Union Chain Bridge: Crossing Borders, Inspiring Communities, is an ambitious cross-border project to conserve the historically and internationally significant Union Chain Bridge and to deliver an exciting and engaging programme of events, activities and learning opportunities.
The Union Chain Bridge majestically spans the River Tweed connecting the parishes of Horncliffe in England, and Hutton in Scotland. Designed by an entrepreneurial naval officer, Captain Samuel Brown, 200 years ago, the Category A/Grade I Listed Union Chain Bridge was the first chain suspension bridge in Europe to carry wheeled traffic and remains the oldest still in use worldwide.
The manufacturing and engineering techniques employed on the Bridge were hugely influential in the global development of suspension bridges. Sitting four miles upstream from Berwick-upon-Tweed, the structure remains very much as it was when it was first completed. It contains the earliest and only remaining examples of Samuel Brown’s patented eye-bar wrought iron chains. The Scottish pylon is also the oldest standing road suspension bridge masonry pylon in the world.
Learning activities, workshops and resources have been developed by Museums Northumberland in partnership with NUSTEM at Northumbria University. These include:
Each set of STEM Person of the Week resources includes postcard-sized profiles of five people who work in STEM. These individuals are local or directly connected to the Union Chain Bridge restoration works. They have been carefully chosen to reflect a diverse range of STEM roles and people within each pack.
An imaginative set of activities inspired by the engineering and heritage stories of the Union Chain Bridge.
