The Day The City Split In Two / A River Full Of Stories
We were fascinated by the sheer power of the tugs on the Humber when we were lucky enough to be shown round SMS Towage Limited - both inside the vessels and in the dry dock - in the preparations for Open Bridges in 2017. SMS Superman was one of the tugs which attended the event, … Continue reading Working Life On Board The Tugs
Keith and Trevor Reminisce Former lighterman Keith Eastwood and Trevor Branton reminisce about thier working lives as lightermen on the River Hull. Filmed for Open Bridges, A River Full of Stories. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti1cb-jMH3s&list=PL74mcE0JPVbl-HQARP2xEpD_7XiTC9v2M&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk4olOXR0nU&list=PL74mcE0JPVbl-HQARP2xEpD_7XiTC9v2M&index=38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ofZypYvPeo&list=PL74mcE0JPVbl-HQARP2xEpD_7XiTC9v2M&index=31 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_AYmYTL48I&list=PL74mcE0JPVbl-HQARP2xEpD_7XiTC9v2M&index=26 Rich and Lou Duffy-Howard
Dean's Marine John Dean who owns the last working dry dock on the River Hull, Dean's Marine, in conversation about his working life on the river, for A River Full of Stories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR7PeAgsraw&list=PL74mcE0JPVbl-HQARP2xEpD_7XiTC9v2M&index=41 Working life on the River Hull: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd6W9PyxsEg&list=PL74mcE0JPVbl-HQARP2xEpD_7XiTC9v2M&index=1&t=192s Rich and Lou Duffy-Howard
John Whittles' Story John Whittles on the restored heritage barge MV Syntan talks about working on the River Hull, for A River Full of Stories. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkIL4TJ4YnE&list=PL74mcE0JPVbl-HQARP2xEpD_7XiTC9v2M&index=34 Gallery of Rich's photos taken on the MV Syntan with John at the helm, for the Open Bridges trial run. Find out more about the Syntan: https://openbridgeshull.com/motor-barge-syntan/ Rich and … Continue reading Working on the MV Syntan
Family on Board Janet Anderson nee Webster in conversation about life growing up in a family working and living on the River Hull. Janet’s family – the Websters – have been connected to the River Hull for over 250 years. One of ten children, the oldest four were all brought up on a barge before … Continue reading Womens’ Working Lives on the River
Les Reid's commute to work to the Heritage Barge Leicester Trader on his workboat 'Ruffian' Newark's unique Heritage Barge 'Leicester Trader' is the last Trent size cargo barge built to fit the old locks of the Trent Navigation Company, and registered in Hull. Saved from being scrapped in 2008 and renovated by Les and a … Continue reading A Different Commute to Work
Woodwards Propellers Woodwards have been marine specialists in propeller manufacture and repair and stern gear for vessels in Hull for 100 years. Moving from Keighley to Salthouse Lane in Hull in the 1920s, surviving the blitz and moving to Lime Street with a birth on the river post war they have recently moved to offices … Continue reading Woodwards Propellers
A Steam Power Station Sculcoates power station was in operation from 1898 to 1976, with the cooling tower lasting another three years before being demolished. The plant towered over Sculcoates and can be seen in many photographs of the time, looming on the horizon. During the 1950s the plant employed about 260 staff. The photograph … Continue reading Sculcoates Power Station
Black & White Weekly, Saturday April 22, 1893 Probably before this issue comes into the hands of our readers, the great labour war which has been raging in Hull with such bitterness will be at an end, and employers and employed will be pretty much where they were before. Ostensibly the Hull Dockers have been … Continue reading The Great Strike at Hull
A Postcard from Hull The story starts with a postcard of Monument Bridge.There are many unposted and unwritten postcards of the time, but this one looked different, a bit posh with an embossed wood effect frame and an image of the bridge with the Wilberforce monument in its original position with new City Hall and … Continue reading Milly Bugler
A Commute from West to East Researching the Open Bridges project over the last few years we’ve come across a quite a few old glass plate negatives of the River Hull, and city either side of the river, which have needed some painstaking restoration work to get them to the point of being good enough … Continue reading Going to Work
Thanks to Pig Hill magazine for inviting us to write a feature for last year's winter issue. Pig Hill is a super high quality printed magazine covering politics, poetry, art, music and opinion. It was interesting to write about Open Bridges for a national magazine. We had to explain elements of it which are obvious … Continue reading Pig Hill
