A Tale Of Three Bridges (1)

Please note : fbb is still "fragile" and recovering far too slowly from a really heavy cold and other associated nasties. Helpful Seaton chums report that there is a lot of it about.

Three Bridges, Where?

But not the above trio. What about Three Bridges station?

There is even this junction in Southall, London.

The "Three Bridges" of this blog is not an official name of an area in Sheffield which has three obvious bridges and quite a few more nearby.

Well that's one bridge seen in a before and after montage. Neither of these pictures is dated, but Sheffield's last tram route ran under this bridge and was withdrawn in 1960. fbb suspects that the trams are older than that.

Courtesy of Google Earth we can see the junction in its recent guise.

The white building with the rounded end is a useful clue to aid matching the pictures with the view from fbb's helicopter!

So, let is take a drive from the city centre to the photographed bridge. There is, however, a health warning. It is no longer possible to follow fbb's route exactly due to road "improvements".

We would start by travelling along Wicker, erroneously called The Wicker by many.

The arches mark the point where Great Central trains crossed on their way via the Woodhead route to Manchester.

The bridge is a lot cleaner now, a testament to the decline of heavy industry in the city. 

The left fork under the bridge leads up Spital Hill which ultimately becomes Barnsley Road. Guess where that leads!

But we fork right along Savile Street. The land on the left used to be the Wicker Goods Yard of the Midland Railway.

It was huge!

Savile Street is on the right. 

Just past the yard, the road splits..

This point (once a tram junction) was known as the Twelve o Clock junction after a pub which stood in the apex

A modern block ...

... is called Twelve o'Clock Court.

The left hand fork leads to the inappropriately named Brightside, location of some of the city's heaviest and smokiest industry.

The smoke has all gone as has much of the heavy industry.

Soon afterwards we come to our bridge ....

... or maybe bridges. 

Just under the bridge on our left ...

... we see the former Midland Railway main line on its merry way to Barnsley and Rotherham. The road is names Princess Street and plays a very small part in a Sheffield bus route.

Part 2 will look at the railway and its bridges in more detail.

  Next three bridges blog : Weds 27th May