The Battle of Waterloo
Issue Date 18th June 2015

Reason and inspiration:
It is 200 years since one of the most famous battles in British history, that was the culmination of two decades of conflict, and which essentially saw the birth of modern Europe. The Battle was a contest between Napoleon’s army and an Allied army composed of British and German forces under Wellington and Prussian forces under Blucher.

The Waterloo 200 organisation plans a number of commemorative events in June, including a service of thanksgiving in St Pauls Cathedral as well as re-enactments of the battle which will take place in Belgium. The UK government has given £1m towards the commemorations including the first ever monument at the battlefield to the British troops who died, which features the defence of Hougeoumont Farm, as well as funds to restore the buildings there.

Stamp details
The key events and exchanges of the Battle on the day are marked with the six sheet stamps, in chronological order and using paintings made within a few years of the battle.

• Defence of Hougeoumont Farm
• Scots Greys at the charge of the Union Brigade
• Massed ranks of French cavalry (Cuirassiers) charge and repulsed by British infantry squares
• La Hay Saint Farm defence by King’s German Legion
• Prussians arrive and capture of Plancenoit
• The final attack of the French Imperial Guard

We have worked with historians and art historians on this issue. The final stamp is of the large painting that hangs in Apsley House, London and was bought by Duke of Wellington himself.

Stamp Set Price: £6.30 Code: AS12B

Stamp technical details

• Number of stamps: six
• Design: Silk Pearce
• Acknowledgements: Defence of the Chateau de Hougoumont by the Flank Company, Coldstream Guards, 1815 by Denis Dighton, 1815 © National Army Museum London/Bridgeman Images; The Battle of Waterloo: The Charge of the Second Brigade of Cavalry by Denis Dighton, 1815–17, Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2014; Attack on the British Squares by French Cavalry, Battle of Waterloo, 1815 by Denis Dighton, 1815 © National Army Museum London/Bridgeman Images; The Defence of the Farm La Haye Sainte, Battle of Waterloo by Adolf Northen, 1858, Niedersaechsisches Landesmuseum, Hannover © Erich Lessing; Prussian Troops Storm the Village of Plancenoit during the Battle of Waterloo by Adolf Northen, 1863, Kunsthalle, Hamburg © Erich Lessing; The Battle of Waterloo by Sir William Allan, 1843, Apsley House, London © English Heritage
• Stamp Format: landscape
• Stamp Size: 60mm x 30mm
• Number per sheet: 18/36
• Printer: International Security Printers
• Print Process: lithography
• Perforations: 14.5 x 14.5
• Phosphor: bars as appropriate
• Gum: PVA

Miniature Sheet details
The miniature sheet commemorates the rank and file soldiers who fought on the day, of the key nationalities that took part, noting the multinational nature of the conflict

• 92nd Gordon Highlanders
• Light Infantry, King’s German Legion
• Prussian Infantryman
• French Imperial Guard Grenadier

Miniature Sheet Price: £3.92 Code: MZ107

Miniature sheet technical details

• Number of stamps: four
• Design: Webb & Webb Design Limited
• Illustrations: Chris Collingwood
• Acknowledgements: The Battle of Waterloo map engraving by Alexander
• Keith Johnston © Private Collection/The Stapleton
• Collection/Bridgeman
• Miniature sheet size: 146mm x 74mm
• Stamp Format: portrait
• Stamp Size: 27mm x 37mm
• Printer: International Security Printers
• Print Process: lithography
• Perforations: 14 x 14
• Phosphor: bars as appropriate
• Gum: PVA

[press release]

Post & Go Pictorial Stamps – Heraldic Beats

Issue date 13th May 2015
Stamp design and background
Award-winning illustrator and print-maker Chris Wormell was commissioned to create images of the six beasts chosen for this stamp issue. Working closely with Royal Mail and a heraldic expert, he portrayed all of the beasts except the falcon in the ‘passant’ position, that is, facing the viewer’s left and with the right foreleg raised. The brightly coloured background, chosen from a heraldically appropriate palette, adds vibrancy of the images.

