TO GET TO THE OTHERSIDE YOU NEED A BRIDGE

TO GET TO THE OTHERSIDE YOU NEED A BRIDGE

Clifton Suspension Bridge designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and although the construction was started in 1831, the Bristol Riots brought that to a halt and it wasn't completed until 1864 after Isambard's death

If you witnessed Danny Boyle's spectacular opening ceremony to the London 2012 Olympics at the end of July you might recall the scenic views of the British landscapes moving from a pastoral view of shepherds, thatched cottages and sheep to the towering chimney stacks belching out smoke and the drone of the hammers shaping steel and the vivid colours of the furnaces spilling out the molten metal into moulds and rollers in the process of making steel?

 

Kenneth Branagh was narrating this passage of our country's transformation during The Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics as he strutted around in his Victorian clothes and his top hat acting as Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Britain moved  from the quiet idyll of rural life to the explosion of activity and innovation of the Industrial Revolution.

 

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was an amazing engineer and built railways from Bristol to Paddington London and amongst many engineering firsts the steel hulled ship SS Great Britain now renovated and an enormous tourist draw as it sits in its dock in Bristol Docks 

 

 

The Ironbridge in Shropshire built in 1779

I show below some of the bridges I've visited over the years and some I've yet to get to!

The slab of  stone in the background is the bridge for pedestrians and the ford would have been for the horse and cart.

PONT DU GARD - The Roman aqueduct in Provence which I've visited many times during our tours around the delights of the French countryside

Tiber Bridge over the River Tiber in Rome on which Tarquinius Superbus is forever famous for attacking and repelling the enemy

Vecchio Bridge if Florence which I visited numerous times for the Uffi Museums and Galleries and visits to leather workshops and men's fashion shows twice a year - PITTI UOMO

Sur le pont d'Avignon on the River Rhone with one/two arches swept away? We visited the whole lower Rhone Valley when researching my marketing programme CAMARGUE taking in Arles,where Christian Lacroix was born and where Vincent van Gogh lived for a while. The 'etangs' lakes at the Rhone estuary where we saw the wild white horses, the pink flamingos and heard the gipsy music as played by Django Rheinhart who I'm told always lived in a caravan although he was born in Belgium but loyally kept to the life of a Roma

Rail bridge in Knaresborough in Yorkshire just east of Harrogate

Albert Bridge across the Thames between Chelsea and Battersea Park

Brooklyn Bridge New York

Firth of Forth Bridge spanning the River Firth - East Scotland it being said that the painting of the bridge , which is  constructed solely in steel, with anti corrosive paint took so long  that by the time they got to the end it was time to start all over again!!!

Some where in Germany

Another in Germany

Goeltzschal spectacular viaduct in Germany

Kramerbrucke bridge in Erfurt

This beautiful Mostar Bridge that was bombed in the Balkan Wars but thankfully now restored.

Pont Alexandre - PARIS

Sydney Harbour Bridge and the building on the left of this picture the Park Hyatt Hotel is where I on occasions stayed for an expensive treat, the rooms overlooking both the Bridge and also the Sydney Opera House

The marvels of  THOMAS HEATHERWICK ,the innovative and now coined   modern day Leonardo da Vinci by Sir Terence Conran  , has created a 'Rolling' bridge that unfurls like the frond of the fern plant.

This spectacle only being able to be viewed where it sits in Paddington Basin in London every Friday at midday. The Basin is near the very busy rail Terminus of Paddington Station where lo and behold the Bristol to London railway masterpiece planned, designed and built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel terminates. 

 

 JOINING THE DOTS YET AGAIN !!!

Tower Bridge  - London

Bridge of Sighs - Venice

Another view of Albert Bridge

The Royal Gorge Bridge -Colorado

QE 11 Bridge  -  Dartford Crossing toll bridge over the River Thames estuary

Akashi Kaikyo bridge between Kobe and Iwaya. I've visited the famous Fashion design museum regarding "my archives" and sampled the delicious Kobe beef there cooked in front of me by an expert Japanese chef on his teppanyaki cooking plate.

Design for a bridge in Italy by the Spanish architect Calatrava

The rail bridge over the River  Rhine in Cologne with Cologne Cathedral in the background - my wife's birthplace.

The celebrated bridge painted in the gardens of Claude Monet's gardens in Giverney in northern France which we've visited many times. I was struck by the yellow and blue colours used in the kitchen and dining room of his beautiful house to the extent that when trying to replicate the 'yellow colour' I ended up consulting with the Monet Giverney Gardens Society in NY - its a funny old world.

sr

Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco - without the smog/fog

The most wonderful bridge Pont du Normandie over the at the picturesque fishing port of Honfleur in Normandy France

Humber Bridge linking south Yorkshire to Lincolnshire The sceptics claiming that it is a bridge "from nowhere to nowhere"!!

Japanese bridge often found in their ornamental gardens

Cleverly and dramatically shot photograph of one of the Japanese bridges

Millau Bridge in southern France designed by Sir Norman Foster who can also claim some praise for his company's worldwide achievements with buildings such as the new Chek Lap Kok Airport in  Hong Kong, the 'gherkin' office block in the City of London,  the new Beijing Airport ,the new Wembley Football Stadium, the Spaceport America airport for Sir Richard Branson's planned galactic exploits  and many other buildings around the globe.

Another view. We photographed the bridge from both ends in total wonderment having in previous years before the construction been caught in the most horrendous traffic jams when travelling from Laguepie in Langedoc to Provence

Millau from afar

Above the clouds

The Rainbow Bridge at Niagra Falls

Oland Bridge  between the Swedish mainland and the island of Oland. I remember it well !!   My first visit to Smaland 1973 and the glass factories(Orrefors) in southern Sweden .It was suggested after the end of the glass making shift that I went back to the 'guest house' and took a sauna about 3.30pm / 4.00pm and that they would collect me at 5.30pm before going to the island of Oland for supper. What they didn't tell me was that I didn't need to stay in the sauna for coming on 2 hours!!!!! I was the colour of a beetroot and the blood pressure was busting.

Oland Bridge evening shot

Copenhagen (Denmark) to Malmo(Sweden) bridge that I travel on when taking cheap flights to Malmo to get to Copenhagen where the direct flight costs a fortune.

Wuppertal bridge Germany with train suspended from it's roof!!!!!

Alcantara bridge

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Maryland

Danyang Kunshan bridge in China

The famous La Ronda bridge in Spain not far in land from Malaga - Peurto Manus - Marbela

Pont Neuf - Paris

Ponte Fabrico Bridge built in 69BC in Rome

Vasco da Gama bridge -llisbon - Portugal. Often sailed under this bridge on the car ferry from Southampton en route to the Portuguese Monchique Mountains where they're famous for their Monchique hams that can match the Iberico and Parma hams. they also do a spicy Piri Piri chicken.

Rialto Bridge  -  Venice

 

 

A rural English bridge

Alternative view of Pont Alexandre PARIS

A very old Chinese bridge

Planned Hong Kong to Macau bridge

HK to Maucau bridge cross over point from left hand drive to right hand drive at Macau

Planned HK to Macau bridge some 50 kms(31 miles) long!

Bosphorus Bridge between Turkey and Turkey/Greece situated in Istanbul

Bridge between Copenhagen(Denmark) and Malmo (Sweden). Many a time I've flown to Malmo on a cheap/budget flight to Malmo and then caught a train over to Copenhagen. you can also drive.

Reddish Viaduct - England

 

All images used on the Leslie Creasey Blog are from my hand clipped archive documenting 35 years of Style and Design media.  For all enquiries please contact leslie@charismatic-brands.com.