I'm still catching up on this channel and I'm really enjoying it. I've been to Hull many times but never realised what an interesting history it has. Great channel and very well produced stuff.
Never knew any of that History Nerd. Something we take for granted. Didn't realise it was a counterweight bridge with a fluid-filled tank, able to be tweaked. Fascinating, well done....
Someone mentioned in comments that the tank might not be fluid filled, so I did some more digging. When I was initially researching it the one source I found described the tanks as being oil-filled, but I've since found a couple of sources that suggests that the tanks were filled with concrete. So it looks like it's not as tweakable as I thought. I can't wait to get back into the history centre to do proper research again!
@@hullhistorynerd I really like the idea of the counterweight weighing similar to the bridge so that the small difference in weight means less effort required to swing it. Makes a ton of sense, as does the ability to tweak the counterweight. Hope you were correct on this. If the mechanism fails, all one would need to do is pump extra fluid in to allow the bridge to default to an open position...
The counterweight on a bascule bridge already does that by design, it's always very slightly heavier than the road deck, so that if it fails, it fails open. North Bridge might have had issues with the mechanism in the past, but it's never just started to open on its own - unlike Sutton Road and Drypool bridges! Quite literally one of my worst fears as a kid was the idea of North Bridge opening whilst I was on it, and now I learn that similar bridges have actually done this... yikes!
@@hullhistorynerd You're probably a bit young to remember when either the Drypool Bridge or North Bridge was refurbished in the 60's I think. The Hull Daily Mail made a big splash about the engineers placing lots of Corporation buses on the bridge as a demonstration of its (increased?) capacity. Since the bridges are so finely balanced wouldn't they have some form of lock in place to prevent accidental opening?
@@logotrikes Oh yes, far too young! I wasn't born until the 70s! And yes, it's the locking mechanism that stops the bridges from opening that's failed occasionally on Drypool and Sutton Road bridges. Of all the things I've learned researching this topic, that's the one fact I wish I hadn't learned!
Another great video . Quite a few years back i worked for hull city council and was sent to do electrical repairs to either North or Drypool bridge . Whilst there i noted the bright clean copper pipes etc well polished - almost had a ship like quality to it Thanks Rob
I've recently (ish) moved near North Bridge and so I am now crossing it regularly. It oozes history...in fact that whole Witham area does. I try and take the time to notice little historical 'tells' in that area and each day I discover something new (although I often dont know what it is) and so far I haven't been disappointed. It's especially interesting to look upwards and discover things that I hadn't previously noticed in my 40+ years here and then speculate or even attempt basic research about whatever it is. I really appreciated this video...it was very informative; I particularly was pleased to find out what that little bit of land at the end of Great Union Street was...I've often passed it and wondered. Really enjoy your output HHN...keep up the good work. 👍
Other interesting facts; the old Foredyke Stream drain used to empty into the river on the east bank right next to the bridge. You can still see the old bridge over the drain at the end of New Cleveland Street - there's even a plaque on the bridge as it was one of the first bridges built in ferroconcrete in the country!
The Hull History Nerd is brilliant, as are his entertaining & educational videos, especially if you're from Hull... obviously... Excellent job & keep up the good work...👍
..the best video so far. !! .....worth it for the picture which I presume was the partially filled in Queen's dock , ...you don't see many pictures of that undertaking ,passed by Queen's Gardens today as usual and a quick glance and just imagined those high masts , ...am I correct in thinking that buried beneath the gardens in the infill , ...there is a locomotive , a couple of old lorries and hundreds of old bakelite telephones. !! ....so I've been told. ......
Yet another brilliant history lesson Mr nerd....very sinister music though....how about the history of spurn point, especially the remains of the gun turrets and the number of air raid shelters still there...when the weather is better obviously and you'll have to check the tide times as it is a little cut off now, but still accessible at low tide.
Funnily enough, I do actually have an episode planned for Spurn point, focussed initially on the military railway but also encompassing its past, the lighthouses, the pillboxes, and the once thriving port town of Ravenser Odd that was once built around there!
