Harper Bridges

Newquay, 1900


Newquay
Newquay Island Bridge.

We arrived at Newquay late in the afternoon and went to establish the site of the bridge. Newquay Island is prominent from the town and a good view of the bridge can be had once the ravine is opened up. I was surprised to see that the pylons were encased in concrete with the finials peeping out above. Otherwise the bridge appeared to be in good shape. Access to the bridge was by a private blue gate but there was no means of raising the occupants of the house on the island.

This took some little time, but once contact was made,  

Newquay Bridge (Photo © Douglas Harper)
the owners couldn't have been more welcoming. They were very interested in what we could tell them about the bridge. We understood that it had been commissioned by a Hal Caine - a Victorian novelist- as the means of crossing to a summer house on the island, but this was not confirmed It was about 100' span and 4' wide so would have cost £150.00, according to a price list issued two years before it was built in 1900. The bridge pylons were lattice iron and would have been fabricated at Craiginches Ironworks and loaded onto a train in the company's siding off the Caledonian Railway. The maker's plate was obscured by the subsequent concreting of the pylons to protect the structure from the salt spray.  On stormy days the bridge bounced all over the place 'like a kangaroo' but a recent insurance inspection had given it a clean bill of health.