Footbridge in Belper River Gardens built by Andrew Handyside in 1907.

The Derby firm Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge in Derby also made many hundreds of other bridges of many different sizes around the world such as this footbridge located in the River Gardens at Belper, Derbyshire, UK.
Next time you visit Belper River Gardens have a look at this bridge, its located near the car park area.

This footbridge was supplied by Andrew Handyside and Company Ltd in 1907 at a cost of £339. It was installed when a refreshments centre pavilion was built on the triangle of land at the southern end of the river gardens. You can clearly see this triangle of land using my map link below.

As you can see by my photographs (May 2011) this bridge is in a very poor state at the moment and in need of some serious restoration work. Belper River Gardens has recently been revamped and is looking nice so shame this bridge has been left. I hope its going to get restored.

Updates :
In 2012 I applied to English Heritage to get this bridge listed but they decided its not worth saving.
8th March 2014 - I have just been to see this bridge today and its still standing, surrounded by metal fencing.Its only a matter of time before its rusted away and lost forever.

Even though this is "just a footbridge" you can see that Handyside has embellished the side panels with some decorative ironwork. See my 4th photograph.


Photographs of the bridge at Belper River Gardens:

Wide view showing the location of the bridge below East Mill


Photograph showing four of the bridge sections


The South end of the bridge.


A side view showing some of the decorative ironwork


A bridge in need of some TLC.



This is a photograph of how the footbridge looked in 1908, As you can see its was an attractive looking footbridge. A pitty its got into the state its in today in 2011.

I would like to thank Adrian Farmer for this old photograph.



Map Location:
View my Andrew Handyside World Map to see the exact location of this bridge on the world map.
My world map is the result of hundreds of hours of research into the company, plotting out each item as I find it.

Google Streetview has captured this bridge HERE.

Can you help find more Handyside stuff ?
If anyone out there knows of any other bridges around the world bearing the Handyside badge that I have not mentioned yet then please get in touch with details, location, photographs etc.

Thanks
Andy

Gouritz River Bridge, Cape Province, South Africa built in Derby by Andrew Handyside in 1892.

The Derby firm Andrew Handyside who made Friar Gate bridge in Derby also made many hundreds of other bridges of many different sizes around the world such as the Gouritz River Road Bridge in Cape Province, South Africa.
Today this bridge is no longer used a road bridge as there is a newer one (built 1972), but is in fact now used for Bungee Jumping !
I think its great that despite the fact that the bridge no longer serves its original purpose, its now used for fun. You can book a bungee jump on Handyside's bridge here:
http://www.faceadrenalin.com/gouritsbridge.html

The parts for this bridge were manufactured at the Fox Street foundry in Derby by Andrew Handyside & Co. Ltd. The bridge would have probably been transported via Englands railway network to a sea port for shipping to South Africa and assembly.

The engineer for this bridge was Sir Benjamin Baker, M Inst, C.E, London.
It has a central span of 420 feet and two side spans of 140 feet each.
The height above the river bed is 210 feet.
The total weight of the bridge is 1,000 tons.

Photographs of Gouritz River road bridge by Andrew Handyside :









Map Location:
View my Andrew Handyside World Map to see the exact location of this bridge on the world map.
My world map is the result of hundreds of hours of research into the company, plotting out each item as I find it.

Google Streetview  has captured the bridge but you can only just see it as its the middle bridge of the three that run parallel with each other.

Video of someone doing a Bungee Jump off this bridge:


This road bridge was built in 1892 and is one of the longest (219 metres) and highest (61 metres) bridges in South Africa. A new double-laned road bridge to replace this bridge was built in 1972.
The railway line between Riversdale arid Mossel Bay was opened in 1906 and crossed the river by the same bridge, but a new railway bridge was built in 1931.

My Reference :
Page 14 of Steel & Iron Structures Made and erected by Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd of Derby and London. Published 1904.

Can you help find more Handyside stuff ?
If anyone out there knows of any other bridges around the world bearing the Handyside badge that I have not mentioned yet then please get in touch with details, location, photographs etc.

Thanks
Andy