The building of the Tyne Bridge was a dangerous job.
For many years, it was said that only one man died during the construction. This was not true.
While researching my book about the Tyne Bridge, I found that three workers lost their lives. These are their stories: 🧵
For years it was believed that only one worker died during the construction of the Tyne Bridge.
Nathaniel Collins fell from the top of the arch into the Tyne in February 1928.
He was a 33-year-old WWI veteran from South Shields, who was married with two children.
But Nathaniel Collins was not the first man to die during construction of the Tyne Bridge.
Frank McCoy, 44 and from Gateshead, was killed in February 1926 during the sinking of the foundations.
A skip full of excavated material fell from a crane on to his head.
Sadly, a third man died while building the Tyne Bridge.
Norman Muller, a 26-year-old joiner's labourer from Sunderland, was killed on 19 June 1928.
He fell 60 feet onto the Quayside while removing scaffolding from the abutment tower at the Newcastle end of the bridge.
Muller fell from a nine-inch-wide wooden plank that workers walked across without safety equipment.
His colleagues and supervisors considered the plank to be safe.
Like Nathaniel Collins and Frank McCoy, Muller was found at an inquest to have suffered an accidental death.
Several other workers fell from the Tyne Bridge and survived.
This was largely due to the heroism of John Carr, who was employed to sit in a rowing boat under the bridge and rescue fallen men.
Reports suggested Carr saved 57 men from the Tyne.
This photo shows John Carr sitting under the Tyne Bridge in a rowing boat waiting to pull fallen workers from the river.
Carr, from Newcastle, became something of a hero for his "magnificent record of life-saving". He was awarded a Royal Humane Society medal for bravery.
Hundreds of workers built the Tyne Bridge, risking their lives in a remarkable high-wire balancing act that attracted crowds of awestruck spectators.
The icon of Tyneside now stands as a monument to them, and a tribute to Nathaniel Collins, Frank McCoy and Norman Muller.
My new book, The Tyne Bridge: Icon of North East England, is published by @HurstPublishers and is out now.
The perfect Christmas present for Geordie bridge lovers...
You can find out more and buy it here:
tynebridgebook.com/
Paul Brown
@paulbrownUK
Writes about stuff: history, football, true crime, rocketbelts. New book: The Tyne Bridge: tynebridgebook.com Newsletter: singulardiscoveries.com
