Barwon bridge battles
THE ceremony to mark the opening of the second Prince Albert Bridge to link the southern suburbs of Belmont and Highton with Newtown was held in pouring rain on May 31, 1889.
Despite the bad weather, the opening of the new bridge was said to have been a good omen and had put an end to the feuding between the municipalities of South Barwon and Newtown and Chilwell over the first Prince Albert Bridge and the charging of tolls to cross that bridge.
A wooden bridge had been built across the Barwon at Moorabool St in 1848.
The later labelled Moorabool Street Bridge had been swept away by flood waters in 1852, and was finally replaced by an iron bridge in 1859. The newly formed South Barwon council had charged those who crossed it a toll.
It was perhaps not un- reasonable then that Newtown and Chilwell council introduced a toll on the first Prince Albert Bridge, which had been named after Queen Victoria’s consort who had died in the year before it opened.
The fixing of a toll by New- town and Chilwell council led to South Barwon council charging its own tolls to cross the Prince Albert Bridge. Soon after that, Newtown and Chilwell councillors W Miles and F Pincott crossed the bridge and refused to pay South Barwon council’s toll.
Thankfully the tolls were outlawed a year later, and the first bridge, which had been built as a truss bridge with the railings supporting some of its weight, slowly sank into disrepair and saw little use before being replaced by the second crossing in 1889.
The 1889 opening was attended by councillors from South Barwon, Newtown and Chilwell and Geelong Town Council as well as MPs J Connor and James Munro.
The second bridge lasted until the 1960s, when the current bridge was opened slightly upstream in June 1965. Contact: peterjohnbegg@gmail.com