Miles Collins

We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it….

It’s 1984, I am sixteen with rolled up jacket sleeves because Don Johnson is my alter ego. My friend is lead guitarist in an up and coming band called Tradgedy and I am the roadie. Tradgedy have a gig in Hull, we all live in Grimsby and there are three cars to transport crew and gear.

Three cars and only three people legally able to drive. Well, two and a half actually, because one of the drivers, my friends sister, has a chronic phobia about bridges. I draw the short straw and get to sit in the front sweating buckets whilst she cries a river, we are still in the drive.

We reach the Humber Bridge, our driver is beside herself with panic, I with terror. At this point I officially become a sensible adult, I suddenly develop an appreciation for the incredible feat of engineering that is the Humber’s ‘Golden Gate’. Picture the scene; attractive twenty something blonde gripping the steering wheel with knuckles drained of blood and head between legs, blind terror prevents her from looking anywhere other than the floor (even though I couldn’t drive I knew that looking through the windowscreen was a prerequisite for driving a car)

“You steer, I’ll press the pedals” she screamed. I leant over and grabbed the steering wheel like a rodeo on a crazed bull. She screamed obscenities at will, I recreated a car chase scene from ‘Streets of San Francisco’. Walking through Baghdad whistling the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ would have been less terrifying. Reaching the other end I realised how Roger Bannister must have felt after running the four minute mile, I smelt the same and vowed to learn to drive as soon as age permitted.

Standing at the South side of the bridge recently, looking at this incredible structure standing proud above the mudflats and water of the river Humber I remembered that journey as if it were yesterday. Photographing it develops one’s sense of appreciation for the skill of the designers and engineers who created this modern day English wonder.

What I really love about the bridge other than its design and reason for being there is its actual position. Grimsby, Hull and the surrounding areas close to the Humber seldom receive good press, as coastal destinations go they fall some way short. But the Humber Bridge sticks two fingers up to all those who would otherwise mock this once great hub of social and economic activity. The decline of the fishing industry in Grimsby and Hull is tragic, fishing boats and fishermen have been replaced with container ships, fish finger factories and cheap labour and whilst big business develops on the town’s outskirts the estates continue to suffer from lack of investment and real job prospects.

The building of the Humber Bridge was a time of great hope and excitment for the area, this mega structure put the east coast back on the global map and people flocked to see it. For me, personally, the bridge serves as a reminder of what could have been; major investment in the area to regenerate the fishing industry as opposed to investment from overseas business because labour, land and property is so cheap.

Whatever your own thoughts are on the bridge and surrounding towns and city in particular I am sure you will all agree that the bridge is one of this country’s great modern day achievements. It’s worth a visit, it’s not often you can combine a peaceful walk with an iconic backdrop.