Our Forth Bridge: Made From Girders E-Book

Barbara Henderson

• Herausgeber: Luath Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 154

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

The artist, the Blue Badge tour guide, the construction superintendent – join writer Barbara Henderson and photographer Alan McCredie for an A-Z glimpse behind the scenes at Scotland's iconic Forth Bridge.  Packed with stories and anecdotes, meet the people whose lives are inextricably welded to the famous red girders: enthusiasts, professionals, residents, researchers, souvenir sellers, lifeboat crew, train drivers, writers and volunteers, all accompanied by images from the acclaimed photographer Alan McCredie. Whilst there are several photographic books on the Forth Bridge they mainly have an emphasis on the structure itself, not the people here and now. Made from Girders seeks to give a real sense of what the bridge means to people. This book will be of interest to people from the area or who have connections to the Forth Rail Bridge, as well as tourists visiting the area.

Leseprobe

BARBARA HENDERSON is an Inverness-based writer and drama teacher and the current Forth Bridge Writer-in-Residence. With her children’s books, her energetic school visits take her across the length and breadth of Scotland, and sometimes beyond. Scottish by Inclination was Barbara’s first foray into adult non-fiction and Made from Girders is her first collaboration with photographer Alan McCredie. Now that her three children have flown the nest, she shares her home with her long-suffering husband and a scruffy Schnauzer called Merry.

ALANMcCREDIE has been a professional photographer and filmmaker for over a decade, working with most major agencies in Scotland and beyond. He has specialised in theatre and television but is perhaps best known for his documentary and travel photography. A member of Documenting Britain photo collective, he is a Perthshire man lost to Leith.

THE FORTH BRIDGE, completed in 1890, and still the world’s longest cantilever bridge, links Edinburgh to Fife and onwards to the North East and the Highlands, carrying around 200 trains a day. It was the world’s first major steel structure and its famous cantilever design is recognised all over the world. In July 2015, the Forth Bridge became the sixth UNESCO World Heritage Site in Scotland.

By Barbara Henderson:

Fir for Luck, Cranachan Publishing, 2016

Punch, Cranachan Publishing, 2017

Wilderness Wars, Cranachan Publishing, 2018

Black Water, Cranachan Publishing, 2019

The Siege of Caerlaverock, Cranachan Publishing, 2020

The Chessmen Thief, Cranachan Publishing, 2021

Scottish by Inclination, Luath Press, 2021

The Reluctant Rebel, Luath Press, 2022

Rivet Boy, Cranachan Publishing, 2023

By Alan McCredie:

100 Weeks of Scotland, Luath Press, 2014

This is Scotland, Luath Press, 2014 with Daniel Gray

Scotland the Dreich, Luath Press, 2016

Scotland the Braw, Luath Press, 2019

Tribes of Glasgow, Luath Press, 2019 with Stephen Millar

Edinburgh the Dreich, Luath Press, 2021

’Mon the Workers, Luath Press, 2022 with Daniel Gray

First published 2023

ISBN: 978-1-80425-128-7

The authors’ right to be identified as authors of this book under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been asserted.

Typeset in 12 point Sabon LT

by Main Point Books, Edinburgh

Text © Barbara Henderson

Images © Alan McCredie

To Frank Hay, Karen Stewart and Miles Oglethorpe, the three cantilevers who carried this book from shore to shore. Thank you for your encouragement and endless practical help.

