River Tyne Sunset

Gosforth Camera Club (of which I've been a member since last September) had a very enjoyable group walk around Newcastle city centre this evening, starting in Chinatown and wending its way eventually to the Quayside. This meant that I had a range of photos to choose from for today's blip, but I eventually settled on this shot. Several of the people in the photo are fellow photographers (not the guy on the bike though!).

The bridge in the foreground is the King Edward VII Railway Bridge. Before it was opened in 1906, trains used the High Level Bridge to reach Newcastle Central Station from the south, entering it at its east end. If terminating there and returning south they had to leave the station in the same direction they entered, which involved the tedious task of reversing. The construction of the King Edward VII Bridge provided four more rail tracks across the river at the opposite (west) end of the station, thereby producing a direct line through the station and enabling trains to enter or leave from either end, thus easing rail congestion. The bridge was opened by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra 10 July 1906. The total cost was over £500,000.

The modern bridge in the background is the Redheugh Road Bridge, opened on 18 May 1983 by the Princess of Wales. The total cost of this bridge was £15,350,000. It replaced the earlier 1901 road bridge which apparently had serious design flaws and was becoming unsafe.

(The iconic Tyne Bridge is downstream (east) from here, ie it was behind me when I took the photo, as was the High Level Bridge.)