Stamp Set with Carrier Card £3.72 Code ZS034
The Heraldic Beasts carrier card, designed by Osborne Ross and written by Jim K Davies, features a brief introduction to the origins of heraldry and a description of each of the six beasts featured on stamps: lion, unicorn, yale, dragon, falcon and griffin. It also describes illustrator Chris Wormell’s method of working and includes sketches he made before tracing them onto lino boards and preparing the final images using traditional tools, hand-printing and Photoshop.

First Day Covers
Inland £4.94 Code: ZF018
Overseas £4.12 Code: ZF018
First Day Envelope 30p Code: ZE017

The filler card includes similar information to that included on the carrier card, except that it features sketches of different beasts.

The alternative handstamp location – Dragonby, Scunthorpe – has been chosen based on its name.

Post & Go Stamps HERALDIC BEASTS Stamp Specifications
Number of stamps: Six
Date of issue: 13 May 2015
Design: Osborne Ross
Acknowledgements: illustrations and sketches by Chris Wormell
Printer: International Security Printers
Process: Gravure
Format: Landscape
Size: 56mm x 25mm
Perforations: Die-cut simulated
Phosphor: Bars as appropriate
Gum: Self-adhesive

Beasts of all persuasions and permutations have appeared on coats of arms and heraldic badges for nearly 900 years. Each has its own particular meaning and significance, but often they include traits demonstrated in battle, such as courage, strength and resilience. One reason for this is that heraldry originally emerged from the need to distinguish participants in combat when their faces were hidden by armour. From these practical beginnings, however, heraldry developed into a complex and sophisticated visual language. Royal Mail’s Post & Go: Heraldic Beasts stamps feature six creatures found in British heraldry as interpreted by Chris Wormell, an English illustrator best known for his distinctive etching and linocut work. The beasts, with the exception of the falcon, are shown ‘passant’ – that is, walking towards the viewer’s left, with the right foreleg raised and the others on the ground. Each painstakingly hand-crafted image occupies a brightly coloured background chosen from a heraldically appropriate palette to add to the vibrancy.

The lion is one of the most familiar ancient heraldic figures, or charges, often representing courage and valour in battle. The king of beasts can also signify Christ or royalty and comes in a bewildering array of poses and variations, from double-headed to crowned, wielding a sword or with a knotted tail.

The unicorn has the body of a horse, the tail of a lion and the legs of a deer – as well as an impressive spiral horn protruding from its face. Known for its virtue, courage and strength, the unicorn was a relative latecomer to the heraldic bestiary, first gaining popularity during the 15th century.

The yale is another mythological hybrid, about the size of a hippopotamus, usually with a goat-like body and the tusks of a boar, although descriptions vary wildly. Most agree on its crowning glory: a pair of large, swivelling horns, perfect for fighting – the reason it came to symbolise ‘proud defence’.

The dragon is a mainstay of heraldry, usually portrayed as a large, ferocious reptilian beast with bat-like wings, a forked tongue and a pointed tail. These fire-spewing creatures are known for their keen sight, power and wisdom – and as zealous guardians of treasure. A two-footed dragon is called a wyvern.

The falcon is one of many birds, actual and imagined, to feature in heraldry. It symbolises majesty and power – as well as someone utterly determined, who does not rest until his or her goal is achieved. Anne Boleyn’s badge bore a crowned falcon with a sceptre, later adopted by her daughter, Queen Elizabeth I.

The griffin has the head, wings and talons of an eagle, fused with the back parts of a lion. It is often depicted with large, leonine ears, which reflect its acute sense of hearing, to go along with other extraordinary powers. As a symbol in heraldry, the griffin stands for strength and vigilance.

ROYAL MAIL POST & GO STAMPS
Post & Go stamps are a new generation of postage available from self-service machines in main Post Offices. The first Post & Go stamps with pictorial designs were introduced in 2010 with a series on British birds. A second series on traditional breeds of farm animals was issued in 2012, followed by a series featuring freshwater life in 2013 and another on British flora in 2014.