Barbara Henderson

Contents

AUTHOR’S NOTE: BARBARA HENDERSON

PHOTOGRAPHER’S NOTE: ALAN McCREDIE

ARTIST

Gordon Muir

BLUE BADGE TOUR GUIDE

Andrew Simpson

CONSTRUCTION SUPERINTENDENT

Colin Hardie

DIGITAL DOCUMENTATION MANAGER

Lyn Wilson

ENGINEER

John Andrew

FORTH BRIDGES AREA TOURISM STRATEGY MANAGER

Karen Stewart

GADGET MAN

Garry Irvine

HONORARY RAIL AMBASSADOR

John Yellowlees

INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE RESEARCHER

Frank Hay

JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES

Jenni Meldrum

KIOSK OWNER

Francesco Agus

LOVEBIRDS

Paul Ward and Meghan Crawford

MODEL MAKER

Michael Dineen

NETWORK RAIL ASSET ENGINEER

Jamie McLaren

OUTDOOR SWIMMER

Gina Bees

PRINCIPAL TRANSPORT CURATOR

Louise Innes

QUEENSFERRY COMMUNITY STALWARTS

Karen MacGregor and Terry Airlie

ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION CREW MEMBER

Julie Dominguez

SKIPPER

Scott Aston

TRAIN DRIVER

Gavin Black

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LEAD

Miles Oglethorpe

VOLUNTEER

Len Saunders

WRITER

Elspeth Wills

X-MAN

Donald Scott

YOUR VIEW ORGANISER

Jordyn Armstrong

ZOOLOGIST

Cristín Lambert

POSTSCRIPT

Author’s Note

IT IS THE crack of dawn.

I pull on my hoodie and tiptoe towards the car, careful not to make too much noise. I’ve got a bit of a drive ahead of me: Inverness to North Queensferry. At least the horizon is beginning to lighten. My destination: the Forth Bridge and the Your View event raising funds for Barnardo’s. Intermittently, Radio 4 keeps me company as I devour the miles down the infamous A9. I’m a bit nervous if I’m honest. There are several reasons for this.

As of today, I am the Forth Bridge Writer in Residence. That’s wildly exciting, but also a little daunting. There will be many people to meet, and I can only hope that I will be able to deliver something of value to the organisations which have placed their trust in me.

At today’s Your View event at the Forth Bridge, I will interview visitors as they arrive and depart and try to get a sense of what this bridge means to them.

‘And while you’re there, Barbara, you may have a chance to go up the bridge if we can fit you in,’ my contact had told me. My stomach churns. I am famous for my pathetic inability to countenance any kind of height at all – even the attic ladder is a step too far. And yet I nodded at this. What’s wrong with me? Have I forgotten who I am?

Once I near my destination, I begin to worry about other, insignificant things too – will I find a parking space? No need to fret: a Balfour Beatty employee beneath the bridge waves me enthusiastically towards their small car park. I am almost blinded by the off-the-scale visibility of his attire, only second to the brightness of his smile. ‘I’m one of the volunteers,’ I whimper through the window, slightly defensively. I don’t think he could have cared less, already directing his cheerful waves at the next passing car. A lean man in a cap and raincoat waits beside my car, clutching a shoulder bag and an iPad – ah, I recognise him from some of the Zoom meetings I attended: Miles, the Forth Bridge World Heritage Management Group Chairman. I feel better already. By the time I get to the portacabins, the Barnardo’s special events manager whizzes by. Wiry and fiercely cheerful, she weaves her way through the crowd and introduces me to what feels like the population of a small country. I do what I do best: reach for my notebook and begin: ‘Hi!’

If the total strangers before me are unsettled by my slightly deranged smile and erratic gestures, they don’t show it. I continue: ‘Have you just come off the bridge? Was it amazing?’ The answers are always affirmative. I move to the heart of my task: ‘What does the Forth Bridge mean to you? Have you got any special connection? Any stories? Anecdotes?’

And so it begins. Shirley from Livingston remembers driving under the bridge on her second date, listening to music and discovering all the things she and her then-boyfriend had in common. ‘It’s just inspirational, this bridge. I marvel at the engineering, but it’s my thinking space too. I sit under the span when I have a problem or there is something on my mind. I’ve waited years to do this, to go up!’

Dunfermline’s Davie O’Donnell works for Network Rail and is often seen at Waverley Station in a top hat. Today, he has returned to the Forth Bridge to lend a hand. However, Davie has his own stories to tell too: He had his distinctive mass of white hair and his beard shaved off for charity atop the Forth Bridge as a fundraiser for Macmillan cancer support, by none other than Rangers legend Mark Hateley – not a day you could easily forget!

The pages in my notebook are filling up fast. According to my elderly interviewee recalling memories of Sunday school trips from Bo’ness to Kinghorn, the highlight was winding down the windows of the train and throwing out pennies for luck over the water. Another lady recalled her four-year-old sister throwing out the entire contents of her fluffy purse – all her holiday money for Scarborough was gone – to her mother’s horror!

