AGM
We held their Fourteenth Annual General Meeting on Friday 14
November at the Office For National Statistics.
The guest speaker was the Deputy Mayor of Newport, Councillor
Cliff Suller, who praised the dedicated work of the Friends in
publicising the City's magnificent, virtually unique,
Transporter Bridge.
The photograph shows the newly elected Committee. L to R ~ Rob
Reese, Maureen Hendon, Gerald Black (Membership Secretary),
Carrie Bird, Chris Jones (Talks Organizer), John Evans
(Secretary),Linda Davies (Assistant Treasurer), Councillor Cliff
Suller, Deputy Mayor of Newport (Guest Speaker), Bob Richards
{Treasurer), David Hando (Chairman}, Dave Bassett (Engineering
Specialist}
Also co-opted on to the Committee were Monty Dart (Archivist),
Joyce Steven, Councillor Richard White (NCC), Mike Lewis (Museum
& Heritage Officer NCC)
Anyone wishing to volunteer in the New Year to help keep the
Centre open from 10am to 4pm, seven days a week, is asked to
contact the Chairman on 07802 487 042 or by
email
We have prepared a new Powerpoint presentation and would be glad
to hear from any groups who would like an illustrated talk about
the Bridge. To make a booking please contact the Chairman.
Remembrance Day
Alison Phillips has sent us this lovely photograph of the
Bridge, suitably decorated for Remembrance Day, which she took
recently. Thank you Alison!
Letter to Debbie Wilcox, Newport City Council Cabinet Member
for Leisure Services
Dear Councillor Wilcox
SEASONAL CLOSURE OF THE TRANSPORTER BRIDGE
I write on behalf of the Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge
to formally object to the proposed seasonal closure of the
Transporter Bridge. Over the months we have expressed
our concerns to you and to the Museums and Heritage Officer,
Mike Lewis. We consider the Bridge to be of immense
importance to the heritage of Newport, being a vital part of
the industrial, social, engineering and transport
history of the city.
So much so that we consider it should be open to visitors
throughout the year; at the very least on weekends and bank
holidays (except Christmas Day & Boxing Day). Our
visitors’ book shows that it is visited on a daily basis by
local people of all ages, people from all parts of Wales and
Britain and from many overseas countries.
We urge you and your Cabinet colleagues to reconsider the
seasonal closure proposal and we intend to launch a petition
to that affect.
The Friends intend to keep the Visitor Centre open throughout
the year from 10am to 4pm, whether the Bridge is open or
not. Then visitors will not have an entirely wasted
journey.
Yours sincerely
David Hando
Chairman, Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge
Heritage Bid
Representatives of the three British Transporter Bridges held
a second meeting with Rolf Hoehmann of the Bureau of
Industrial Archaeology to progress an international, serial
application to UNESCO for World Heritage Status for the
world’s surviving Transporter Bridges.
Of the eighteen Transporter Bridges built between 1893 and
1916 eight remain. They are Rochford in France, Osten and
Rendesburg in Germany, Buenos Aires in Argentina and the three
British Bridges, Newport, Middlesbrough and Warrington. Bilbao
in Spain already has Heritage Status.
This second meeting, held at the Bridge Visitor Centre at
Middlesbrough, was a follow up to the Celtic Manor conference
held this time last year. Newport was represented by the
Chairman of the Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge,
Councillor David Hando and Mike Lewis of the Newport Museum
Service. The British bridges handed over bid material to Rolf,
whose next visit is to Buenos Aires.
Rolf gave an up date on developments at the French, German
and Argentinian bridges. He said that, although there was a
long waiting list for Heritage Status, European medieval
churches and castles were over represented. That gave an
advantage to an international, serial application involving
20th century industrial archaeology. Nevertheless it would be
a long process.
Meetings would be arranged in September with Cadw at Newport
and English Heritage at Middlesborough.
Pctured below at the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge are (l
to r) Mike Lewis, Rolf Hoehmann and David Hando
Sidney
Robinson
We
are sorry to have to announce the death of founder member,
former Chairman and Life Vice-President Sidney Robinson on 19
January at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. Trustee
Anne Gatehouse writes:
Sidney was born in Newport on 28th November 1914. He spent
his working life in the shipping industry in Newport and
Bristol. He had an amazing capacity for facts and his memory
was phenomenal. He could walk into a building in Newport and
tell you the history of it.
He was a founder member of FONTB and served as Vice Chairman
and three years as Chairman, seeing us through the Centenary
year of our Bridge. He supported all our events, on the Open
Days still going ‘over the top’ into his nineties, he also
helped me with many of the talks and was always ready with
answers and information for the audience. He was so thrilled
to receive a certificate for his chairmanship and later, when
we made him a Vice President, he received another one. Both
certificates had pride of place on the wall of his flat in
Penarth which he kept immaculate.
Whatever I asked him for with regards to Newport and the
Transporter Bridge, their history and heritage he always had
the answer. Some times producing long explanations either
written or typed, nothing was too much for him and his wealth
of knowledge was amazing. I was so pleased that I set up a
meeting, in my home, between Sidney and Professor Alan Jones,
which resulted in the book ‘The River Usk’.
Sidney had many other interests in Newport, Penarth and
Cardiff and belonged to many organisations. The main ones
being The
Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, Newport Civic
Society, Both Penarth and Cardiff History Societies and the
Victorian Society. He always travelled by public transport
sometimes not arriving home until midnight. Sidney nursed his
wife for many years and when she passed away a few years ago
he was proud to take her to Christchurch Cemetery via The
Newport Transporter Bridge
I am proud to have known him and call him my Friend.
Anne Gatehouse
FONTB & Newport Civic Society
The Penarth Times carried an obituary on 30 January .
Sidney’s funeral took place on Wednesday 8 February and many
of the Committee and some other members gathered at the Bridge
to witness his last journey on the gondola, pictured below.