[press release]
ROYAL MAIL COMMEMORATES THE BICENTENARY OF ANTHONY TROLLOPE’S BIRTH, THE “GRANDFATHER” OF THE POSTBOX

Royal Mail is commemorating the bicentenary of Anthony Trollope’s birth in 1815 with a limited edition Commemorative Sheet of stamps

The Commemorative Sheet will go on sale on 24 April 2015 – 200 years since Trollope was born

Famous as a novelist, Trollope is also known for introducing freestanding postboxes, or pillar boxes, to the UK from 1852 during his time working at the Post Office. In recognition of this, Royal Mail has created an online “family tree” of postboxes through the ages, with help from the Letter Box Study Group

Postboxes were first erected in London on five streets in 1855. Royal Mail will attach a plaque to a postbox in each of these streets in the capital as part of its Trollope bicentenary celebrations. The streets are: Fleet Street, The Strand, Piccadilly, Pall Mall and Rutland Gate in Kensington.

Royal Mail has created a special postmark to mark Trollope’s bicentenary. This will appear on stamped mail across the UK from 24 April for one week. Royal Mail only issues special postmarks for major events in the UK or to mark special historic dates.

Royal Mail is also supporting the British Postal Museum & Archive’s “Pop it in the Post” exhibition examining how the postal service changed in the Victorian era, driven by the appearance of postboxes in streets across the UK. Further details about the BPMA’s exhibition can be found here.

Pillar boxes were instrumental in changing the postal service during the latter half of the 19th century as they were installed across the UK. Royal Mail is supporting The British Postal Museum & Archive’s “Pop it in the Post” exhibition that examines those changes, The introduction of stamps and the expansion of the network of postboxes around the country made it easier and cheaper for people to send letters across the country.

The family-friendly exhibition opens at the Islington Museum in London on 28 March and runs to the 2 May 2015. It moves to Mansfield Museum in the autumn and will run from 3 October to 21 November 2015. It will then open at the Havering Museum early in 2016. Visitors will be able to see some of the original postboxes, as well as some of the equipment used by Trollope during his time with the Post Office.

Sue Whalley, Royal Mail’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are delighted to contribute to this year’s bicentenary celebrations of the birth of Anthony Trollope. He is well-known as a former Post Office employee and we have him to thank for introducing pillar boxes to the UK. Whether in walls, on poles or freestanding, the network of postboxes has grown from Trollope’s time to reach around over 115,000 boxes which are now an iconic feature of communities across the UK.”

Michael Williamson, Chairman of the Trollope Society, said: “The Trollope Society is delighted that the Royal Mail are commemorating the bicentenary of Anthony Trollope’s birth in so many different and exciting ways. These perfectly complement the many other events, book launches, exhibitions and activities that will be taking place throughout 2015 in honour of this prolific and distinguished novelist.

“Trollope’s career in the Post Office, during such an interesting time in its development, undoubtedly influenced his writing and provided him with several plot ideas. The considerable travel that he was able to undertake on behalf of the organisation, throughout the world, helped him to create realistic geographical backgrounds for his novels. This was a unique partnership that deserves full recognition.”

Andrew Young, chairman of The Letter Box Study Group, said: “We are very pleased to be able to help Royal Mail celebrate the bicentenary of Anthony Trollope and illustrate the enormous variety of postboxes that can be found in cities, towns and villages throughout the UK. It is also a good opportunity to showcase the volunteer-led work of the LBSG. Hailed as the ‘leading authority on the British roadside postbox’, it maintains the most comprehensively detailed database of the nation’s 115,500 boxes, and several thousand more from overseas.”