Rank Hovis by Andy Hazell This photograph didn’t quite fit into either of the previous posts of photographs of the River Hull by Andy Hazell, and it’s such an evocative image we thought it warranted a post all by itself. Taken with both Rank Hovis and the Shotwell building still operating late into the night, … Continue reading Andy Hazell – Rank Hovis
Part 2 Andy lived in Grosvenor Mill overlooking Scott Street Bridge between 1988 and 1999 and recently sent us another set of his remarkable photographs: “It is minus 18 here and being outside isn't much fun. So I have found another box of mislabelled slides and found the River Hull illuminated by the late shift … Continue reading The River Hull and Yorkshire Dry Dock at night by Andy Hazell
Part 1 Andy Hazell is a Public Artist, Automatist, Photographer, Film-Maker and friend, who’s been a supporter and advocate of the Open Bridges project from the beginning. Andy contributed a chapter to our book, A River Full of Stories, about his life and times living at Grosvenor Mill - a four storey linseed crushing mill … Continue reading From Grosvenor Mill and the River Hull by Andy Hazell
These photographs are by the late George Parkes and are held at Hull History Centre. The copyright belongs to the heirs of George Parkes. The restoration and re-processing of the original slides are by Richard Duffy-Howard and are licenced from, and with thanks to, Hull University Archives. If you have any information regarding George and … Continue reading George Parkes: Old Harbour Bridges and Barges
The New River Ancholme is a tributary of the Humber Estuary. The river drains the Ancholme Valley in North Lincolnshire, that lies between Ermine Street to the west and the North Lincolnshire Wolds to the east. It runs straight and north for 17 miles from Harlam Hill Lock in the south below Snitterby Carrs to … Continue reading Bridges over the River Ancholme
Painted Bridges - Mark Rodgers Mark is a traditional painter. Traditional in the sense that he paints 'en plein air' or in situ, outdoors, with easel, paint and brushes, open to the elements, stuck in the same place for hours and vulnerable to the interest and attention of passers by. Here Mark entertainingly recollects painting … Continue reading Mark Rodgers – Painted Bridges
The Limmer and Trinidad Lake Asphalt Company, Sutton Road and Bridge c1965 This remarkable set of photographs show road surface and bridge repairs and views from the bridge taken by an interested resident, circa 1965. The asphalt is being laid by the Limmer and Trinidad Lake Asphalt Company, who have a long history. The pitch … Continue reading Sutton Road – Road and Bridge Repairs 1965
Millennium Bridge by Qualter Hall Qualter Hall & Company were the lead MEICA engineering contractor for Scale Lane and Millennium Bridges and designed, built and installed the upgraded replacement drive mechanisms for Hull’s Tidal Barrier between 2008 and 2010. Thanks to George and Lisa at Qualter Hall, who have contributed the plans and technical drawings … Continue reading 43 Qualter Hall – Millennium Bridge
We've now posted all 42 of the 'Hull's River Bridges' chapters we had planned for this year's Heritage Open Days festival. Thank you to all our contributors, everyone who has followed the project throughout Heritage Open Days and beyond and to Charlotte and the Heritage Open Days team and Christine & John Netherwood (HODs in … Continue reading Thank you!
Hull's River Bridges: The Impounding of the River Hull - Lutyens & Abercrombie A Plan for the City and County of Kingston Upon Hull "The River Hull is just as important as a "highway" for commerce as the roads and railways are highways serving the public, and as such the planner is concerned with its … Continue reading 42 The Future – in 1945
Hull's River Bridges: The Broken Orchestra The Broken Orchestra is a UK-based creative collective, founded by musicians and producers Pat Dooner and Carl Conway-Davis in Hull around 2010. Originally an experimental studio project, it has evolved into a multidisciplinary ensemble creating ambient soundscapes, soundtracks, audio walking tours, sci-fi dramas, and live performances. Fair Winds and … Continue reading 39 The Broken Orchestra
Hull South Bridge Company 1886 South Bridge is somewhat of an enigma. It crossed the river roughly where the tidal barrier is, as can be traced through Victoria Dock's South Bridge Road to link the east with the pier and ferries and markets of the west. It was built for the passage of pedestrians, horse … Continue reading 20 South Bridge
Hull's River Bridges: Engines and Insects - Richard Duffy-Howard Engines and Insects started life with the hydraulics in the spine of Scale Bridge in 2017. The idea is not new. The premise follows the famous 20th century fashion photographer Horst P Horst. Away from the high glamour and sensual sophistication of taking photographs for Vogue, Horst’s … Continue reading 25 Richard Duffy-Howard – Engines and Insects
