ANYONE FOR BRIDGE? FORMER HALCROW ENGINEER PENS SPECIALIST ENCYCLOPAEDIA
G
The original Wearmouth Bridge, built in 1796
iven the everyday importance of bridges, these vital structures have been surprisingly uncelebrated in music and literature.
An open road rolling into the distance always gets rock stars’ hearts and guitar strings singing. But the poor old bridge, that engineering beast of burden, seems to be sadly neglected. Pontist (bridge lover) supreme David
“WITHOUT DOUBT THIS IS A MAJOR BOOK OF BRITISH TRANSPORT HISTORY”
McFetrich has made a bold stab at setting the record straight. In his
JOURNAL OF THE RAILWAY AND CANAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY
magnificent Encyclopaedia of Britain’s Bridges, the former Halcrow engineer has gathered up
In 2005, after I retired, I decided to tackle it as a computer-based project.” David’s life-long interest in bridges began
as schoolboy in the 1950s when he was given The World’s Great Bridges by Hubert Shirley Smith. The
the fruit of a lifetime’s enthusiasm and created the most
book’s sweeping, dramatic pictures of bridges – and the
comprehensive record of Britain’s bridges ever collected.
descriptions of the challenges required to build them – played a key role in his decision to become an engineer.
The most historic, daring, beautiful – even the most ugly – bridges in Britain are included among the 1,650 entries
Because of the sheer impact of Britain’s largest bridges,
in the book. Almost half of the bridges were visited and
there is an inevitable temptation to focus on these, to the
photographed by David personally. For others, he delved
detriment of other smaller structures. David pays his dues
extensively into his collection of 500 books and pamphlets
to such modern-day giants as the HS1 Medway Viaduct
about bridges.
(2003) but also looks with a fond eye on the quirky and historic entries.
“The book is aimed at the general public but it should also be of great interest to professionals,” said David. “I
“The oldest bridges I mention are the Roman bridges at
originally had the idea for the project about 40 years ago,
Chollerford (AD125) and Corbridge (AD160) which are
but the prospect of creating a card index was too daunting.
sadly no longer in existence,” he said. “One of the oldest
58 ◆ Vox ◆ projects and people