Preserved for the nation

REPAIR work has begun to protect the Royal Border Bridge, which stretches across the Tweed and joins Tweedmouth to Berwick-upon-tweed, for generations to come. The Grade I-listed, 2,160ft viaduct was originally designed by Robert Stephenson for the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, its 28 arches soaring up to 126ft above the water. Opened by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on August 29, 1850, it is still used by the East Coast main line. The repair project, which runs until November, will tackle all the bridge’s arches in what Sarah Reid, route director for Network Rail’s East Coast line, calls ‘a feat of engineering’. The footpath along the bridge will remain open.