Walking from Pickerings Pasture towards Widnes you approach three bridges, the first of which is the Britannia Bridge, pictured below.
According to Wikipedia,
‘Until 1868, when Runcorn Railway Bridge was opened, the only means of crossing the Mersey at or near Runcorn Gap were by fording or by ferry, with the lowest crossing of the river being the road bridge at Warrington.’
It carries rail traffic to and from Liverpool on the West Coast Main Line. It stands 75 feet (23 metres) above the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal.
Rail traffic approaching the bridge has to overcome a gradient requiring viaducts, as shown above either side of the river. I photographed this view having walked below the bridge from Pickerings Pasture into Widnes, standing between the railway bridge and the Silver Jubilee Bridge that will feature in my next post.
I took this shot of the Britannia bridge from the Silver Jubilee Bridge on the day before the latter was re-opened to vehicle traffic in February 2021. It would not have been possible to take this photo from here since then.
According to Wikipedia:
As you near the bridge from the Pickerings Pasture side you see three crests: the City of London’s Coat of Arms; Britannia and a Liver Bird. However, as my triptych shows, bridge centre; then left (Widnes); then to Runcorn (right), two of the crests show Britannia seated while the third shows the Cross of St George and a dagger – part of the coat of arms of the City of London. There is no Liver Bird Crest. I have suggested an edit to the Wikipedia page to reflect this.
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