Hull's River Bridges: Millennium Swing Bridge Millennium Bridge is a bicycle and pedestrian single leaf, fan arranged cable-stayed, bascule bridge. (Source: Structurae) It is situated just south of where the earlier South Bridge was located and joins the Victoria Dock estate in East Hull with Victoria Pier, Humber Street and the marina in the west. The … Continue reading 19 Millennium Bridge
Hull's River Bridges: Nye Parry and Madi Boyd Playing the Bridge was an inventive collaboration which transformed Hull’s Scale Lane Bridge into an interactive musical instrument as part of Hull 2017 City of Culture. It was the idea of bridge architect Jonathan McDowell who recognised that like the Gamelan, the bridge can be played by striking the … Continue reading 33 Playing the Bridge – Part 2
Hull's River Bridges: Myton SWing Bridge 1980 Myton Bridge is a two-span single-pylon cable-stayed steel construction swing bridge designed by Freeman Fox and built by Redpath Dorman Long Ltd. It spans the River Hull at Castle Street carrying six lanes of traffic on the A63 and opened in December 1980. Its main span is 55 metres … Continue reading 18 Myton Bridge
Hull's River Bridges: Jonathan McDowell - Scale Lane Bridge, Design & Construction Some memories of the genesis of the distinctive form of Scale Lane Bridge, which won McDowell+Benedetti and our team the competition for the new bridge back in 2005: "Having worked out that a ‘swing’ bridge would be the most economic type of opening bridge … Continue reading 31 Scale Lane Bridge Construction – Jonathan McDowell
Scale Lane Swing Bridge A good introduction to the latest of Hull's River Bridges, at Scale Lane Staithe, is from the City Council's Tourism page: "The first footbridge of its kind in the world to allow people to ride on it while it opens, the Scale Lane footbridge was officially opened by former Lord Mayor … Continue reading 17 Scale Lane Bridge
Pete Curry and George Parkes Pete Curry was the council’s Structures and Safety Manager and Bridge Engineer who co-ordinated and controlled the raising, closing and swinging of all the bridges for the original Open Bridges event in 2017. We asked Pete if he remembered the events captured from June 1977 by George Parkes in the … Continue reading 23 Drypool Bridge Crashes 1977
Hull's River Bridges: Drypool Bridge, The Engineer 1890 The original bridge linking west and east Hull at Drypool was also known as Salthouse Lane Bridge. The article below, along with the engravings, is the original report as it was published in the Engineer, in London, on the evening of Friday 3rd January 1890. The map of … Continue reading 16 Drypool Bridge – The Engineer 1890
Hull's River Bridges: Nye Parry and Madi Boyd Playing the Bridge was an artistic commission and performance devised by bridge architect Jonathan McDowell and composer Nye Parry who are both Gamelan players – and coordinated here by Hull Gamelan’s Laurence Rugg. Playing the Bridge was a collaboration which transformed Hull’s Scale Lane Bridge into an interactive musical instrument as … Continue reading 32 Playing the Bridge – Part 1
Hull's River Bridges: Old Drypool 1889 There are a number of photographs of the original Drypool bridge, along with wonderful plans and description in the Engineer from 1890. However the images taken by Frank Drasdo, in colour, in the late 1950s, below, are remarkable. Thanks to Dave Drasdo for permission to publish his Uncle Frank's photographs … Continue reading 15 Old Drypool
Hull's River Bridges: Peter Marshall – River Hull’s Bridges 1977 - 1988 We came across photographer Peter Marshall when starting the book A River Full of Stories and discovered, via his Cafe Royal publication The River Hull 1977 - 85, an unrivalled body of work that documents the changing landscape of Hull from the early 1970s … Continue reading 30 Peter Marshall – River Hull’s Bridges 1977 – 1988
Hull's River Bridges: Drypool Bridge Drypool bridge is a Scherzer-type rolling bascule bridge, constructed in 1961 to replace the earlier bridge from 1889. The first image below shows the plan for the new bridge as presented to Parliament for approval between 1951 and 1952. The plans have been restored from scans of the originals, and in … Continue reading 14 Drypool Bridge
HHull's River Bridges: Angus Young - My Favourite BRIDge There’s something about a river and its bridges which fascinates me. Perhaps it’s because I grew up in Gateshead and would gaze in awe at the trendy Five Bridges Hotel every time we passed it on the bus heading for Newcastle on the other side of the … Continue reading 40 Angus Young – North Bridge
