Many of you will know that I am a bit of a bridge enthusiast. How it happened is a long and not especially interesting story, but suffice it to say that I am now writing a book on Glasgow’s history told through its bridges. So naturally, I was very excited by the opening of the new Govan Footbridge (or the Pointy Bridge, as I insist on calling it).
I realise that not all of you will be as enthused as I am, but you’ve got the option not to read this, haven’t you? Anyway, I took my camera with me to the bridge festival (where there was no ice cream to be had! A travesty!) and got some lovely photos, especially when the sun came out. In fact, it was one of the nicest afternoons of the entire summer. The sun is also a bridge fan, it seems.
A view from the new bridge of the Riverside Museum and the Tall Ship Glenlee. In the distance are the Armadillo (Clyde Auditorium), and the Glasgow Science Centre and its tower. You can even see a couple of other bridges in the background, the Millennium Bridge and the Squinty Bridge (the Clyde Arc).
The new bridge is a steel cable-stayed opening swing bridge, for those who care about such things. At almost 115m long, it is one of the longest opening footbridges in Europe. It’s also quite nice looking, I think, a bit like its sibling, the Squiggly Bridge.
The place was absolutely hoachin’ this afternoon. It will be a lot faster to cross from Partick to Govan when it’s not a festival! Amongst the throng of humanity there was a man taking photos with a much more impressive camera than mine, but he agreed to use my piddly wee camera to take a photo of me. Thank you, Mr Photographer Man!
“But if it’s a swing bridge,” I hear you cry, “can’t we get to see it in action?” Fear not, I’ve uploaded a video to YouTube and embedded it below so you can enjoy the bridge swinging open and a couple of the 10-or-so yachts sailing through. Don’t say I’m not good to you!
Look out for my book on Glasgow’s bridges at some point – but don’t hold your breath, as I’m only on chapter three of twelve. But I will be releasing something else this October, so keep an eye out for that….
K C Murdarasi 
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