How Sheppey Got Its Bridges | The Kingsferry Lift Bridge & Sheppey Crossing
Kent's Hidden Histories
461 views
For hundreds of years, the only way onto the Isle of Sheppey was by boat. Then came the railway bridge of 1860, its rebuilt rolling lift of the early 1900s, the great vertical lift bridge of 1960, and finally the Sheppey Crossing of 2006.
In this film we tell the story of every crossing over the Swale, the tidal channel that separates Sheppey from the rest of Kent. We look at the day a ship hit the bridge in 1922, the end of the tolls in 1929, the 1953 flood, and how the Kingsferry Bridge still lifts its whole road, railway and all, to let ships through. Filmed with my own drone and ground footage in October 2026.
Watch our film on the 1953 and 1978 floods: When the Sea Came to Sheerness: The Floods...
PHOTO CREDITS
With many thanks to everyone who shared photographs:
Old photographs and postcards from the collection of Frank Jones
1960 photograph courtesy of Queenborough Guildhall Museum
Cable photograph: Kingsferry Bridge (via Sheppey Scene)
1905 photograph from [book title], by [author]
All other footage and photographs are my own.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS
Some of the old photographs in this video came from local collections, where the original photographer is not known. They are used here, with credit, to share Sheppey's history. If you took or own any of these photographs, please get in touch [by email at your-email / through the comments below] and I'll gladly add your name to the credits.
Do you have old photographs or family stories about the bridges or the ferries? Please share them in the comments. I'd love to hear them.
SOURCES
KentOnline; Wikipedia (Kingsferry Bridge, Sheppey Crossing); Network Rail media centre; New Civil Engineer; Certex UK; SREMG Railway Structures; Engineering Timelines; steelconstruction.info; Queenborough Guildhall Museum. Where sources disagreed on dates or figures, I've used careful wording.
0:00 Introduction
0:31 Two bridges, one island
1:09 Before the bridge
2:20 The first bridge, 1860
3:20 Rebuilt, and the end of the tolls
4:26 The day a ship hit the bridge, 1922
5:10 1953: an island cut off
5:37 The lift bridge, 1960
6:52 The engineering
7:20 What it looks like when it lifts
8:31 The Sheppey Crossing, 2006
9:17 Two bridges, one channel
Music: my own, made for Kent's Hidden Histories.
Narration voice: ElevenLabs.
#Sheppey #KingsferryBridge #KentHistory
5 Comments
How Sheppey Got Its Bridges | The Kingsferry Lift Bridge & Sheppey Crossing
Kent's Hidden Histories
461 views
For hundreds of years, the only way onto the Isle of Sheppey was by boat. Then came the railway bridge of 1860, its rebuilt rolling lift of the early 1900s, the great vertical lift bridge of 1960, and finally the Sheppey Crossing of 2006.
In this film we tell the story of every crossing over the Swale, the tidal channel that separates Sheppey from the rest of Kent. We look at the day a ship hit the bridge in 1922, the end of the tolls in 1929, the 1953 flood, and how the Kingsferry Bridge still lifts its whole road, railway and all, to let ships through. Filmed with my own drone and ground footage in October 2026.
Watch our film on the 1953 and 1978 floods: When the Sea Came to Sheerness: The Floods...
PHOTO CREDITS
With many thanks to everyone who shared photographs:
Old photographs and postcards from the collection of Frank Jones
1960 photograph courtesy of Queenborough Guildhall Museum
Cable photograph: Kingsferry Bridge (via Sheppey Scene)
1905 photograph from [book title], by [author]
All other footage and photographs are my own.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS
Some of the old photographs in this video came from local collections, where the original photographer is not known. They are used here, with credit, to share Sheppey's history. If you took or own any of these photographs, please get in touch [by email at your-email / through the comments below] and I'll gladly add your name to the credits.
Do you have old photographs or family stories about the bridges or the ferries? Please share them in the comments. I'd love to hear them.
SOURCES
KentOnline; Wikipedia (Kingsferry Bridge, Sheppey Crossing); Network Rail media centre; New Civil Engineer; Certex UK; SREMG Railway Structures; Engineering Timelines; steelconstruction.info; Queenborough Guildhall Museum. Where sources disagreed on dates or figures, I've used careful wording.
0:00 Introduction
0:31 Two bridges, one island
1:09 Before the bridge
2:20 The first bridge, 1860
3:20 Rebuilt, and the end of the tolls
4:26 The day a ship hit the bridge, 1922
5:10 1953: an island cut off
5:37 The lift bridge, 1960
6:52 The engineering
7:20 What it looks like when it lifts
8:31 The Sheppey Crossing, 2006
9:17 Two bridges, one channel
Music: my own, made for Kent's Hidden Histories.
Narration voice: ElevenLabs.
#Sheppey #KingsferryBridge #KentHistory