@steve and @hull history nerd. Little bit of a coincidence. I got to work on nearly all the bridges in hull during my electrical apprenticeship a few years back including North bridge. Under North bridge there is a tunnel that has a huge amount of electrical and telephone cables including a telephone cable that goes to spurn point if I remember correctly. Possibly redundant now but a weird little coincidence.
@@edwenn6273 Ah yes! There's a similar conduit under Scott Street bridge, too! A group of urban explorers filmed themselves climbing down into it and then edited another of their adventures in to make it look like there was a secret railway line under Hull (which there isn't, but you probably already know that!)
@@hullhistorynerd I'll have to look up the video as I didn't get to spend much time on Scott Street (broken bridges don't need much maintenance funnily enough!) I think the only bridges without tunnels underneath are Wilmington and sculcoates due to how old they are. In face you will probably see signs warning of electrical cables below on the river. Can't speak for railway bridge as that isn't maintained by council.
@@edwenn6273 Scott Street was pretty old, but I think the conduit might have actually originally been for its hydraulic operation before it was used for utilities, as it was the first bridge that used the then-new municipal hydraulic power network.
is that flour mill at drypool bridge still on the go, i use to go there on small ships back in the late 70s and 80s it was called ranks floor mills back then, and even further up the river to spillers mill if my memory serves me well think was near chapman street and scott street bridge, we use to drop off a Humber pilot before dry pool often just hoping across moored barges and then picking up a local river hull pilot
No, sadly the Rank mill was demolished a few years ago, the site still hasn't been developed. Also, if you saw the first episode on the Docks, you might have seen the interview with one of the old Humber pilots, Bill, recounting his data as a master mariner taking the vegetable oil tankers up the River Hull and using the old Victoria Dock entrance to swing the ship around and reverse up the river! I wonder if he was one of your Humber pilots?
@@hullhistorynerd i do remember the local old harbor pilot Tom Berry and his son i think also called tom who did the boatmen/mooring duties , only seen a couple vids so far as your channel only popped up in my recommendations just last night after watching old vids about the hull fishing industry, but i will be watching the rest, great stuff and well done
Yes, Bill talks about Tom in his interview! Guiding a ship backwards round the twists of the river Hull whilst the tide is still coming in can't be an easy task!
@@hullhistorynerd Don't forget (and i don't want to teach granny to suck eggs) Hull's own Rob Hubbard was the god-like composer of many unforgettable tunes on the SID.
Amazing English engineering and dating back around the middle ages just after the Magna Carta 1215 /1297 ...and that is still aplicable today along wiyh the bill of rigjts1688... England the land of the constitution..
@@bobbymoore1615 All the info you're looking for is in the video, dates and all! The Bill of Rights came about 150 years after the first bridge was built.
Some of them do! But only visible from the river, sadly. I think we should be a bit more proud of our bridges, they're great bits of engineering. What blew my mind was realising that North Bridge is only a few years off its 100th birthday!
I'm still catching up on this channel and I'm really enjoying it. I've been to Hull many times but never realised what an interesting history it has. Great channel and very well produced stuff.
Excellent video many thanks
Never knew any of that History Nerd. Something we take for granted. Didn't realise it was a counterweight bridge with a fluid-filled tank, able to be tweaked. Fascinating, well done....
Someone mentioned in comments that the tank might not be fluid filled, so I did some more digging. When I was initially researching it the one source I found described the tanks as being oil-filled, but I've since found a couple of sources that suggests that the tanks were filled with concrete. So it looks like it's not as tweakable as I thought. I can't wait to get back into the history centre to do proper research again!
@@hullhistorynerd I really like the idea of the counterweight weighing similar to the bridge so that the small difference in weight means less effort required to swing it. Makes a ton of sense, as does the ability to tweak the counterweight. Hope you were correct on this. If the mechanism fails, all one would need to do is pump extra fluid in to allow the bridge to default to an open position...
