Trent Bridge: a sort of potted history (part 1)

Part 1 of 3.
Specific Picture Credits:
[logs] by Timo C. Dinger on Unsplash – https://unsplash.com/@tcdinger
[wall] by Andy Makely on Unsplash – https://unsplash.com/@rendermouse
[flood water] by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash – https://unsplash.com/@wolfgang_hasselmann
[water] by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash -https://unsplash.com/@greg_rosenke
[elephant] by Felix M. Dorn on Unsplash -https://unsplash.com/@allaperto
Book and newspaper pictures are listed in the main reference list (in several parts because of character limits.)

References:
Bailey, Thomas. 1852. The Annals of Nottinghamshire.: Colonel Hutchinson.
BRIDGE ESTATE – Charity 220716. 2023. Charity Commission for England and Wales. https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/220716/charity-overview.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. 2023. History of West Bridgford, in Rushcliffe and Nottinghamshire | Map and Description. A Vision of Britain through Time. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/1034.
Hewitt, Jane. 2023. Disappearing Coventry – The Coventry Elephant. Family Tree Researcher. https://www.familyresearcher.co.uk/Disappearing-Coventry/Coventry-elephant.html.
Historic England . 2023. TRENT BRIDGE, Non Civil Parish – 1045636 | Historic England. Historic England. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1045636.
Hospitals: St John Baptist, Nottingham’, in A History of the County of Nottingham: Volume 2, ed. William Page (London, 1910), pp. 168-173. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/notts/vol2/pp168-173 [accessed 11 December 2023].
Inspire. 2023. Widening of Victoria Embankment, West Bridgford, Nottingham, 1951 | Inspire. Inspire Picture Archive. https://www.inspirepicturearchive.org.uk/image/19087/Construction_of_Victoria_Embankment_West_Bridgford_Nottingham_c_1897.
Jervoise, E. 2017. The Ancient Bridges of Mid and Eastern England. Read Books Ltd. http://books.google.ie/books?id=wqcyDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Ancient+Bridges+of+Mid+and+Eastern+England&hl=&cd=1&source=gbs_api.
Kendall, Paul. 1997. Is this gun rivalry legacy of city’s past. Nottingham Evening Post.
Leavold, James. 1998. Shane for peace. Nottingham Evening Post.
Leicester Daily Post. 1877. The floods at Nottingham. Leicester Daily Post.
McGrady, Alistair. 2021. Bridging Generations – 150 Years since Iconic Trent Bridge Opened – Transport Nottingham. Transport Nottingham. July 23. https://www.transportnottingham.com/bridging-generations-150-years-since-iconic-trent-bridge-opened/.
Monmouthshire Beacon. 1910. [front page 09 December]. Monmouthshire Beacon
Nottingham and Newark Mercury. 1831. Nottingham and Newark Mercury. British Newspaper Archive. September 3. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004591/18310903/040/0004?noTouch=true.
Nottingham City Council, ed. 2023. Nottingham City Council – Insight Mapping GIS Mapping. Nottinghamshire Insight Mapping. https://maps.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/insightmapping/#.
Nottingham Evening Post. 1936. Nottingham flood peril. Nottingham Evening Post.
Nottingham Evening Post. 1986. Flooding to cost millions. Nottingham Evening Post.
Nottingham Evening Post. 1998. Teenage boy took drugs round on bike. Nottingham Evening Post.
Nottingham Journal. 1927. Old Trent Bridge in Nottingham Journal. British Newspaper Archive. May 31. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001898/19270531/092/0004?noTouch=true.
Nottingham Journal. 1929. Out of the past. Nottingham Journal.
Nottingham Journal. 1947. Meadows flood relief. Nottingham Journal.
Nottingham Journal. 1949. Nottingham-Beeston flood bank. Nottingham Journal.
Nottingham Review . 1849. Nottingham Review. British Newspaper Archive. June 1. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001100/18490601/016/0005?noTouch=true.
Nottinghamhiddenhistoryteam. 2016. Nottingham Famous Graves- Marriott Ogle Tarbotton. Nottingham Hidden History Team. February 9. https://nottinghamhiddenhistoryteam.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/nottingham-famous-graves-marriott-ogle-tarbotton/.
Nottinghamshire guardian . 1849. Nottinghamshire Guardian. British Newspaper Archive. May 24. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000176/18490524/003/0001?noTouch=true.
Nottinghamshire Guardian (supplement). 1864. The Wilford Bridge. June 10. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000176/18640610/046/0009?noTouch=true.
Nottinghamshire Guardian. 1868. [front page 11 December]. Nottinghamshire Guardian.
Nottinghamshire Guardian. 1869. THE NEW TRENT BRIDGE.-LAYING OF THE MEMORIAL STONE BY THE MAYOR. British Newspaper Archive. July 23. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000176/18690723/005/0003?noTouch=true.

