Thickley Wood Bridge (Shildon)
Thickley Wood footbridge, also known as Hildyard's Bridge and the Cattle Bridge, near the National Railway Museum, Shildon.
It is a 'multi-media bridge', built in stages as the railway system expanded.
The most interesting part has long single-span cast iron beams, made in 1857, bearing the marks HARRIS MDCCCLVII MAKER (see photo). Harris was believed to be John Harris, a Quaker from Lancashire, who was the resident engineer on the Stockton and Darlington Railway from 1836 to 1844. He then became self-employed, and one of his businesses was Hopetown foundry, in Darlington, where the bridge castings were produced. [1]
As the collieries expanded, additional sidings were required, and in 1868, a second wrought iron girder span was added to the south and, in 1875, four additional wrought iron lattice spans were added to the south. Extensive restoration of the older parts and major changes at the southern end were undertaken, starting in 2018.[2]