Recently Wharton Estates contact us and asked if we would be interested in displaying the original Saltburn/"Ha'Penny" Bridge sign in our tea room based on our name and the motivation for naming our tea room "Ha'Penny Gift and Vintage Tea Room". We feel are very proud to preserve and share the local history in Ha'Penny Tea Room.
The original "Ha'Penny Bridge sign found it's home in Ha'Penny Gift & Vintage Tea Room.
When we decided on a name for our shop we wanted to include a bit of the local history with the idea to create a local community tea room. Ha'Penny Gift and Vintage Tea Room was directly derived with reference to the Saltburn Bridge also know locally known as the "Ha'Penny Bridge".
Ha'Penny Bridge completed and opened September 1869. The bridge, when it opened, became known as the "Halfpenny Bridge" derived from the fact that pedestrians paid a halfpenny toll to cross. The toll was taken at a toll-booth at one end of the bridge. The toll-house, which was built for the use of the toll-collector at the other end of the bridge, still survives today as a private dwelling.
Short History...
The 'Halfpenny' bridge was a typical example of Victorian enterprise and was completed in 1869 at a cost of £7000 and the lives of three workmen. The bridge span, on top of seven cast iron supports, offered spectacular views of the coast and surrounding countryside.
Designed to link Saltburn with the neighbouring town of Skelton, the construction of the spectacular 'Halfpenny Bridge' which spanned the valley, crossing Skelton Beck, was under construction by September 1869. This impressive structure, rising 120ft above the Pleasure Grounds at its highest point, would eventually enable travellers to avoid the vertiginous road descent from the town down to sea level, and the equally arduous ascent up the other side of the glen.
During it's 105 year history the bridge gained a darker reputation as a number of people committed suicide by throwing themselves off the bridge. In the 1960s age began to take its toll on the bridges supporting structures.
In his report of 1971, Mr I M Little, consultant engineer, concluded that the bridge "was in the first stages of dereliction" and that its condition was hazardous to any person or vehicle supported by the bridge or passing under it. "In event of high winds failure could occur with the subsequent collapse of the bridge."
A proposed refurbishment programme was found to be too costly so the decision was taken to demolish the bridge.
Designed to link Saltburn with the neighbouring town of Skelton, the construction of the spectacular 'Halfpenny Bridge' which spanned the valley, crossing Skelton Beck, was under construction by September 1869. This impressive structure, rising 120ft above the Pleasure Grounds at its highest point, would eventually enable travellers to avoid the vertiginous road descent from the town down to sea level, and the equally arduous ascent up the other side of the glen.
During it's 105 year history the bridge gained a darker reputation as a number of people committed suicide by throwing themselves off the bridge. In the 1960s age began to take its toll on the bridges supporting structures.
In his report of 1971, Mr I M Little, consultant engineer, concluded that the bridge "was in the first stages of dereliction" and that its condition was hazardous to any person or vehicle supported by the bridge or passing under it. "In event of high winds failure could occur with the subsequent collapse of the bridge."
A proposed refurbishment programme was found to be too costly so the decision was taken to demolish the bridge.
and then in 1974...
At exactly 9.30am (17th December 1974) explosive charges were placed at the base of the 120ft-high Halfpenny Bridge. Minutes later the structure which had spanned the Valley Gardens since 1869, was reduced to a tangled heap of twisted metal and the vista through the valley towards Saltburn woods, would never be the same again.