The counterweight on a bascule bridge already does that by design, it's always very slightly heavier than the road deck, so that if it fails, it fails open. North Bridge might have had issues with the mechanism in the past, but it's never just started to open on its own - unlike Sutton Road and Drypool bridges! Quite literally one of my worst fears as a kid was the idea of North Bridge opening whilst I was on it, and now I learn that similar bridges have actually done this... yikes!
@@hullhistorynerd You're probably a bit young to remember when either the Drypool Bridge or North Bridge was refurbished in the 60's I think. The Hull Daily Mail made a big splash about the engineers placing lots of Corporation buses on the bridge as a demonstration of its (increased?) capacity.
Since the bridges are so finely balanced wouldn't they have some form of lock in place to prevent accidental opening?
@@logotrikes Oh yes, far too young! I wasn't born until the 70s! And yes, it's the locking mechanism that stops the bridges from opening that's failed occasionally on Drypool and Sutton Road bridges. Of all the things I've learned researching this topic, that's the one fact I wish I hadn't learned!
Another great video . Quite a few years back i worked for hull city council and was sent to do electrical repairs to either North or Drypool bridge . Whilst there i noted the bright clean copper pipes etc well polished - almost had a ship like quality to it Thanks Rob
I've recently (ish) moved near North Bridge and so I am now crossing it regularly. It oozes history...in fact that whole Witham area does. I try and take the time to notice little historical 'tells' in that area and each day I discover something new (although I often dont know what it is) and so far I haven't been disappointed. It's especially interesting to look upwards and discover things that I hadn't previously noticed in my 40+ years here and then speculate or even attempt basic research about whatever it is.
I really appreciated this video...it was very informative; I particularly was pleased to find out what that little bit of land at the end of Great Union Street was...I've often passed it and wondered.
Really enjoy your output HHN...keep up the good work. 👍
Other interesting facts; the old Foredyke Stream drain used to empty into the river on the east bank right next to the bridge. You can still see the old bridge over the drain at the end of New Cleveland Street - there's even a plaque on the bridge as it was one of the first bridges built in ferroconcrete in the country!
@@hullhistorynerd I think I know where you mean....I'll check it out tomorrow...thanks.
The Hull History Nerd is brilliant, as are his entertaining & educational videos, especially if you're from Hull... obviously... Excellent job & keep up the good work...👍
Thankyou! I'm just glad that people are enjoying them :)
@@hullhistorynerd we are
Excellent presentation as usual 👍
Brilliant video, really interesting. Thank you
Thank you once again for the lesson. Your presentation is first rate! I hope you produce many more of these fascinating films.
Believe me, I've a long, long list of subjects for my videos, I won't be running out of things to talk about anytime soon!
..the best video so far. !! .....worth it for the picture which I presume was the partially filled in Queen's dock , ...you don't see many pictures of that undertaking ,passed by Queen's Gardens today as usual and a quick glance and just imagined those high masts , ...am I correct in thinking that buried beneath the gardens in the infill , ...there is a locomotive , a couple of old lorries and hundreds of old bakelite telephones. !! ....so I've been told. ......
I've heard all sorts of rumours about what lurks under Queen's Gardens, but sadly I haven't been able to confirm any of it!
Brilliant again! Always learning from these videos.
Thanks for spreading local history to the masses! You're doing a grand job!
Excellent!
Nice presentation given lockdown conditions. Thank you.
It's certainly not often I get to do my lines sitting down, though I'm not sure it makes me any better at saying them...
Really interesting, especially enjoyed the engineering lesson, thankyou HHN!
Superb
Thanks yet again another great upload ❤️
Another very interesting video. Thanks.
Good one. Think I used to cross it going to and from "Spiders" back in the day...
Brilliant video, any chance we can a video on the history of " Hull History Nerd"?
That would be the dullest story ever.
Yet another brilliant history lesson Mr nerd....very sinister music though....how about the history of spurn point, especially the remains of the gun turrets and the number of air raid shelters still there...when the weather is better obviously and you'll have to check the tide times as it is a little cut off now, but still accessible at low tide.
