Gidders:
The transporter bridge at Middlesbrough is still in use for cars and pedestrians.My mates and i used to climb up the steps on the legs and race the bogie along the top when we were kids.No access now.Too many diving into the Tees.
Even younger still lots of men used to board paddle steamers near the bridge and be dropped off at various riverside industrial sites or to work on the "Hoppers"which used to pull alongside dredgers to fill up with river sludge and venture out into the North Sea to dump the load.My grandad was captain of TCC no.2 and let me travel with him.No chance of that with H.and S.nowadays.
The transporter bridge in Middlesbrough has been closed for about 15 months now Gidders, they were saying in the local press a couple of weeks ago that it may not reopen, could just become a ‘historical monument’