Kirstie had won a ballot to go across the Forth Road Bridge in a minibus just the day before. ‘Quite unusual, I think, to do both bridges in a weekend. We got a tour and even walked in the cabling! And today I’m going up the Forth Bridge!’ Soon after, I meet self-confessed adrenaline junkie May Macleod who abseiled from the bridge as a treat for her 60th birthday, years ago.

A lady volunteer for the North Queensferry Heritage Trust recalls going up the Forth Bridge in the ‘old hoist’ and regales me with a very entertaining dramatic performance of the experience: ‘It was going up in instalments, with a jolt, like this!’ she laughs, jiggling. The North Queensferry Heritage Trust is also represented by Garry and Robert Irvine, with their portacabin display of images and documents attracting a steady flow of visitors. I also meet Malcolm, employed by Balfour Beatty in England, who never misses an opportunity to return to the Forth Bridge. He shows me stunning photographs of the bridge’s delicate patterns, perfectly reflected in the calm waters of the Forth.

And still they arrive: the engineering enthusiast who travelled all the way from Liverpool, just to ascend the Forth Bridge. A son and his 90-year-old father, taking the hoist together as a birthday treat for the older man. A lady in reflective mood, paying tribute to her late father as she scales the bridge he loved, in memory of him. A young engineer who chose his professional path inspired by the Forth Bridge.

I spend some time interviewing Colin Hardie, the Balfour Beatty Project Lead at the Forth Bridge. His child refers to the structure as ‘Daddy’s bridge’. ‘I was so proud when she said that!’ he admits.

Some of the most impressive people I meet are the employees and volunteers: supervisors, site workers, scaffolders (can you imagine building a scaffold on that bridge!), safety inspectors and the Briggers, a local heritage group who ably demonstrate the bridge’s impressive history, including a hands-on riveting demonstration.

Finally, the time has come. ‘Looks like you are going to get a chance to go up, Barbara, alongside the other volunteers.’ I am ushered to the safety briefing, kitted out with a fetching yellow vest and a stylish hard hat. No turning back. I am so grateful for my cheery sidekick Gillian who coordinates the region’s fostering for Barnardo’s. If she isn’t scared, then I need to get a grip of myself. How hard can it be?

The hoist feels substantial enough, and in any case, I am too far gone now. Fear may have a hold on my mind, but I am not ready to embarrass myself in front of my new friends! I am going to stand on top of this bridge if it’s the last thing I do…

Granted, my legs wobble a little as I emerge out of the hoist, but the overwhelming sense is one of space and freedom. The scale of the structure is immense, and the thought that Victorians built this without the aid of computer calculations and modern technology leaves me all but speechless. I am astounded that Berwick Law and Edinburgh Castle are clearly visible from here. There is a photographer, precariously balanced on a raised platform, ready to immortalise the moment, and I strike a pose.

It is almost dark by the time I retrace my steps to the car. As I chase the darkening clouds northwards, I ponder my luck. What a privilege, to be among those people, in that place, on this day.

Of course, this was only the beginning. Over the months that followed, I have been lucky enough to discover that the Forth Bridge is so much more than a structure of paint and steel. It is a community, every bit as interconnected and interdependent as its famous red struts and lattices. The beginnings of an idea began to form.

With the support of Luath Press and now teamed up with the astonishing photographer Alan McCredie, I set to work. Oh, there were possibilities aplenty – hundreds of people were suggested as potential subjects. But what I wanted most of all was to showcase the community on and around the bridge in all its colour and variety. That’s when I had the slightly madcap idea of an alphabetic structure, a choice I was to regret periodically over the months spent interviewing and writing. However, this self-imposed contrivance forced me to look harder, cast the net wider, think and then think again. Is my selection comprehensive? Absolutely not! Let’s face it; it isn’t even logical.

However, I am immensely proud to introduce the Forth Bridge community in 26 chapters. These are people who work on the bridge, promote the bridge, protect the bridge, live by it, encounter it every day, have played a significant part in its story, and much more besides.

In that sense, we are all made from girders, interdependently criss-crossing each other as we remain riveted to the structure which inspires us.