Funnily enough, I do actually have an episode planned for Spurn point, focussed initially on the military railway but also encompassing its past, the lighthouses, the pillboxes, and the once thriving port town of Ravenser Odd that was once built around there!
@steve and @hull history nerd. Little bit of a coincidence. I got to work on nearly all the bridges in hull during my electrical apprenticeship a few years back including North bridge. Under North bridge there is a tunnel that has a huge amount of electrical and telephone cables including a telephone cable that goes to spurn point if I remember correctly. Possibly redundant now but a weird little coincidence.
@@edwenn6273 Ah yes! There's a similar conduit under Scott Street bridge, too! A group of urban explorers filmed themselves climbing down into it and then edited another of their adventures in to make it look like there was a secret railway line under Hull (which there isn't, but you probably already know that!)
@@hullhistorynerd I'll have to look up the video as I didn't get to spend much time on Scott Street (broken bridges don't need much maintenance funnily enough!) I think the only bridges without tunnels underneath are Wilmington and sculcoates due to how old they are. In face you will probably see signs warning of electrical cables below on the river. Can't speak for railway bridge as that isn't maintained by council.
@@edwenn6273 Scott Street was pretty old, but I think the conduit might have actually originally been for its hydraulic operation before it was used for utilities, as it was the first bridge that used the then-new municipal hydraulic power network.
Interesting.
Good to see you back.
is that flour mill at drypool bridge still on the go, i use to go there on small ships back in the late 70s and 80s it was called ranks floor mills back then, and even further up the river to spillers mill if my memory serves me well think was near chapman street and scott street bridge, we use to drop off a Humber pilot before dry pool often just hoping across moored barges and then picking up a local river hull pilot
No, sadly the Rank mill was demolished a few years ago, the site still hasn't been developed.
Also, if you saw the first episode on the Docks, you might have seen the interview with one of the old Humber pilots, Bill, recounting his data as a master mariner taking the vegetable oil tankers up the River Hull and using the old Victoria Dock entrance to swing the ship around and reverse up the river! I wonder if he was one of your Humber pilots?
@@hullhistorynerd i do remember the local old harbor pilot Tom Berry and his son i think also called tom who did the boatmen/mooring duties , only seen a couple vids so far as your channel only popped up in my recommendations just last night after watching old vids about the hull fishing industry, but i will be watching the rest, great stuff and well done
Yes, Bill talks about Tom in his interview! Guiding a ship backwards round the twists of the river Hull whilst the tide is still coming in can't be an easy task!
Darren Hale going back in time, cattle lane now cycle lane.
Shame about the bike lane !
Loving your work, fella! Was the background music from 1:19 done through a SID chip?
Thankyou! The music wasn't actually done on a SID chip, but it was designed to sound like it was, so it's awesome that someone spotted it!
@@hullhistorynerd i guess i’m Hull (albeit living in London) MOS Technology/C64 Nerd... 😎 not exactly the catchiest moniker though...
@@hullhistorynerd Don't forget (and i don't want to teach granny to suck eggs) Hull's own Rob Hubbard was the god-like composer of many unforgettable tunes on the SID.
@@phillipblanshard3423 He was indeed! My very first musical influence at the tender age of 13, along with Martin Galway!
Amazing English engineering and dating back around the middle ages just after the Magna Carta 1215 /1297 ...and that is still aplicable today along wiyh the bill of rigjts1688...
England the land of the constitution..
Well in fairness, there was no bridge there until the 16th century, it was a ferry, and there were three different bridges from that date.
@@hullhistorynerd i see after the bill of rights then ..my thinking is build a bridge to the north because the land and people were settled ...
@@bobbymoore1615 All the info you're looking for is in the video, dates and all! The Bill of Rights came about 150 years after the first bridge was built.
I wish they would put the names on the bridges 👍
Some of them do! But only visible from the river, sadly. I think we should be a bit more proud of our bridges, they're great bits of engineering. What blew my mind was realising that North Bridge is only a few years off its 100th birthday!
@@hullhistorynerd wow !
cant understand why anyone would want to go to east hull lolol