The Tyne Bridge

The bridge was completed on 25 February 1928 and opened on 10 October by King George V and Queen Mary, who were the first to use the roadway travelling in their Ascot landau. The Tyne Bridge's towers were built of Cornish granite and were designed as warehouses with five storeys. However, the inner floors of the warehouses in the bridge's towers were not completed and, as a result, the storage areas were never used. Lifts for passengers and goods were built in the towers to provide access to the Quayside, but these are no longer in use. The bridge was originally painted green with special paint made by J. Dampney Co. of Gateshead. The same colours were used to paint the bridge for the year 2000 . The bridge spans 531 feet and the road deck is 84 feet above the river level.

Dad's family are from Newcastle and when we used to go and visit Grandma and Grandad I always used to watch out for the bridge, because I knew were where nearly there. On the way I always used to say "are we there yet" as kids do and Mum used to say can you see the bridge yet ?