Trollope was born in London on 24 April 1815 and went to school in Harrow. When he was 19 he began working for the Post Office and was based in London for the first seven years of his career. In 1841 he moved to Ireland, where he met Rose Heseltine and they married in 1844. He moved back to England and settled in Waltham Cross with his wife and their two sons in 1859. It was there that he wrote many of his best-loved novels. He left the Post Office in 1867 and tried but failed to become an MP. He continued to write, and by his death on 6 December 1882, had produced 47 novels, five travel books, two plays, biographies, many short stories, reviews, essays, articles and lectures. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

He has a memorial stone in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. He also has a blue plaque on the Custom House in Belfast (where Trollope had an office as Postal Surveyor for Northern Ireland) and on 39 Montague Square, London W1, where he lived from 1873.

Royal Mail’s postboxes are a much-loved part of the UK landscape and we have over 115,000 boxes across the country.

The first pillar boxes in the British Isles were erected in Jersey in 1852 as a trial. This was in response to public demand for improved posting facilities, due to an increase in mail following postal reform in 1840. The trial was considered a success and boxes began appearing across mainland Britain from 1853.

Many of the UK’s first postboxes were painted green, to blend in with the landscape. However, to make them more visible to the public, bright red was chosen instead. The new colour was introduced in 1874 and it took 10 years to repaint all postboxes. Red has remained the standard colour for UK boxes from then on with only a few exceptions, one being blue postboxes for overseas mail.

The Commemorative sheet will be available at selected Post Offices branches, online, and from Royal Mail Tallents House (tel. 03457 641 641), 21 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9PB.

[press release]

Bridges
5th March 2015Reason and inspiration
The Bridges stamp issue celebrates the leaps in engineering that have seen the UK’s bridges evolve from humble stone crossings to dramatic symbolic landmarks conceived by progressive architects. The stamp images feature British bridges constructed from a wide range of different materials, including gritstone, limestone, cast iron, wrought iron and steel, while referencing diverse styles of bridge engineering, from clapper and stone arch to suspension and bowstring girder.

Stamp details
Designed by London agency GBH, the ten photographic stamps from locations spanning the whole UK, are arranged chronologically: pre-1600 –Tarr Steps, River Barle; 1700s – Row Bridge, Mosedale Beck; c.1774 – Pulteney Bridge, River Avon; 1814 – Craigellachie Bridge, River Spey; 1826 – Menai Suspension Bridge, Menai Strait; 1849 – High Level Bridge, River Tyne; 1850 – Royal Border Bridge, River Tweed; 1911 – Tees Transporter Bridge, River Tees; 1981 – Humber Bridge, River Humber; 2011 – Peace Bridge, River Foyle. Seven of the ten are original commissioned photographs by award-winning architectural photography agency Hufton + Crow.

Stamp Set Price: £6.20
Code: AS71A

Number of stamps: 10
Design: GBH
Acknowledgements: Row Bridge © Tony Mangan 2008; Craigellachie Bridge © David Gowans/Alamy; Humber Bridge © Al High 2009; all other photography by Hufton + Crow © Royal Mail Group Limited 2015
Stamp Format: Portrait
Stamp Size: 35mm x 37mm
Number per sheet: 25/50
Printer : International Security Printers
Print Process: Lithography
Perforations: 14.5 x 14
Phosphor: Bars as appropriate
Gum: PVA

Product Portfolio
First Day Cover
Designed by GBH, the envelope design replicates the titling device from the presentation pack, featuring letters in the style of some of the bridges on the stamps on a grey graph-paper background.
Price: £7.92 (Inland) £6.60 (Overseas)
Code: AF390

Filler Card
The filler card combines all 10 bridges into one technical drawing. Drawn to scale and arranged in chronological order, the illustration highlights the evolution of each new bridge. The editorial content features a brief introduction to the subject of bridges and includes sets of statistics and facts relating to each of the ten bridges.

