Folk of the Footbridge

  The Bridges over the Usk on a Fonmag Walk, 29th June 2021 Edith McCarron If it wasn’t for the tidal properties of the Usk we would not need so many bridges so Newport is in a very unique situation and also so many of them have won awards. We need the bridges because the Usk has the largest recorded tidal range for a city anywhere in the world and is tidal as far as Newbridge on Usk.  The name  probably came from the Welsh 'Wysg' meaning water. The Romans called it Isca. The Usk Railway Bridge Copyright: Ace McCarron It was opened to traffic in 1850. It crosses the River Usk in an east - west direction, carrying the Great Western Main Line.  However,  the original bridge was constructed for the South Wales Railway and was designed by the railway engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel . Brunel's viaduct, was primarily constructed of creosote-treated timber and suffered a catastrophic fire near completion, on 31 st May 1848,...

'From Clarence Bridge Newport' by Gillian Clarke Copyright: Newport Past, 0273 The New Bridge, Newport opened 1927. In 1911 the Town Council sought designs for a new replacement bridge. In December 1923 a decision was made to proceed immediately with the construction of the new bridge, partly as a scheme to find work for the unemployed.   To best achieve this a temporary wooden bridge was erected alongside it [   and all power and gas lines were re-routed onto it. Even the town's tram lines and their accompanying overhead power system were moved over.  The old bridge was then demolished and the new one erected. On 22 June 1927 the new bridge was complete and opened to traffic by the  Transport Minister   Wilfrid Ashley . A POEM BY WELSH POET GILLIAN CLARKE FROM THE NEWPORT SURVEY 1983 p. 35. Now known as Newport Bridge this was also known as Clarence Place Bridge as Clarence Place is on the east of Newport. FROM CLARENCE BRIDGE NEWPORT Esk. Isca. Usk. Every day...

 Time and Tide "The rise and fall of the mercurial Usk is a perfect metaphor for the collective unconscious of the  people who straddle it. At its best, the vigour of surging tidewaters covers the basin, filling muddy  banks, obscuring organic and inorganic detritus. A vast mirrored surface appears, with light  reflected from sun, moon, electricity. Lake Usk. Contented water fowl glide. Small boats chug along  a course now swollen with potential, re-imagined with hope. As if summoned by aquatic sprites,  the human population also rises to the occasion. At times fuelled with curiosity and energy, the  intrepid among them lust to conquer worlds beyond their reach. And yet, all too soon, new  confidences come unstuck. Insecure in its self-proclaimed bravura, the river sucks in its cheeks,  turns fickle, and abandons the reedy banks it merely flirted with. Retracted, it fees back to the  briny sea, where bigger pickings lie. Equally defeated...

Spytty Pill and Monkey Island and City Bridge Does anyone know how Spytty Pill and Monkey Island became named? Spytty Pill is one of the many tidal inlets on the Usk and the land below it is known as Monkey Island. It is below Newport's City Bridge. It was opened in 2004 as part of the construction/re-generation of the Southern Distributor Road/A48 road in Newport. copyright: Ace McCarron The name Pill is defined as the tidal reach of a waterway, suitable as a harbour, but is only common along the Bristol Channel and the Severn Estuary.  Here is the entrance to Spytty Pill. The Pill is larger than many on the Usk and divides to create two Reens. Liswerry Pill Reen is to the north. A reen is a running waterway that links a ditch or stream to a river and there are many in the Gwent Levels.   River Usk and the edge of Spytty Pill, Newport Viewed from the western side of City Bridge.  Link The gap in the river bank is...

  Memories of the Usk in the Newport Survey The river Usk has the largest recorded tidal range for a city anywhere in the world. Adam Greene writes, 'This is a 1983 cover picture for the Newport Survey on The River Usk taken by myself. New digital image taken from the original negative.' My Reflections of the 1983 Newport Survey and the cover picture (By Adam Greene, a former student of the Documentary Photography Course)   The history of the Documentary Photography course based in Clarence Place and the students who passed through it have become part of the fabric of Newport culture and community. I remember most people who I photographed in various environments around the town would remark , ‘ You’re from the art college arn’t you. How would you like to photograph me?’ or words similar to that effect. The yearly project of the Newport survey became a valued documentation of this city. In the final year of the course, our year group was given the brief to document variou...

Photographs of Newport by John Ninnis John Ninnis  was born on June 16, 1977 in Trelewis, Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, UK. He is a producer and actor and film maker known for Mummy Fell Asleep (2009), Virgil Vigilante (2005) and Dead Dad (2015). He  has kindly allowed us to share his pictures of Newport taken from the 7th floor of Clarence House in June 2021. Looking East towards Clarence place and the cenotaph Looking West across the River to the Riverfront Theatre  Looking down into the former Art College now flats Looking North beyond the Railway Bridge towards Caerleon The Newport Road Bridge and the pedestrian Bridge in the distance