{"id":7863,"date":"2020-07-02T17:24:06","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T16:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=7863"},"modified":"2020-07-02T17:24:06","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T16:24:06","slug":"welsh-engineering-and-a-guinness-world-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=7863","title":{"rendered":"Welsh Engineering and A Guinness World Record"},"content":{"rendered":"

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The World\u2019s Oldest Suspension Bridge And The Welsh Link<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

On 26th July 2020 an event was planned to commemorate the bicentenary of the Union Chain Bridge, including the unveiling of an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark plaque by the American Society of Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), and Japan Society of Civil Engineers, for the 200 year-old Union Chain Bridge at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Prior to this the bridge was to undergo a major restoration, the plaque to be cast in the USA and a special anniversary booklet prepared. Whilst work on the bridge had been delayed, it was not going to upset the celebrations but of course the event was upset, like normal everyday life, by COVID \u2013 19.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nIn 1820 Union Chain Bridge united England and Scotland by spanning the Tweed with Welsh iron, iron chain links made in Newbridge, Pontypridd. The works that made the chains, Brown Lenox, used to be a prominent sight along the A470 through Pontypridd up to closure in 1999 and now is Sainsburys. Founded by Captain Sir Samuel Brown, it was opened in 1818 for the manufacture of maritime iron chain cables and Brown decided to manufacture a new line here, that of iron chain suspension bridges. In this field he was the first in Britain to erect iron suspension bridges for road traffic following James Finley\u2019s lead in erecting the first bridge of this type in America in 1801. Newburyport in Massachusetts was the last surviving Finley designed bridge. But it is akin to Trigger\u2019s broom or Washington\u2019s axe, in that the road deck, chains and towers have been replaced, only the abutments remain to support what is a bridge of 1910 date. Union had beaten Telford\u2019s Menai and Conway suspension bridges to opening by six years, so with its original chain, ironwork and masonry towers it can now claim to be the world\u2019s oldest suspension bridge still open to traffic, although it is temporarily closed for restoration work at present!
\nSo with the disappointment of a once in two hundred year celebration being cancelled, it was suggested by Chris Baglee, the conservation architect for the bridge restoration, that we get the Union Chain Bridge accepted by the Guinness World Records as the World\u2019s oldest suspension bridge still carrying vehicles. I\u2019ve just contributed a list of qualifications to support this and the nomination appears to have been accepted – so some \"\"compensation. Luckily we (ICE Wales Cymru) had celebrated the establishment of the Brown Lenox Chainworks and the bicentenary of start of work on the Union Chain Bridge at Pontypridd on 26 July 2019. The Friends of the Union Chain Bridge also unveiled a plaque on the same day to commemorate the start of work at Horncliffe near Berwick-upon-Tweed, where the bridge crosses from England over the river Tweed to Scotland \u2013 England and Scotland united by Welsh iron.<\/p>\n

Stephen K. Jones<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS The World\u2019s Oldest Suspension Bridge And The Welsh Link On 26th July 2020 an event was planned to commemorate the bicentenary of the Union Chain Bridge, including the unveiling of an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark plaque by the American Society of Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), and Japan Society of Civil Engineers, for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[334],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-22P","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13445,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13445","url_meta":{"origin":7863,"position":0},"title":"CELEBRATING BRIDGES","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th August 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"CELEBRATING BRIDGES 6 July saw an international celebration following the conclusion of three years of restoration work on the Union Chain Bridge linking England and Scotland across the river Tweed and the unveiling of an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). There is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reader's Travel Tales"","block_context":{"text":"Reader's Travel Tales","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=125"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Picture13a.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Picture13a.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Picture13a.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1540,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=1540","url_meta":{"origin":7863,"position":1},"title":"IRON AND COPPER","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st November 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 This year; 2016, saw a number of engineering anniversaries impacting on Wales, most of which concerned bridges, the 200th anniversary of Chepstow Wye Bridge was celebrated on 24th July with a number of events including a re-enactment of the 1816 opening ceremony. 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The setting was Berwyn station (opened 1865) on the Llangollen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Picture6.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13999,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13999","url_meta":{"origin":7863,"position":3},"title":"David Davies And Gwyn Griffiths","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th February 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 DAVID DAVIES AND GWYN GRIFFITHS I was very interested to read Ann Jones\u2019article on David Davies of Llandinam which reminded me of a story told to me by the late D. Gwyn Griffiths. Gwyn was a worldwide authority on reclamation who led the way in pioneering methods for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Readers Articles of Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Readers Articles of Interest","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=228"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Picture11-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13006,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13006","url_meta":{"origin":7863,"position":4},"title":"Place-Names Derivation – ABER, BRYN, CWM, PONT","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th March 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"THE DERIVATION AND MEANING OF PLACE-NAMES We\u2019ll now look at some common elements in Welsh Place-names. ABER I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen this element in many placenames. 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