First Day Envelope
Price: 30p
Code: AE348

Presentation Pack
Developed by London agency GBH, the presentation pack design is inspired by architectural blueprints, and charts the engineering evolution of bridges across the UK. The timeline from the stamps break out onto the pack, which forms a central spine to the narrative and includes biographies of engineers Thomas Telford and Robert Stephenson, whose bridges feature on the stamps. The pack combines photography with technical drawings, to provide additional historical or engineering points of detail. The titling device features lettering in the style of bridge designs.
Written by architectural historian and television presenter Dan Cruickshank, the editorial content provides a general overview of the importance of bridges in the civilised world, in terms of how they make vital connections and improve communications, and also in the way they have been created from pioneering methods of construction and new materials. The history and development of each of the ten bridges forms the main body of the editorial content.
Price: £6.70
Code: AP399

Stamp Cards
The ten special stamps are reproduced at postcard-size in this collectable set of stamp cards.
Price: £4.50
Code: AQ218

Postmarks
Tallents House Postmark
The Tallents House handstamp features a line drawing comprising two different bridge designs, similar to the arch styles of Row Bridge and Craigellachie Bridge.
Alternative Postmark

The alternative handstamp references Bridge, Canterbury, a generic location chosen for the general ‘Bridge’ reference, and the line drawing features two different bridge designs, similar to the styles of Menai Suspension Bridge and the Royal Border Bridge.
Non Pictorial Postmark

First Day Facilities
Unstamped Royal Mail First Day Cover envelopes (price 30p) are available from main Post Offices and philatelic outlets approximately one week before the stamps go on sale.
Serviced (i.e. stamped and postmarked) Royal Mail First Day Covers are available by Mail Order from Royal Mail, Tallents House priced £7.92 (overseas £6.60).
Orders for Serviced First Day Covers have to reach Royal Mail by 5th March 2015. Customers may also send stamped envelopes on the day of issue to Royal Mail, Tallents House for the Tallents House, Edinburgh postmark. The address for Royal Mail is as follows:

Royal Mail
Tallents House
21 South Gyle Crescent
EDINBURGH
EH12 9PB

Customers who hand in or post stamped Royal Mail First Day Cover envelopes at main Post Offices® on the day of issue will receive the pictorial BRIDGE, CANTERBURY first day postmark.

Alternatively, customers may send stamped envelopes to any of the Special Handstamp Centres for the pictorial or plain BRIDGE, CANTERBURY postmark quoting the reference number of the postmark required.

The Special Handstamp Centre
Royal Mail,
St Stephens Street,
BIRMINGHAM B6 4AA

The Special Handstamp Centre
Royal Mail
Tallents House
21 South Gyle Crescent
EDINBURGH
EH12 9PB

The Special Handstamp Centre
Royal Mail,
South Shields DO,
Keppell Street,
SOUTH SHIELDS
NE33 1AA

The Special Handstamp Centre
Royal Mail,
220 Penarth Road,
CARDIFF,
CF11 8TA

The Special Handstamp Centre
Royal Mail,
Mount Pleasant
Farringdon Road
LONDON
EC1A 1BB

British Postmark Bulletin
Details of all forthcoming first day of issues and all sponsored special handstamps are announced in the Postmark Bulletin. This is available on subscription from Royal Mail, Tallents House at £12.25 (UK & Europe) or £24.55 (rest of the world).

Special Handstamps
A number of different sponsored Special Handstamps are available for every new stamp issue. They are announced in the British Postmark Bulletin.

Bridges Presentation Pack copy
Throughout history, bridges have made connections and improved communications, while also offering visual delight and a sense of distinction. Bridges express ambition, achievement, pride and identity, almost always enriching rather than compromising the natural settings in which they are constructed.

While many bridges are an expression of functional beauty, some outstanding examples were born of a leap of faith and imagination, created from pioneering methods of construction and new materials. Some of the most innovative structures crossing rivers, roads and valleys have been built in the UK: for example, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, which opened to the public in 2001, has a 105-metre central span secured by cables to a supporting arch that both tilt to allow large river craft to pass beneath.

