The great lions of Bangor are the Menai and Britannia Tubular Bridges.
THE MENAI BRIDGE.
The principal opening between the supporting pillars is 560 feet in breadth, through which the vessels pass with all their canvas set, without the least danger of their masts touching the overhanging bridge. There are four stone arches upon the Anglesey side, and three upon the Carnarvon, which complete the roadway, and have each a span of fifty feet. The length of the bridge is 800 feet, and its height is 100 feet above the surface of the Menai at high water. The weight of the bridge and its suspending chains, between the pyramids is six hundred and thirty-nine tons, nineteen hundred and nine pounds; and that of the iron work from one extremity of the chains to the other is estimated at 2130 tons, 1800 consisting of wrought, and three hundred and thirty of cast iron.
The first stone of this astonishing work was laid by W. A. Provis, Esq., on the 10th August, 1820; and on the 20th April, 1825, the first main chain was thrown across the strait. This important step being completed, three of the workmen, in the height of their enthusiasm, ventured to walk along the chain from pier to pier; and a cobbler no less daring and enthusiastic, seated himself in the centre of the curve, and, while suspended at the fearful height, with sky above and the deep water of the strait gliding beneath him, drove the last sparable into one of those convenient comforts called clogs.
The view from the centre of the bridge beggars description. Waving woods, barren precipices, distant mountains, Bangor, and Beaumaris, Penrhyn Castle, Penmaen Mawr, the Great Orme’s Head, the ocean, and the strait, are objects that dazzle and astonish from the exquisite beauty of their natural arrangement.
But even this, the noblest specimen of hanging bridges in the world, is eclipsed by the monster
BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE,
which crosses the Straits about a mile above it on the Carnarvonshire side. Fully to appreciate this monster work of human ingenuity, the traveller should ascend the Britannia Tower, which rises from a rock in the centre of the Straits, and gaze upon the glorious panorama which surrounds him. Upon the Carnarvonshire side he will behold the mountains of Snowdonia veiling their lofty summits in the clouds. Along their sides, and through their mighty bulks, the railroad train now rolls its dragon form, shaking their rocky ribs, and awakening their echoes in its swift and thundering course; beneath him are the Menai Straits, through which the imprisoned waters of the Irish Sea and St. George’s Channel vibrate everlastingly backwards and forwards, at the same time successively rise and fall, occasioning an endless succession of aqueous changes. Upon the shores of Anglesey a rich and fertile country studded with villas, surrounded by luxuriant woods, and waving corn, presents itself, forming a pleasing contrast to the wild grandeur of the Snowdon Hills, and exhibiting an example of the perfection of cultivation, cheerful labour, and undisturbed tranquillity.
It was originally intended to carry the Chester and Holyhead line across the Suspension Bridge, and to detach the trains at each end of the bridge, leaving the carriages to be drawn over by horses, but the government objected to this arrangement, considering that it would be proved to be a public inconvenience. A bridge of two cast iron arches, to be supported on piers of masonry, was next proposed: this second project was objected to by the masters of the Carnarvon harbour, upon the plea that it would seriously interfere with the navigation of the Straits. At length Mr. Robert Stephenson offered to construct a mode of transit which should entirely do away with all objections. He had come to the conclusion that a tube, or tunnel of wrought iron, sufficiently large for the passage of trains, would be the most plausible plan, as it would neither endanger the navigation nor cause any delay to the railway carriages in crossing over the Straits. His plan was adopted, and the stupendous work of art which now awakens the astonishment of the beholder, will bear the name of Stephenson down to remote posterity, attached as it is to one of the brightest ornaments of the nineteenth century.
From Bangor the traveller can proceed by rail to