1990. The control cabin can be seen in the centre of the raised span.
Is this the Newport Bridge?