TARR STEPS
The origins of Tarr Steps, which crosses the River Barle in Exmoor National Park, are not definitively known. It has long been suggested that the structure could be up to 3,000 years old, but recent research reveals it is most likely to date from the 15th or 16th century.
Tarr Steps is a most elemental bridge formed by large slabs of gritstone – weighing up to 2 tons each and varying in length from 2 to 2.9 metres – placed flat on broad, low piers made from blocks of stone. Comprising 17 spans, the 55-metre bridge is held together by weight with no system of fixings or mortar. Serious flood damage over the years has resulted in substantial rebuilding and repairing of the original stones, but Tarr Steps remains an outstanding example of clapper-bridge construction.

ROW BRIDGE
Believed to have been constructed in the mid 18th century, this packhorse bridge over Mosedale Beck at Wasdale Head in Cumbria is a fine example of a type of bridge common in Western Europe in the Middle Ages.
Goods were often carried in panniers slung from packhorses, so bridges on trade routes could be narrow, making them quick and cheap to build. The relative lightness of the loads carried by this type of bridge – simply single rows of packhorses – meant that their forms could be daring, with added strength given to the material used through bold and ingenious design. Typically, as with Row Bridge, they were conceived as high semi-circular or segmental stone-built arches (an inherently strong form), often crossing a river or chasm in one slender span.

PULTENEY BRIDGE
Designed by the esteemed Scottish architect Robert Adam, Pulteney Bridge in Bath is the UK’s finest example of an ‘inhabited’ bridge. Completed by 1774, it contains shops, originally with accommodation above, and was built to link the ancient centre of Bath with the proposed new Bathwick estate on the opposite bank of the River Avon.
Adam based his structure on an unbuilt design by the great 16th-century architect Andrea Palladio, which the Italian had entered into a competition to build a bridge at the Rialto in Venice. Though Palladio’s scheme was not selected, it was published and became an inspiration for 18th-century architects such as Adam, whose resulting creation, made from mellow Bath stone, with its three semi-circular arches and pedimented centre pavilion, is one of the most beautiful classical bridges in the world.

THOMAS TELFORD
Born in 1757 into an impoverished home in Eskdale, Scotland, Thomas Telford became one of the greatest structural engineers of the 19th century. After starting his career as a stonemason, he became a road and canal builder, and by the early 19th century he was exploring the structural potential offered by pioneering materials and methods of construction. This led Telford to design epoch-making bridges utilising cast and wrought iron – materials that achieved great strength and wide spans with more elegance, economy and speed than traditional masonry construction. Built in 1829, and spanning 46 metres with a single cast-iron arch, Telford’s Galton Bridge in Smethwick was once the highest in the world.

CRAIGELLACHIE BRIDGE
Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1814, Craigellachie Bridge carries the roadway on a single 46-metre-long arched span over the River Spey in Moray, Scotland.

Telford had the arch made of cast iron, which was revolutionary at the time because, unlike masonry, only iron could achieve the single long, slender and shallow arch required. The components were cast at a Welsh foundry in controlled conditions to ensure high quality and delivered to the site for assembly. Cast iron is very strong in compression but has low tensile strength, making it ideal for columns but not for beams. Well aware of the metal’s structural limitations, Telford built the bridge ensuring that the maximum number of its components are in compression. The span of the arch is restrained by masonry towers, designed in picturesque manner to look like miniature castles.

PONT GROG Y BORTH
MENAI SUSPENSION BRIDGE
Completed in 1826 to Thomas Telford’s design, the Menai Suspension Bridge linking the island of Anglesey to the Welsh mainland remains one of the most breathtaking bridges ever built in Britain.

The central span of its roadway, 176.5 metres long and set 30 metres above water level to allow tall-masted ships to pass beneath, was carried by 16 wrought-iron chains (since replaced by steel chains).

The road on either side of the central span is supported by tall and elegant arched limestone viaducts. With a total length of 305 metres, this was the world’s first great suspension bridge and established the potential of suspension-bridge technology to achieve both high and lengthy spans.