[Continued in the comments]

This is one of several bridges over the Trent it’s part the a60 carries around 50,000 Vehicles day and joins Nottingham City to Nottingham Shire according to both McGrady and javois the first Bridge went across in 924 at the beest of king Edward the Elder who decided that the two bits of

Nottingham should actually be joined together and this was most likely made of wood then in 1156 according to wab of the local paper and McGrady this was replaced by Henry II’s Stonebridge although jais thinks that this likely still had a significant amount of wood and this bridge had frequent repairs

Throughout the 1200s and 1300s during the 14th century sole financial responsibility for the repairs to the bridge fell to Nottinghamshire according to wab previous to this it had been responsibility of Nottinghamshire daire Lincolnshire and leester also during the same period the St John’s Hospital years started to take some responsibility for

Keeping the bridge in a state of repairs 1426 JIS says that the bridge was in fact in such a bad condition from both the regular flooding but also from the carts that were going across such a busy main road and it state was so bad that

For a period it was more Ive to use the Wilford Ferry however by the time we get to the 1640s there’s enough of a bridge for it to get damaged Again by the soldiers marching in the Civil War towards or from Nottingham um there was then yet

Another flood spotting a theme here in 1683 and the bridge had to have significant rebuilds in the following year 1684 there was another flood in 1795 and wab claims that that also caused significant damage to the bridge however there’s no mention of this in javois but they do mention a damaged

Lean Bridge which might be the one that wab means instead however it was in a bad enough state by the mid 19th century that a childhood recollection in a 1920s newspaper talks about an elderly man expecting the wombwell elephants to cause the bridge to collapse and get to

Watch them swim across the river he did not get to watch the elephant swim across the river it survived them but it was still in a condition where it need replacing quite so go but before we talk about the current bridging coment we need to talk about money money money

Money money and before I launch into my Joel gry impersonation so early on it was really clear that the bridge was both essential and Incredibly expensive to keep up not least because it kept on being broken by floods by 1541 so in the reign of Henry VII an estate was in

Place to fund the upkeep of the bridge and by 1551 the St John’s Hospital which you may remember um the their land formed part of that estate and the town was put in charge of the estate to fund the bridge by the time we get to the

19th century the bridge estate was a fin ually solvent enough that it could pay for not only the bridge but also nottingam Corporation were given consent to use the excess funds to pay towards improving the life of Nottingham residents in whatever ways they felt appropriate by the time we get to 1963

The Bridge State formally becomes a charity it’s under the Charities commission and it is what funds the bridge even now so the bridge estate owns properties all over n inam and the rent from these pay for any repairs that the bridge needs the actual process of getting repairs involves a combination

Of Arrangements between the city council the bridge estate the County Council and the highways agency but ultimately the bridge estate is still what funds Trent Bridge the 19th century brings us two major characters we have the bridge in all its her I don’t know a Bridges gendered um Iron and stone Glory but

Before we get to the bridge we have Mr marot ogal tarbotton not only an excellent name but the city engineer for notingham from 1859 he was 27 when he became Nottingham’s engineer moving from his native Yorkshire where he was a Borough surveyor in Wakefield and he was responsible for one of the churches

There but Nottingham was where maret ogul tarbotton got to really shine and his still available print on demand books give a sense of some of his interests and as his obituary in the annals of The Institute of civil engineers explains the public health act had just been put into force and a

Strong hand was needed to change the old order according to the ice in Nottingham all the different Works departments were working incredibly independent of each other and jealous of each other leading to a culture of non-collaboration I think we can say his initial work when he got to Nottingham was on sorting out

Some of that discombobulation and also in sorting out some of the ongoing issues with some of the lower lying land but the 1860s is when we get into his real most sign ific engineering Zone the state of the bridge was clearly already a point of discussion within Nottingham since in

1864 there is a letter to the Nottingham and the Midland County’s Express from a Fred G Walker who is suggesting what frankly sounds terrifying but some attached walkways to the side of the bridge to make it um possible to have pedestrians there as well as carts by 1867 though to Boton himself had

Submitted some plans for the new bridge and after being approved in 1868 the first stone was laid by Mr J Barber the mayor um this Bridge cost £31,000 which would have come out of the bridge estate money it was positioned slightly to the side of the existing one

Um and was intended not only to be a better smoother rout in and out of Nottingham but also to help The Meadows stop endlessly flooding the bridge was made of both Stone and still is made of both Stone and Iron Works that came from the Andrew handyside Factory if you have

Any interest in the railways of darbishire you might be familiar with Andrew hand decides work on some of the Railway bridges for darbishire The Meadows in from the late 20th century onwards is more famous with Notting hamans for other reasons but in the 19th century and prior to that one of its

Most significant things was the amount of times that it flooded so it was a pretty boggy unpleasant place in lots of respects the bridge clearly didn’t solve everything as we will get on to when we move into the 20th century but it did contribute to being much more pleasant

Place for people to live and to build houses after tarboton did some more work in the city he clearly was a man interested in utilities because he initially went to work with some gas and Waterworks and then he went for the water and sewage um company and he

Designed Papa Wick pumping station um after Thomas Hawley who another Nottingham engineering favorite had to design to the reservoir hawksley had actually initially designed the pumping station but Mr tarboton decided he wanted his own design for that in the 1920s the traffic was already growing enough that by 1926 they had to double

The width of Trent bridge to be able to cope with all of the traffic that was going across they did this whilst the bridge was open which makes for some fairly spectacular looking pictures you remember how I said the Trent Bridge was meant to help The Meadows reduce its amount of flooding

Well it didn’t super do that in 1947 after an unexpected March snow FL fall and um it was still sort of snowing called May 1947 as well um there was a huge amount of rain thoring out all that snow this caused Rivers across the country including the trend to

Overflow The Meadows and the areas closest to the trend had been hit by similar but less impactful events in both the 1840s and the 1930s but this postor war flood after The Meadows had also suffered damag during the war was one of the most significant um according to the

Environment agency 28 miles of streets were damaged 3,000 hous factories in response to this they built some significant flood defenses for 1950s standards to try and ameliorate this happening in the future we’re going to pick up the rest of this in the next part I thank you

Very much for your patience for watching this I didn’t intend this to be multiple Parts but my iPad is about ready to make me cry it really is going to make me cry because it’s just getting all tangled so part two if you would like to join me for that