We are delighted to announce the publication of our second book, Spanning the Centuries – an anthology of essays reflecting the influence and heritage of Union Bridge to celebrate its Bicentenary. Assembled and edited by our Patron, Professor Roland Paxton, it includes chapters on the Bridge itself; sophisticated radar examination of its anchors, the Pontypridd works of Brown Lenox, which supplied the chains; the influence of the Bridge on the Brooklyn Bridge, New York and the Akashi Straits Bridge in Japan with the world’s longest span, the life and work of the Norwegian road-master George Johnson; the Union Bridge restoration project and outreach; the forthcoming restoration works and the reflections of a local resident on growing up beside the world’s oldest road suspension bridge.
Spanning the Centuries – 80 pages with over 100 illustrations, many in colour, is available from the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge (Chain Bridge House, Horncliffe, Berwick-upon-Tweed TD15 2XT) at £7.50 plus £2 post within the UK postal area. We welcome overseas orders; please enquire about overseas payment and postage rates from unionbridgefriends@gmail.com
Samuel Brown and Union Chain Bridge by our late Patron, Gordon Miller and his long-time friend and colleague Stephen K Jones, is still available. At 300 pages and with 135 photographs, drawings and facsimile documents, including three colour plates, the book’s chapters cover an historical introduction, Samuel Brown’s naval career and engineering enterprises, the need for the Union Bridge and the reason for suspension, the proposed and final designs, contract and completion, the Grand Opening, and the continuing story of the Bridge from 1820 to its last major restoration in the 1970s; concluding with a fascinating chapter on the Chainworks of Brown Lenox and an Epilogue covering the efforts of the local community to have the Bridge fully repaired and restored before its bicentenary.
Samuel Brown and Union Chain Bridge costs £17.50 – from Friends of the Union Chain Bridge; (postage £3.50 in the UK). We welcome overseas orders: please enquire about overseas payment and postage rates from unionbridgefriends@gmail.com
Our descriptive leaflet on the Bridge and Samuel Brown is available free of charge; please just send a stamped self-addressed DL envelope to the address below; and we’ll also include an informative leaflet by the Institution of Chartered Engineers, on Historic Border Bridges, which would act a guide for a short Bridges Trail from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Coldstream.
We also have good quality A5 full-colour cards of Alexander Nasmyth’s painting of the Union Chain Bridge (the original is on view in Paxton House) which is available from the address below. Please send your name, address and 4 2nd class stamps.
The Friends of the Union Chain Bridge, Chain Bridge House, Horncliffe, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 2XT