Britannia's Burning: Fire on the Bridge (2020)

The Britannia Bridge, spanning the Menai Strait to link the island of Anglesey to mainland Wales, was designed and built by railway engineer Robert Stephenson in 1850. On 23 May 1970 a catastrophic fire, caused by boys dropping a burning torch while playing inside, led to the destruction of its iconic rectangular tube sections. It was rebuilt as a steel truss-arch bridge, with a road deck above the railway. This programme, made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the fire, looks at the history of the bridge, the effect of the fire and the rebuilding of it afterwards.