Foot before foot. One two, one two. Up up up the stairs we rush. Crouched atop a small, thin sheet of metal, coated in a lick of rust. I shiver as a cold wind blows through. Naught; the bridge stands tall, a defiant snicker on a steel face. Before lies a rotting walkway. Safe? A concept: free from danger, out of 'harm's way'. Safety is freedom?

Onward, feet moving along a precarious path. Quick. A thick pipe, otherwise insignificant, becomes a life line. The wood we were on splinters and splits, falling 23 metres into the dark, murky water rushing bellow. Sploosh? The mind turns dark, blanketed. A cold calculated risk; keep on moving!

Measuring L103xW9xH23 metres, it was built in 1905 by William Arrol, after the architect Willaim Henry Hunter. Designed to carry rail vehicles for Messrs Joseph Crosfield & Son Ltd., a large chemical and soap works.


An old photograph taken whilst the bridge was still in use.


103 years later.