Drygrange Old Bridge

In 1768 an act of parliament was passed which allowed the construction of a road from Lauder to Carter Bar. This road was to become the A68 and an avenue of much joy to me and my family 256 years later!

Over these centuries, the Tweed has developed a collection of fine bridges spanning its waters and the bridges at Leaderfoot in the parish of Melrose are all very different in uses and appearance. Records indicate that this point in the river was always a crossing point and with a Roman fort at Trimontium just up the way, a bridge would have been likely at such a major crossing point, conveying the Roman Dere Street north from the fort.

Alongside the building of the new road, the Drygrange Old Bridge was built between 1778-80, presumably in response to this newfangled road business! It replaced a ferry which took people over the river for a fee and was known as the 'Fly boat bridge'.

Alexander Stevens was the architect. A rock and roll bridge builder and engineer of his time, he was a renowned architect. 'The Buildings of Scotland' notes his “innovative use of French style curved and pointed cutwaters” and states they were “probably inspired by Robert Mylne's building of Blackfriars Bridge” across the Thames. I like a big thinker, especially on a small spanning bridge in the Borders! His classy cutwaters featured again on his design for the Teviot Bridge in Kelso.

Spanning 32 metres, the bridge is made up of one larger central arch reaching a height of ten metres, two side spans of 17 metres and a smaller arch to the south which is known as an accommodation arch. This had me puzzled as it didn't look liveable inable! On checking, an accommodation arch on a bridge is an arch that preserves a pre-existing private road or path when a major transport route is built across it.

Round-headed or semi-circular arches are often used in accommodation bridges to allow access between fields and minor lanes and this looks about right for the south side of the Drygrange Bridge. The arch is less decorative and more functional than the others and a little walkway on the Leader Water path, by the river ran through it.

The bridge was bathed in beautiful summer sunshine in early August so looking its best, but it was made of good stuff. Built from red and buff sandstone and whinstone you can recognise the subtle colour differentiations in the stonework.

For its time, it was certainly a bit of a back of the net bridge! The classy, rounded cutwaters were new-fangled in the late 1700s. The huge stones were cut to emulate the prow of a boat with their role being to deflect debris in the rushing water, to break up ice and reduce pressure on the bridge and they don't just lie at the base of the bridge but are carried all the way up to top of the bridge and form two triangular pedestrian refuges at either end of the central span.

The thickness of the wall which runs the full height of the bridge therefore reinforced these little triangular cutouts for pedestrians. “Step aside young Archie. A horse and cart is approaching!” They also provide great platforms to view the Leaderfoot Viaduct a little further up the river.

It looks like a hefty old length of bridge but was made light work of by the engineering of hollow spandrels (who doesn't love a hollow spandrel?), a technique devised by Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford, also known as Colossus of Roads. D'you see what they did there, those witty Georgians. The hollow spandrels are built into bridges to reduce the weight on the arches, and for its time, the central span of 32 metres for this type of bridge was remarkable.

Stevens didn't set out simply to focus on the functional role of the Drygrange Bridge. Its decorative features also shine. The bridge itself holds ornamental quatrefoil medallions on the faces of the buttresses. There are large circular cutouts on the face of the bridge itself, which hold yellow sandstone urns on a raised platform. Both adornments are backed in grey stone which contrasts with the soft salmon and yellow of the sandstone.

Above is an embellished mantle with deep set crosses. All quite detailed and perhaps superfluous considering people would be riding over the bridge and no longer travelling under it, but the elaborate extravagance makes it attractive to the eye as well as functional.

The icing on the bridgey cake is the addition of conical finials at either side of the bridge as you approach. This was definitely an all singing all dancing new way to travel over the Tweed for its time. There is nothing small scale. All the stops have been pulled out by Stevens and this bridge is indeed a beautiful little mode of motion for people to have travelled from North to South and vice versa without getting their feet wet!

For a little over 190 years the Drygrange Bridge was the main means of transportation over the Tweed at this point. In 1974, it was felt that the small bridge built by Stevens at the end of the 1700s no longer cut the mustard for increasing levels of traffic and larger, heavier vehicles, as so, this beautiful bridge was retired and now offers a piggyback over Leader Water to curious tourists and dog walkers on a daily basis!