27/05/2026
✨Inverness Through the Years✨
Ness Bridge has seen so much history and so many architectural designs!
Take a look at the evolution of the Ness Bridge from the 1840s all the way through 1961. The first image features a sketch of the bridge created in the 1840s, only a few short years before the Ness Suspension Bridge opened in 1855. The suspension bridge stood for just over 100 years, but was demolished in the 1950s to make way for the current bridge, which could handle the size and volume of cars of the expanding Inverness.
Until the 1940s, the speed limit was 10mph, and a traffic warden with a red flag would control traffic on the suspension bridge, making sure there were never too many cars on the bridge at once. The warden was removed at the onset of WWII, and the bridge was officially closed in 1959.
Do you miss any of the historic features of past bridges?
📸 Old Stone Bridge, Inverness - Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, Joseph Cook Collection, Am Baile
📸 Demolition of Suspension Bridge, Inverness - Highland Photographic Archive, Am Baile
📸 New Ness Bridge #47 - first day of traffic on bridge, August 1961 - Derek Bethune, Am Baile