Barbara Henderson

September 2023

Photographer’s Note

AS A PHOTOGRAPHY student in Edinburgh I regularly made trips to the Forth Bridge in the hope of taking an iconic photograph of it. This continued for years and I was never happy with my efforts. One afternoon at college in the print finishing room outside the darkroom (yes it was that long ago) I watched as a large print slowly inched out of the processing machine – what I saw appearing before me was the best photograph I had ever seen of the bridge, taken by a fellow student. The feelings of jealousy were quickly replaced by a feeling of immense relief – I was never going to better his image (I never have) so I felt I could now stop my slight obsession with the bridge. I told myself I was done and that I wouldn’t be photographing the structure again.

Fast forward quite a few years and Barbara got in touch with me about a book project she was planning on the Forth Bridge. Would I be interested in doing the photography? I remembered my solemn vow to myself to never photograph it again and promptly broke it. Like all my best principles, it lasted only until the exact moment it was put to the test.

The actual process of carrying out the photography for the book was a joy. I spent a lovely summer visiting the Queensferrys North and South (a divide that to some is on a par with North and South Korea) and met and photographed some incredibly interesting people. As Barbara has written, they all have their stories to tell about their relationship with the bridge and each and every one of them was incredibly generous with their time. Of all the genres of photography it is people and portraits that I find the most rewarding and this was a project that I enjoyed from the very first portrait to the very last.

The photography took a few months to complete and was immensely rewarding. I was allowed access to the very top of the bridge (not scary) and also down to below track level (considerably more scary). I was part of a rowing boat crew that took me directly under the bridge from South to North. I sat in the cockpit of a high speed train, and in the wheelhouse of the Maid of the Forth boat. I watched as a huge aircraft carrier slid gently below the north span of the bridge. Every visit felt like an adventure.

Early on I decided that I didn’t need to have the actual bridge in every photograph. Its presence was always felt though. It is a structure that draws people toward it – things happen around it and people modify their behaviour because of it. It looks different from minute to minute depending on the weather and the light. It can look both immensely solid and achingly delicate depending on your viewpoint. It bridges two coastlines but is also a bridge through time. Whenever I see it I remember my dad telling me how, as a young boy in Rosyth during the war, he witnessed the first German bombing raid on British soil when they attacked the bridge and the port in October 1939. It feels like it has always existed, and always will, and is quite simply one of the most remarkable pieces of engineering anywhere on the planet.

To conclude, I want to offer a huge thanks to everyone I photographed for being so patient and accommodating, to Barbara for allowing me to have such fun, and to the bridge itself for being immense in every way. The pleasure though, was all mine.

Alan McCredie

September 2023

The Forth Bridge is a globally important triumph of engineering, at once structural and aesthetic… It represents the pinnacle of 19th-century bridge construction and is, without doubt, the world’s greatest cantilever trussed bridge…

From the successful nomination to register the Forth Bridge as a World Heritage Site

ARTIST

Gordon Muir

‘I’M AN ARTIST. With a small ‘a’ that is,’ Gordon Muir begins with a grin. As the designer and sculptor of the memorials to those who died during the Forth Bridge construction, his life and work are closely intertwined with the girders of the iconic bridge. Despite this, he is not easily defined, a wiry mixture of irreverence and intensity. ‘If you’re an artist, you can apply that to any discipline really,’ he finishes.

Having spent the last hour in the presence of the raconteur, I can definitely see what he means. Raised in the Borders town of Hawick, at the time the epicentre of the cashmere industry, he departed for art school in London and soon shifted his focus from Fine Art to Graphic Design. Following his degree, he embarked on a world tour, learning from artists around the globe. ‘Wood block and paper making in Japan, lithography in the States – I should have kept travelling really. I returned to Scotland to begin work, but I was far too young. Through a friend, I became involved in the music industry and ended up managing a band from Zimbabwe called the Bhundu Boys.’ Under Gordon’s direction, the musicians enjoyed considerable touring success, including supporting Madonna at Wembley in 1987. Eventually, Muir moved back to the South Queensferry area, where he has been based for 25 years, to work with friend and landscape architect Paul Hogarth. ‘If you live in Queensferry, you live and breathe the bridge, you can’t help that. For me, the Forth Bridge is such a huge metaphor for connecting people. It’s what happened for me!’