NZ2563 : The Tyne, The Swing Bridge and The High Level Bridge seen from Newcastle Castle
taken 4 years ago, near to Gateshead, England

The River Tyne is 100 miles long and flows generally eastward towards its mouth at Tynemouth just east of Newcastle. The River has two sources. The South Tyne rises on Alston Moor and the North Tyne rises north of Kielder Water.
Wikipedia: Link![]()
The Swing Bridge is a Grade II* listed structure connecting Newcastle and Gateshead across the Tyne.
It stands on the site of the Old Tyne Bridges of 1270 and 1781. The previous bridge on the site was demolished in 1868 to enable larger ships to move upstream to William Armstrong's works. It was designed by Armstrong who paid the £240,000 that it cost. Work began in 1873 and it was first used for road traffic on 15 June 1876. River traffic first passed through it on 17 July 1876.
It has always been opened using hydraulic power, now derived from electrically driven pumps. The original hydraulic mechanism is still used.
It has an 86 m cantilevered span and can rotate through 360°. In its busiest year, 1924, it operated 6,000 times; currently it is turned only occasionally to allow shipping through and also on the first Wednesday of each month as a maintenance check.
The High Level Bridge is a road and rail bridge linking Newcastle and Gateshead across the River Tyne. It was designed by Robert Stephenson; work started on 12 August 1847 and it was opened on 7 June 1849 and was the first road/rail bridge ever built. It is a Grade I listed structure.
The road carriageway and pedestrian walkways sit under the railway deck. The road crossing the bridge (B1307) is one-way (southbound) due to the narrowing of the carriageway during strengthening works in 2008.
The bridge is 408m long and 12m wide.
