'My group shares a love of bridges with thousands'

An architect who set up a social media group for people to send in pictures of bridges said members get "a bit of excitement at the end of the day" if theirs is chosen as the group's favourite.

Chris Bradley, from Blackpool, set up Bridge of the Day as a joke 10 years ago with his friend Jacquie Williams and has built a following of more than 35,000.

His fascination in bridges began in childhood when his dad used to give him a lift to school across the Shard Bridge over the River Wyre near Blackpool.

Mr Bradley now lives in Edinburgh, near to his favourite bridge - the Forth Bridge, which he said was "the sexiest thing in the world" and also the favourite of the group.

He said: "I sometimes take people there and we just sit and look at it.

"The idea of the group is that every day, if you're walking around your normal life and you see a bridge, take a picture, put it on the group, and at the end of the day we choose our favourite," he said.

Every Christmas for the past five years they have collated a charity calendar featuring the best 12 pictures of bridges sent to them throughout the year.

"The calendar is an end-of-year get-together for all the members of the group," he said. "We ask them in October to send their best photo of each month and then me and Jacquie - who does all the donkey work in the group - pick 12 bridges appropriate for each month."

He added: "I think it's just nice to have, in the growing age of technology and everything's on your phone and your laptop.

"It's nice to have something you can just look at and write on, just something a bit more tactile."

The bridge at Forton Services, near Lancaster, is the only bridge always to be included in the calendar because "it's just one of those iconic things that you see when you're travelling up the M6," Mr Bradley said.

"The iconic 60s structure is a thing of beauty for me. It's not everyone's taste, but I love a bit of concrete.

"I see it a lot travelling back to Blackpool for the football and to see the family."

The bridges featured can also be international.

"I'm lucky enough to have seen the Golden Gate in San Francisco a couple of years ago," Mr Bradley added.

"And there's one bridge in France, the Millau Viaduct, designed by Norman Foster, who did Stansted Airport and Wembley Stadium.

"I've not seen it yet but it's on my list."

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