Pictures of Blue Bridge from Cardindex, York Explore and Art Gallery, and York Press
Blue Bridge History
In 1730, the tree-lined New Walk was laid out along the Ouse through St George’s Field as far as the confluence with the river Foss. The walk was so popular that it was extended in 1738, with a new blue-painted timber lift-bridge over the Foss (you can see this bridge on Nathan Drake's drawing of New Walk, below).
In 1794 a larger swing bridge was built to allow boats to reach Castle Mills lock and beyond into the newly constructed Foss navigation. A hand operated lift bridge was installed in the late 19th century, very similar to the present structure,which was built in 1929.
Until 1941, two Russian canons from Sebastopol ‘guarded’ the bridge, with a plaque recording the names of York men killed in the Crimean war (see pictures below)
The adjacent flood barrier was built in 1986, to prevent high water in the Ouse from flowing back into the Foss and flooding large areas of the city, the cause of so much misery in 1978 and 1982, and again when flood flows in the Foss overwhelmed the pumps at Christmas in 2015. The original pumping station had eight massive electric pumps discharge up to 30 tonnes of water per second around the barrier into the Ouse. Since the catastrophic 2015 flood, the building and pumps have been replaced so the total capacity is 50 tonnes of water per second.
Click on a picture to enlarge it, read the caption and open a slide show
Pictures of Blue Bridge from Cardindex, York Explore and Art Gallery, and York Press
Blue Bridge History
In 1730, the tree-lined New Walk was laid out along the Ouse through St George’s Field as far as the confluence with the river Foss. The walk was so popular that it was extended in 1738, with a new blue-painted timber lift-bridge over the Foss (you can see this bridge on Nathan Drake's drawing of New Walk, below).
In 1794 a larger swing bridge was built to allow boats to reach Castle Mills lock and beyond into the newly constructed Foss navigation. A hand operated lift bridge was installed in the late 19th century, very similar to the present structure,which was built in 1929.
Until 1941, two Russian canons from Sebastopol ‘guarded’ the bridge, with a plaque recording the names of York men killed in the Crimean war (see pictures below)
The adjacent flood barrier was built in 1986, to prevent high water in the Ouse from flowing back into the Foss and flooding large areas of the city, the cause of so much misery in 1978 and 1982, and again when flood flows in the Foss overwhelmed the pumps at Christmas in 2015. The original pumping station had eight massive electric pumps discharge up to 30 tonnes of water per second around the barrier into the Ouse. Since the catastrophic 2015 flood, the building and pumps have been replaced so the total capacity is 50 tonnes of water per second.
Click on a picture to enlarge it, read the caption and open a slide show
