Saturday, August 27, 2011

Glasgow: St Andrew's Suspension Bridge




What a lovely footbridge this is! We walked over it a few times the other day and took photos, but couldn’t find the name and it wasn’t on my map. I asked a man who was walking his dog. He became very embarrassed when he told me that he had no idea of the name despite living very close to it for over 50 years! However, we both set off in different directions, found plaques nearby bearing the name and doubled back to inform each other!!

It was built in 1856 for factory workers and replaced a small but very busy ferry across the River Clyde, connecting Glasgow Green to the north and Hutchesontown to the south. The engineer was Neil Robson. The chains, pylons and deck are iron and the four fluted Corinthian columns nearly 20ft high. There is a span of 67 metres.

It has apparently been refurbished many times over the years, the most recent being in 1997 when the timber decking was also replaced.

Painted blue in the colour of the St Andrew’s flag, this is altogether a beautiful bridge and well worth a visit!