The Hull and Barnsley Railway Swing Bridge
The Hull and Barnsley Railway Swing Bridge was built in 1885 over the River Hull on Bankside. It is still in use, carrying freight to and from King George and Queen Elizabeth Docks. The bridge and its operating cabin are Grade II listed.
The bridge can be seen fleetingly whilst travelling down Bankside with sections of the old wharfs now mostly inaccessible. We are indebted to the photographers below who provided us with previously unseen views of the bridge.
Historic England describe it as:
“Railway swing bridge spanning the River Hull, and operating cabin. c1885, with mid C20 additions. Riveted steel lattice trussed bowstring span with central roller pivot carried on round cast-iron posts which form a hollow pier. At the north-east end, a pair of panelled brick pedestals with stepped caps. Beyond them, a square operating cabin, 2 stages plus basement. Brick with ashlar dressings and flat roof. Channelled rusticated basement with ashlar cornice, and to north a round-arched doorway with Gibbs surround and multiple keystone in brick. Above, a panelled stage with rusticated quoins and a round-headed window to north. Above again, plain brick C20 stage with a window to west and a blocked window to north. The bridge is complete and in use.”
Hull Railway Bridge: the map dates from 1891 and is reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland
The bridge swings for the Humber Keel Comrade on the 12th April 2019, photograph by Syd Young
āHull Bridge, the former Hull & Barnsley Railway swing bridge over the River Hull which opened in 1885. This view was taken on railway land with permission whilst at work on the railwayā. Taken 08.11.2008. Photographs and text are copyright James Wells and re-published here under licence. [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/]
Railway Bridge as seen from the motor barge Syntan by Richard Duffy-Howard in 2017 for Open Bridges, showing the arrangement of its turntable wheels which, unusually, are carried in bogies.
The photographs, from the left above, from Britain from Above are: the Hull Swing Bridge, Greenland Paint and Colour Works and environs, Sculcoates, 1931; the Ultramarine and Black Lead Works and other factories on Morley Street, Kingston upon Hull, 1930 and factories along the River Hull, Sculcoates, 1931.
Another view of the Railway Swing Bridge and the Control Tower, taken by Syd Young. Looking north you can see the blue cantilevers, and proximity, of Stoneferry Bridges between its girders.
The bridge swings from Bankside taken by George Parkes in the late 70s.
Railway Bridge and barges, early 1970s, including the Lottie May, built by Richard Dunstons at Thorne for James Hargreaves and registered in Hull on 17th October 1953
Railway Bridge 2018 by Mark Leason
A small section of the old Hull and Barnsley Railway line at King George Dock, in Hull, with freight heading towards the bridge over the river on Bankside.
Rich and Lou Duffy-Howard
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