TODAY'S Object of the Week is a bridge - a very wobbly bridge, but also a very special bridge.
The Wynch Bridge, in Upper Teesdale, is perhaps the most exciting way to cross the roaring River Tees by foot.
It hangs from a couple of wires which have been fired across a sheer-sided rocky channel.
It swings and sways with every step, the dangling planks which support your weight hanging by a thread.
The stucture, near Bowlees to the west of Middleton-in- Teesdale, is Britain’s first suspension bridge of any kind.
It was first built in 1741 so that leadminers living at Holwick, on the Yorkshire side of the river, could cross over the Low Force waterfall and reach Bowlees.
That bridge was very rudimentary. It had just a single handrail to cling on to, and the chains holding it up were handmade. It was 60ft across and about 20ft above the rock-filled water, which was more than 8ft deep.
Thirty years later, the Great Flood of 1771 washed it away.
So it was rebuilt - this time with two handrails.
However, it was still precarious. Barnard Castle solicitor and historian William Hutchinson wrote of it in his 1776 book about Teesdale.
He was so concerned that he didn’t dare venture across, remarking that the bridge “is planked in such a manner that the traveller experiences all the tremulous motion of the chain and sees himself suspended over a roaring gulf on an agitated, restless gangway, to which few strangers dare trust themselves”.
And he was right. The second Wynch Bridge collapsed in 1802 under the weight of a party of nine men and two women.
Three men were thrown into the Tees. Two splashed safely into the water, but a third named Bainbridge was “dashed to pieces” on a rock.
In about 1830, with the financial assistance of the Duke of Cleveland, of Raby Castle, near Staindrop, the bridge was rebuilt once more.
The Earl moved the anchors ten metres upstream – away from the cascades which form Low Force – and erected metal pillars from which to suspend the chains.
It is this bridge, a Grade II* Listed Building, which still carries people over the river.
A sign advises that no more than two people at a time should be on it, and even then it shivers and shakes in an unsettling manner.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You can also follow our dedicated County Durham Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.
For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.
Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel