Sunday, September 13, 2015

Sunday Stamps - Bridges over the Tyne

Bridges have been an important feature of Tyneside ever since the Pons Aelius (Hadrian Bridge) was built by the Romans. 

Three of the bridges have been featured on stamps.

From the Millennium projects series in 2000, the newest bridge over the Tyne, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge (2001). You can see the Tyne Bridge in the background.




From the excellent A-Z of Britain set (2012) where the letter T was dedicated to the Tyne Bridge, opened in 1928. You can see three other bridges on this stamp - the low-level Swing Bridge (1876), the High Level Bridge, and the Queen Elizabeth II Metro Bridge (1981). This stamp caused minor controversy in that an old image was used - the Tuxedo Princess, a party boat docked on the Gateshead side of the river, having departed the Tyne in 2008.





And from this year's spectacular Bridges set, the High Level Bridge, which carries rail and road over the river. It opened in 1849, and due to wear and tear and an effort to ensure its survival, road traffic is much reduced, down to one lane one-way for buses and taxis.

I *think* that you can see a tiny bit of the Metro Bridge bottom right in this one.



The only stamp of the three I own is the Millennium one - part of the sets of special stamps issued in 1999 and 2000.

However I have either walked, driven or taken public transport over all of the bridges I've mentioned (as well as a few more, like the Redheugh, Scotswood, and King Edward VII bridges).

See Sunday Stamps for more bridges.

10 comments:

  1. Bridges is a recurrent topic for stamps. But Royal Mail seems to be particularly fond of bridges.
    I like your selection.

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    1. Thanks! Royal Mail does seem to feature them regularly.

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  2. Hurrah! I was hoping someone would show the Tyne Bridge.

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  3. Great stamps! I just now see how each bridge is reflected so totally different in the water. Pity that I'm looking at them from my desk top: I would have liked to turn them upside down :-) (no worries, I'll do so later on my tablet, but at the tablet it is not easy to write comments :-) )

    Thank you for sharing, FinnBadger!

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    1. Yes, the bridges over the Tyne make for scenic photos. The Millenium bridge has other shadows, too, as the entire bridge tilts at least daily (for tourists, I think), as well as at other times to allow ships to pass.

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  4. Wow - so many bridges [on stamps] over the same river!!

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    1. Definitely a great riverscape... on the relatively few days of no cloud, no rain, no fog :)

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  5. A nice selection of Tyne bridges, I've only ever made the mouth of the Tyne so have missed all these glorious bridges, nice to see them on stamps.

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    1. Definitely an interesting walk through late 19th and 20th century engineering history.

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