Spanning the years on Tweed bridge
When the climate closes in, and many of my favourite country walks are made difficult by mud, ice or snow, or maybe even when I feel like a change, the Grey Hooligan and I enjoy a quiet sheltered walk along the old A7 road at Sunderland Hall.
We are not alone in that respect and enjoy meeting other walkers, renewing acquaintances that often as not lead to brief interludes of mutual dog admiration, which is so very good for the ego of dogs and their doting owners.
Ancient bridges cross the Ettrick and Tweed at the ends of the road, affording a chance to gaze down on these rivers in a peaceful contemplation free of the noise and hazards of modern traffic. Watching a river as it flows can be very good for easing the problems of day-to-day living.
Now, after what seems like a long, long time, the authorities have decided the Tweed Bridge, that is, the one nearer Galashiels, is falling apart. Bits are falling off and one section is now so risky it is guarded by temporary barriers which will in time be there so long they could end up listed as ancient monuments. I have noticed this gradual deterioration over the past 10 to fifteen years on my walks over the 15, and I have always paid close attention to the section that is now cordoned off. I’ll tell you why.
In recent news reports, some say the bridge was taken out of use in 1971, which is a load of cobblers. I was still driving over it even after 1973, about the time the new road and bridge were built. My chief recollection is that drivers of the excellent Triumph 2.5 Pi traffic patrol cars operated by the Berwick, Roxburgh and Selkirkshire Constabulary could in cases of great emergency achieve a top speed of about 110 mph on the level straight between the two bridges, more in the case of a certain Constable G Legge who in his day could always find a little extra!
Other constables also worked the sneaky trick of using radar speed detection equipment half way along the straight to deter ordinary citizens attempting similar velocities; to a man they were a devious lot.
But one incident sticks in my mind. On a cold misty morning in winter during the early seventies, I was called to a single-vehicle accident on the Tweed Bridge.
The driver of a medium sized articulated lorry, running empty, travelling towards Galashiels was making his approach to the bridge when he was met by a car from the opposite direction, and the bridge roadway was too narrow, so the lorry driver was forced to take avoiding action.
This was successful in that it avoided a collision with the car, which made good its escape, but just when the driver thought he had got away with it, the nearside wheels of the artic trailer clipped the parapet of the bridge with a muckle dunt, neatly shearing away the entire assembly from the axle, dumping the hub, wheels and so forth in the haugh below.
It took a fair amount of work to recover the vehicle using a huge breakdown truck from Hunters of Gordon, while I got on with the wordy task of recording the circumstances of the accident in great detail. Some of those details were automatically passed to the County Council (remember them?) who I suppose checked the bridge and made a claim against the owners of the lorry.
So far so good; still with me? The point of impact between the trailer wheels and the bridge was more or less centred on the section of bridge parapet now in a poor state, so I am wondering if the collision was such as to initiate a gradual collapse of the internal structure at that part.
I remember looking carefully at the parapet after the collision and being surprised to see no significant damage apart from the odd scrape or two. It might be the that damage was deep seated and, aided by several decades of weather and use, is now playing its trump card.
Maybe SBC has records that go back that far and can trace that lorry driver who, I recall was a pleasant individual, though the name of his firm is well lost in the fog of memory.
Whatever the case, it will be a terrible pity if the bridge eventually falls while two public bodies indulge in a petty squabble over ownership and the cost of repairs. After all, if SBC can chip in for the cost of a new building at Abbotsford that looks like a bus shelter on steroids, surely it can find a few quid for this worthy cause.
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Weather for Selkirk
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 7 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
