Heritage
Swing Bridge 150th anniversary board
An information board on the stone parapet at the Gateshead end of the Swing Bridge, put up for the bridge's 150th anniversary in 2026: how it was built, how it swings, and its history from 1868 to its last swing in 2019.
Last checked · Report a correction
| Address | Gateshead end of the Swing Bridge |
|---|---|
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Confidence | C · confirmed |
Map loads when you scroll here. The links below open it in your own map app.
Where it is
NZ 2526 6366 OS grid · 54.96697, -1.60684
“150 Years of the Swing Bridge”, put up by the Port of Tyne, Newcastle City Council and Gateshead Council, marks the first swing on 17 July 1876, “when the roadway parted ‘silent as the stars’”. It tells how the Tyne Improvement Commission and Armstrong’s of Elswick built the bridge, explains the hydraulic machinery in the centre pier that turns it, and gives the bridge’s numbers: 286,281 swings up to the end of 1981, around 448,000 vessels through, 1,300 tonnes turned on 42 rollers. Armstrong’s own drawing of the bridge, Tyne Improvement Commission drawing no. 147, runs across the bottom above a timeline that ends with its last swing in 2019, “as commercial upriver navigation came to an end”, and the anniversary on 17 July 2026.
The full story, checked against other records, is on our bridges page. A few steps away, at the corner of Bridge Street and Hillgate, the WallQuest board tells of the Roman and medieval bridges on the same crossing.
- The board itself, photographed by Andy, October 2026
- Andy, on the ground (location)