The Birthplace of the Modern World - John A Halford - April 1984

John A Halford

INTERNATIONAL DESK - IF THERE is one place where it could be said that the modern world began, it is this little town, which takes its name from the old bridge that spans the river Severn. Before the bridge was opened on New Year's Day, 1781, nobody had ever seen an iron bridge. Bridges were made out of wood or stone- not iron. Iron was too heavy, too brittle, too expensive and too hard to work with. So when it was proposed to build an iron bridge over the Severn, people mocked. It couldn't be done- and even if it could, it would certainly fall down, or be swept away in the first flood! They were wrong- it's still there- as much a symbol of its age as the space shuttle is of ours. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library