Unreliable geographies by Aeneas McHaar
No. 5: Lower Broughton, Salford, England
53º 29’ N, 2º 15’ W
Between 1947 and 2008, those crossing the Water of Leith by the Powderhall Destructor made use of a military-style Bailey Bridge, known in Broughton as the ‘Rumbling Bridge’ on account of its noisy wooden planks. It had sometimes a discernable bouncing motion which could be triggered even by a passing dog and was often enhanced through the endeavours of really quite small children.
For 5 years during the early 19th century, Lancashiremen crossing the River Irwell between Pendelton and Lower Broughton (now part of Salford) experienced similar sensations. A 144ft suspension bridge – then a cutting-edge piece of civil engineering and among the earliest examples in Europe – had been erected in 1826 for a local landowner, John Fitzgerald, although to whose design is disputed. It was the boast of the region.
But not for long. On 12 April 1831, Fitzgerald’s son – a lieutenant in the 60th Rifle Corps – was returning with 75 men from an exercise. Marching 4 abreast, they crossed the bridge in step and soon began to enjoy a discernable bouncing motion. By exaggerating their gait, they enhanced the vibration in the manner of really quite small children.
Before any of them could reach the Pendelton side, there came a sound similar to the ‘irregular discharge of firearms’, whereupon one of the metal columns supporting the suspension chains toppled onto the bridge bringing with it a huge stone to which it was attached. That now unsupported corner of the bridge slipped into the river 18ft below, and around 40 soldiers followed. Twenty of them were injured, 6 seriously. Amazingly, none died.
Competing theories later blamed either defective bolts attaching the stay-chains to the ground anchor, or insufficient strength in the stay-chains themselves. It had supposedly been a disaster waiting to happen, but with no particular blame attaching to the proprietor’s son’s bouncy soldiers for exacerbating the ‘harmonic mechanical resonance’. However, immediately afterwards, British troops were ordered always to ‘break step’ when crossing bridges.
Lower Broughton’s suspension bridge was afterwards repaired and occasionally strengthened to accommodate crowds. It was replaced in 1914. One likely candidate as the original’s architect was Captain Sir Samuel Brown, an ex-Royal Navy engineer of Scottish parentage. He was certainly responsible for the Union Bridge in Paxton, Berwickshire (1820), and the Kalemouth Suspension Bridge over the River Teviot (1831). Both still stand.
A curious link exists between the Union Bridge and places closer to home. Brown was so proud of the structure that he commissioned a painting of it by the renowned landscapist Alexander Nasmyth (1758–1840) who lived and worked first in St James Square and later at 47 York Place. All roads lead to Broughton.