The Iron Bridge

The Iron Bridge is a bridge that crosses the River Severn in Shropshire, England. Opened in 1781, it was the first arch bridge in the world to be made of cast iron, and was greatly celebrated after construction owing to its use of the new material.

In 1934 it was designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument and closed to vehicular traffic. Tolls for pedestrians were collected until 1950, when ownership of the bridge was transferred to Shropshire County Council. It now belongs to Telford and Wrekin Borough Council. The bridge, the adjacent settlement of Ironbridge and the Ironbridge Gorge form the UNESCO Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site. The bridge is a Grade I listed building, and a waypoint on the South Telford Heritage Trail.

History

Background

Abraham Darby I first smelted local iron ore with coke made from Coalbrookdale coal in 1709, and in the coming decades Shropshire became a centre for industry due to the low price of fuel from local mines. The River Severn was used as a key trading route, but it was also a barrier to travel around the Ironbridge Gorge, the nearest bridge being at Buildwas two miles away. The use of the river by boat traffic and the steep sides of the gorge meant that any bridge should ideally be of a single span, and sufficiently high to allow tall ships to pass underneath. The steepness and instability of the banks was problematic for building a bridge, and there was no point where roads on opposite sides of the river converged.

Iron Bridge

Iron Bridge may refer to:

Iron Bridge, Riga

The Iron Bridge (Latvian: Dzelzs tilts) or Semigallia Bridge (Zemgales tilts) was a bridge that crossed the Daugava river in Riga, the capital of Latvia. The bridge was bombarded twice, during World War I and World War II, but was not rebuilt after the last war and only remains of the bride pillars now stands where the bridge used to cross the river.

References

Coordinates: 56°56′32″N 24°06′23″E / 56.9422°N 24.1064°E / 56.9422; 24.1064

Scunthorpe United F.C.

Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. It currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of the English football league system.

The team is nicknamed The Iron, and has played in a home strip of claret and blue for most of its history. It plays its home games at Glanford Park, having moved from the Old Show Ground in 1988.Grimsby Town, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers, Lincoln City and York City are its main rivals, although Doncaster are the only one of these clubs that currently plays in Scunthorpe's division. It is currently the only league club located in Lincolnshire.

The club was formed in 1899, turned professional in 1912 and joined the Football League in 1950. It achieved promotion to Division Two in 1958, where it stayed until 1964, but has spent most of its time as a Football League club in the basement tier. The club has had more success recently, however: it was promoted from Football League Two in 2005, and has spent three of the last five seasons in the Football League Championship. The Iron were relegated to Football League One in 2011, having finished bottom of the Championship.