Styford Bridge is a modern concrete bridge carrying the

A68 road The A68 is a major road in the United Kingdom, running from Darlington in England to the A720 in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It crosses the Anglo-Scottish border at Carter Bar and is the only road to do so for some distance either wa ...

across the River Tyne east of

Riding Mill Riding Mill is a village near Hexham in Northumberland, England. It is part of the civil parish of Broomhaugh and Riding. It is served by Riding Mill railway station and by a frequent bus service on the route from Hexham to Newcastle. Riding Mil ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and forms part of the A68

bypass Bypass may refer to: * Bypass (road), a road that avoids a built-up area (not to be confused with passing lane) * Flood bypass of a river Science and technology Medicine * Bypass surgery, a class of surgeries including for example: ** Heart bypas ...

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was known to the Romans as something like ''Corstopitum'' or ''Coriosopit ...

History

The

from

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington under ...

used to descend the south side of the Tyne valley to the village of

, then followed the River Tyne to the

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, and from there ran northwest to

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in s ...

. The new road descends sharply to the east and crosses the River Tyne about downstream of Riding Mill. The new road carries on northwards to meet the A69 at the Styford roundabout. The A68 and the A69 follow the bypass west for about to the Stagshaw Road roundabout where the A68 leaves to join the old alignment. The new link road was opened by the

Duke of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke ...

in a ceremony on the bridge. Present were Councillor Robert Barnett, Chairman of

Northumberland County Council Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. The population of the non-metropolitan unitary authority at the 2011 census was 316,028. History It was formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of N ...

and Councillor the Reverend Alec Beniams, Chairman of

Tynedale __NOTOC__ Tynedale is an area and former local government district in south-west Northumberland, England. The district had a resident population of 58,808 according to the 2001 Census. Its main towns were Hexham, Haltwhistle and Prudhoe. Th ...

District Council. The main contractors for the link road were Northumberland County Council direct labour organisation and Eden Construction of Carlisle Limited. The bridge was the main responsibility of the county council labour force and was approved by the

Royal Fine Art Commission The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) was an executive non-departmental public body of the UK government, established in 1999. It was funded by both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for C ...

. The bridge, which cost £530,000, was personally designed by Tom Smith, assistant

county surveyor A county surveyor is a public official in the United Kingdom and the United States. United Kingdom Webb & Webb describe the increasing chaos that began to prevail within this same period in field of county surveying in England and Wales, with ...

Air crash

On 9 January 1990 two

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

jets collided in mid-air over the Tyne Valley, and one crashed to earth. The two-man crew from one aircraft, a

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

ZA394 from

RAF Laarbruch Royal Air Force , more commonly known as RAF ICAO EDUL (from 1 January 1995 ETUL) was a Royal Air Force station, a military airfield, located in Germany on its border with the Netherlands. The Station's motto was (). The site now operates a ...

in West Germany, ejected to safety. The other plane, a

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...

XZ108, managed to stay in the air and safely divert to

RAF Leeming Royal Air Force Leeming or RAF Leeming is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near Leeming, North Yorkshire, England. It was opened in 1940 and was jointly used by the RAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Between 1950 and 1991, it ...

in Yorkshire. The pilot and navigator from the Tornado were both injured. Wreckage from the crash fell onto the bridge causing minor damage to the road surface and to both safety barriers.

References

External links

Styford Bridge
at Bridges on the Tyne {{River item box , River = River Tyne , upstream =

Corbridge Bridge Corbridge Bridge is a 17th-century stone bridge across the River Tyne at Corbridge, Northumberland, England. The bridge used to carry the A68 road over the River Tyne, but since the opening of the Hexham bypass ( A69) the A68 now crosses by t ...

, upsub = {{UK road, B6321 , downstream =

Bywell Bridge Bywell Bridge is a 19th-century stone bridge across the River Tyne. It is a Grade II listed building. History The bridge was opened in 1838. It was built at a cost of £15,000, which was paid by the local landowner T W Beaumont. The designer ...

, downsub = {{UK road, B6309 , type = bridge , location = NZ030618 Crossings of the River Tyne Bywell