Another photograph has been handed into the Swimming Pool shop, this time of the previous bridge over the river.
Before this bridge was built, people crossed over the Dee by ferry, which was proving to be frustrating as it was so inconvenient. After many years a design and estimate for building this bridge was accepted and in 1867 a tender was accepted for £9250 9s 8d.
The bridge had a swinging apparatus which allowed it to be opened for the passage upstream by vessels to Tongland.
“The opening ceremony, in 1868, was followed by a salvo of three guns from a battery of the Kirkcudbright Artillery stationed on the western bank of the river, and at the same time the popular steamer “The Countess of Galloway” rounded the bend of the river below the harbour, and fired several shots from her deck gun. This was followed by loud and enthusiastic cheers. The procession then paraded slowly across the bridge, each side of which was lined with chairs for which tickets had been issued to the ladies and their friends who had assisted at the Bazaar – to quote from a report at the time “Forming two such borders of beauty as never decked terrestrial garden”.
Having been badly damaged by the severe weather , especially in 1895, and having become not fit for purpose because of the increase in traffic, it was replaced in 1926. (Information from “Kirkcudbright An Alphabetical Guide to its History” D R Collin and Bridging the Dee at Kirkcudbright “T R Collin.