ROBERT STEPHENSON
Born in 1803 near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the son of George Stephenson, the future locomotive pioneer, Robert Stephenson would become a giant of the 19th century in locomotive and railway design and bridge-building. His bridges – many of which utilised modern technology in a stunningly bold manner – include some of the most epic creations of the early railway age. The spectacular High Level two-tier rail and road bridge, spanning the Tyne, introduced an unprecedented scale and form in the design of city-centre railway bridges, while the Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait, completed in 1850, pioneered the concept of long spans of ‘tubular’ form made from wrought iron.

HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE
Linking Newcastle-upon-Tyne with Gateshead, the High Level Bridge is one of the most innovative and visually powerful bridges created during Britain’s Railway Age.

This two-tier 408-metre-long bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson to carry road and rail traffic at a high level across the Tyne and allow tall-masted shipping below, is a hymn to the strength, utility and robust beauty of cast iron, used in combination with stone and wrought iron. The tall piers, up to 40 metres high, are made of local sandstone, which possesses great compressive strength and is able to withstand damp, while the iron bow-string girders forming the spans of the bridge (the widest being 38.1 metres) use cast iron for components that are in compression and wrought iron for elements that require tensile strength.

ROYAL BORDER BRIDGE
Crossing the River Tweed between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Tweedmouth, the Royal Border Bridge was constructed between 1847 and 1850 to the design of Robert Stephenson and was a key component in Britain’s expanding railway system, linking London to Edinburgh.

Of traditional masonry construction, the bridge is essentially a railway viaduct formed of 28 semi-circular-headed arches, each with a span of 18 metres, with the total length of the bridge – including approach works – reaching 658 metres. This vast extent, combined with the majestic 38-metre height of the arches as they cross the river and the slender form of the vertical piers, from which the arches spring, gives the structure a striking elegance. A superb piece of functional engineering, it is also a work of great beauty that complements the rugged border landscape through which it passes.

TEES TRANSPORTER BRIDGE
Completed in 1911, the Tees Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough is a most novel and visually arresting piece of engineering.

Vast in scale and utilitarian in appearance, its stripped-back, lattice-steel structure incorporates a pair of cantilevered trusses that span 259 metres – with a clearance above water of almost 49 metres – that are used to carry a ‘gondola’ across the river. Powered by electric motors, the gondola – which can convey both people and vehicles – is suspended above the river and pulled from one side to the other by a hauling cable in approximately two minutes. This unique design – executed by Sir William Arrol & Co. of Glasgow – was economic to construct and ensured that the crossing would not interfere with river traffic.

HUMBER BRIDGE
More than a century after the notion of a bridge or tunnel crossing the Humber estuary had first been debated, the eventual completion of the Humber Bridge in 1981 redefined the boundaries for suspension-bridge technology.

Its complex construction, by consulting engineers Freeman Fox & Partners, took nine years. With a total length of 2,220 metres and a central span of 1,410 metres between two towers of reinforced concrete, for 16 years the Humber Bridge was the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world. Its mighty scale, elegant minimal form and the fact that it leaps across one of England’s great natural boundaries has captured the imagination. The poet Philip Larkin, who lived in Kingston-upon-Hull, wrote ‘Bridge for the Living’, a poem that was set to music to celebrate the opening of the Humber Bridge.

PEACE BRIDGE
Spanning the River Foyle in Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland, the Peace Bridge functions not only as an urban route, but also as a work of art. Its ingenuity is expressed through delicacy and elegance.

This unique bridge, constructed for pedestrians and cyclists, was conceived as two distinct structural systems that work in absolute harmony. Completed in 2011 to the designs of Wilkinson Eyre, the Peace Bridge features a pair of tall masts, whose system of cables overlap mid-river to form a symbolic structural ‘handshake’ across the Foyle. The 235-metre-long pathway of this self-anchored suspension bridge provides a promenade and makes connections, while evoking a sense of pride, place and unity.