Hull's River Bridges: The New North Bridge Monday 10th August, 1931 In 1926 Parliament gave the go-ahead for the construction of a new four track bridge to be built on the straight line of a new street from Charlotte Street to Witham. The new street was called George Street. George Street, Charlotte Street and North Bridge, … Continue reading 13 The New North Bridge – A Souvenir 1931
Hull's River Bridges: Between Bridges - Les Reid Les Reid runs Newark’s unique Heritage Barge ‘Leicester Trader’. It is the last Trent size cargo barge built to fit the old locks of the Trent Navigation Company. Saved from being scrapped in 2008 and renovated by Les and a group of local barge aficionados, the dumb barge … Continue reading 36 Les Reid – Between Bridges
North Bridge 1870 The old North Bridge was given a nice send off in the Souvenir Programme of the new North Bridge on 10th August 1931, it read: "The existing North Bridge over the River Hull is on the main artery of communication from West Hull to East Hull and Holderness. It is supplemented by … Continue reading 12 Old North Bridge
Hull's River Bridges: Painting the Bridges in 1966 by Fred Leason “I was a painter for Hull Corporation for about six years or so, in the sixties. I painted anything. Parks was a good job, swings and roundabouts, the boats in East Park. I painted the girders in the roof of the indoor market. And the five … Continue reading 29 Fred Leason – Painting the Bridges 1966
Hull's River Bridges: The New North Bridge 1931 North Bridge is a Scherzer rolling bascule bridge, designed by City Engineer, T Thomas in 1927, built by the Widnes Foundry (1925) Ltd., with Sculcoates firm Sangwin contracted for the tramway. It opened on Monday 10th August 1931, for motor transport, trams and foot crossings. We've restored the … Continue reading 11 North Bridge
Hull's River Bridges: Moments in Time - Music for a celebration... "I was commissioned by Lou and Richard Duffy-Howard to write a work for the Open Bridges event in 2017. The only requirement was its duration of 20 minutes and 17 seconds, reflecting the date and timing of the first performance. Its inception came whilst I … Continue reading 38 John Stead – Moments in Time
Hull's River Bridges: Andy Hazell - Hull Fast Film 1992 and Grosvenor Mill “A long time ago I bought a four storey linseed crushing mill on the River Hull, Grosvenor Mill. It was built in 1828 and is a ‘loosely organised pile of bricks’. Ships and barges used to bring chemicals and oils to the factories … Continue reading 27 Andy Hazell – Scott Street and Hull Fast Film
Hull's River Bridges: Scott Street Bridge The original Scott Street Bridge plans date from 1900 and show a beautiful attention to detail. The diagram showing access to the nose bolt locking mechanism by use of Simon D40 hydraulic platform with west cantilever raised through angle of 30° is circa 1983. The photographs below the plans show … Continue reading 10 Scott Street Bridge
Hull's River Bridges: Sculcoates, The Engineer, April 1875 This article was published in the Engineer, in London on the evening of April 2nd 1875 and is reproduced here along with the two original engravings. The aerial photographs of the bridge, below the article, are from 1937 and 1947, and the map above is from 1891 and … Continue reading 9 Sculcoates Bridge – The Engineer 1875
Hull's River Bridges: Keith and Trevor - Lightermen Keith and Trevor were Lightermen. They both joined the lighterage in Hull in 1960 and operated dumb barges (lighters), that is a barge without an engine and with only a pole to steer it, taking dry cargoes from the docks to the mills and wharfs on the river … Continue reading 26 A Lighterman’s View – Keith Eastwood and Trevor Branton
Hull's River Bridges: Open Bridges The Day the City Split in Two We commisioned Humber Film Creative Community and Octovision Media to make the Open Bridges film. It was filmed by 16 film makers who captured each bridge movement and from the MV Syntan as she sailed from Beverley to Hull on the night of the … Continue reading 28 Humber Film – Open Bridges 2017
Hull's River Bridges: Sculcoates Bridge 1875 “In exercise of powers vested in them by the ‘Local Government Supplemental Act 1871 (No.4)’, the Board of Trade approve of the bridge which the Kingston-Upon-Hull Local Board of Health propose to construct across the River Hull, as shown by the plan and sections on this drawing and on the … Continue reading 8 Sculcoates Bridge
Hull's River Bridges: Gary Saunt's Dreamscapes Gary Saunt is a son of Grimsby, where in his youth he worked in the family smoke house business. He spent some of his free time in amateur boxing, however, his abiding interest had always been drawing and painting and he started Art School in 1967. He subsequently went on … Continue reading 37 Gary Saunt – Dreamscapes