A world renowned metal fabrication business owned by Gateshead businessman Clifford Chapman has built a replica of the Tyne Bridge for Gateshead Council’s entry for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
The bridge has been commissioned by Gateshead Council to celebrate the 30th staging of the Great North Run as part of its active and healthy initiative.
It has taken seven weeks for Washington-based Clifford Chapman Metalworks to complete and was achieved with a team of time served craftsman including Colin Clarke, 60, who has worked for Cliff for over 30 years, Ian Storey, 42, who has 16 years loyalty, Eddie Cox, 30, Paul Watson, 30, and Paul Alderson, 37. Together the team has over 80 years experience.
The design devised by Redbox Design Group was given to the Washington business at the beginning of March at which point founder Cliff Chapman and draftsman Paul Carpenter made several journeys to the actual bridge to ensure the finished article looked as authentic as possible.
“We took at least 20 pictures of the Tyne Bridge to make sure what we created was a true representation of a symbol that is recognised throughout the world,” said Paul.
“I have lived around the Tyne Bridge all my life it was completed in 1928 which is the year my father was born so it holds special personal significance. Working on the project has been a real pleasure and in a way has helped me get to know my home town even better.
“Like the original, the arc is a series of faceted flat pieces which when put together create the distinctive lattice structured curved shape.”
The structure is made of CNC fabricated aluminium with the base constructed from mild steel wrapped with aluminium to ensure it is light enough to move but solid enough to be stable.
The model's dimensions are a ninth scale of the actual Tyne Bridge which still leaves it a substantial 14 metres long and 4 metres from the top of the base to the apex of the curve.
“We also wanted the rivet heads on the original bridge to show up on the model and to achieve this we used a fashioned punch machine called a Trumpf. By specially setting the machine so it didn’t go right through the aluminium cladding we created a visually effective finish.
“We also found an exact match for the paint and overall what has been created looks authentic which is of course what we had in mind,” concluded Paul.
The model needs to be disassembled and assembled quite easily as it makes its journey down to the Chelsea Flower Show as well as featuring at the Great North Run. As a result of this it fits together like a giant maccarno set constructed out of about 24 individual pieces and will take 2 to 3 days to assemble.
Clifford Chapman Metalworks
The metal fabrication firm behind the construction of the Tyne Bridge replica commissioned by Gateshead Council for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has its roots firmly in Gateshead.
Clifford Chapman Metalworks has been trading for over 30 years and the founder Cliff was himself born and bred in Gateshead on Rose Street over looking the Old Redheugh Bridge. He has been in the industry for over 40 years even lecturing at Gateshead Technical College on the subject of specialist architectural metalwork.
“We are extremely good at working with architects interior designers including Eva Jiricna Architects, Fosters and Partners, Candy and Candy, Red Box Design and many more. In fact, anyone who is looking for a high quality centre piece or outstanding feature in their home, office, garden or - as in the case of Gateshead Council - award entry,” said Cliff.
The business is based in Washington where it has offices and a substantial shop floor employing about 40 staff.
“All our work is created on the shop floor and then shipped out all over the world - we have customers in Hong Kong, Prague, Miami and the Isle of Man,” explained Cliff.
Celebrities and members of the super rich such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Prince Karel Fuerst Schwarzenberg, inventor of the cut out switch for the electric kettle Dr John Taylor and local hero Alan Shearer are all valued customers. Specific examples include the spectacular chrome and glass stairwell in the Pacific Bar in Newcastle to the glass obelisk on the Millennium Bridge in London.
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