Name: 鐵橋 | 與丹-斯諾一起探訪造就英格蘭的 10 個地方 (Iron Bridge | 10 Places That Made England with Dan Snow)
Uploaded: 2025-10-30T17:53:47.000Z
Duration: 8 min 14 s

I've come to the beautiful town of Ironbridge in Shropshire.

我來到美麗的鐵橋鎮，它位於什羅普郡。

程度副詞

Now, this place has a very good claim to be the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and

這個地方很有資格被稱為工業革命的發源地，而且

it's certainly a symbol of that revolution.

And thanks to this, the thing that gives it its name, that huge iron bridge, the first big single span bridge on earth, made entirely of iron.

藉由這個，也就是它名字的由來，那座巨大的鐵橋，地球上第一座大型單跨橋，完全由鑄鐵製成。

Ironbridge is located in Colebrookdale Gorge in Shropshire.

鐵橋鎮坐落在什羅普郡的科爾布魯克代爾峽谷。

In the late 18th century, it was a heartland of industry, as it was rich with iron ore, limestone and coal.

在18世紀末，這裡是工業的心臟地帶，因為這裡富含鐵礦石、石灰石和煤炭。

The bridge crosses the River Severn, a great trading artery running through England.

這座橋橫跨塞文河，這是一條貫穿英格蘭的重要貿易動脈。

In 1709, Abraham Darby, an industrialist living in Coalbrookdale, pioneered an innovative way of iron smelting and founded the Colebrookdale Company.

1709年，一位住在科爾布魯克代爾的工業家亞伯拉罕·達比，開創了一種創新的煉鐵方法，並創立了科爾布魯克代爾公司。

He used the local fuel, coke, to mass produce cast iron on a cheap but epic scale.

他利用當地的燃料焦炭，以低廉但史詩般的規模大量生產鑄鐵。

The iron industry surged and before you knew it, the West Midlands was choked with smog and flushed with cash.

鐵業蓬勃發展，不知不覺中，西米德蘭茲被煙霧籠罩，荷包也鼓了起來。

Colebrookdale had gone from beautiful countryside to this, what contemporary sources describe as the fires of hell burning on earth.

科爾布魯克代爾從美麗的鄉村變成了這樣，當代資料形容這裡就像人間煉獄的火焰在燃燒。

The problem was this thriving trade needed a reliable way of getting from one side of the gorge to the other.

問題是，這個蓬勃發展的貿易需要一種可靠的方式來往峽谷的兩岸。

Enter the Derby family and their Colebrookdale company.

這時候，達比家族和他們的科爾布魯克代爾公司就登場了。

They came up with the idea of building this bridge as a gigantic PR campaign to show the world just what they could do with their ingenious new technology.

他們想出了建造這座橋的主意，作為一場巨大的公關活動，向世界展示他們運用巧妙新技術的能力。

The bridge is made from 384 tons of iron, iron that was forged right here in Colbrookdale.

這座橋由 384 噸鐵製成，這些鐵都是在這裡科爾布魯克代爾鑄造的。

It's held together by five ribs and there are nearly 1,700 unique sections.

它由五根肋條連接，共有近 1,700 個獨特的組件。

Some of those heaviest sections weighed over five and a half tons.

其中一些最重的組件重達五噸半以上。

The bridge was constructed using wooden scaffolding, with the various iron struts being lifted up from boats on the river beneath.

這座橋是利用木製鷹架建造的，各種鐵支柱則從下方的河上船隻吊起。

We only have this one recently discovered painting of the scene.

我們只有這幅最近才發現的場景畫。

And you can see the partially completed bridge there.

而且你可以在那裡看到部分建好的橋。

And I'm very struck by how grey everything is.

我對一切都是灰濛濛的感到非常驚訝。

The water, the sky, the smoke, all is cloudy.

水、天空、煙霧，一切都是陰沉的。

Very different to the scene today, which is so green and verdant.

跟今天的景象差好多，今天這麼綠意盎然。

Each of these metal pieces was cast separately.

這些金屬零件都是個別鑄造的。

They were poured into individually created molds, which meant if one was slightly bigger or small, another you could accommodate it in the later pieces that you were casting.

它們被倒入個別製作的模具裡，這意味著如果有一個稍微大一點或小一點，你就可以在之後鑄造的零件中調整。

And you can see the process of casting on this one here, you got three smooth sides.

你可以在這裡看到鑄造的過程，有三個光滑的側面。

Here they would have been in the mold, in the sand, you'd have poured the iron into there.

在這裡，它們會在模具裡，在沙子裡，你會把鐵倒進去。

And it means that one side of it was open to the air.

這意味著它的一側是向空氣開放的。

So you get these kind of humps and bumps, uneven texture.

所以你會看到這種隆起和凹凸不平的紋理。

The iron bridge's structural engineering used techniques that had been used for centuries in wood carpentry, dovetail and shoulder joints, wedges and tenons.

鐵橋的結構工程使用了數百年來用於木工的技術，像是鳩尾榫和肩部接合、楔子和榫頭。

This was a gigantic statement of this region's power, its modernity, its ingenuity.

這是一個巨大的聲明，展現了這個地區的實力、現代化和創新能力。

One visitor simply compared it to the wonders of the ancient world.

有一位訪客甚至將它與古代世界的奇蹟相提並論。

One single span of iron, he said, weighing many hundreds of tons, stretching a hundred feet.

他說，單跨的鐵橋重達數百噸，跨度達一百英尺。

I doubt whether even the Colossus of Rhodes weighed more.

我懷疑羅德島的巨像有沒有這麼重。

Got some paintings here that give us a very interesting sense of what it would have been like in the decades after this bridge opened.

這裡有一些畫作，讓我們能非常有趣地想像這座橋開放後幾十年的樣子。

This one was commissioned by the Derby family.

They were very pleased with their triumph and they paint a pretty picture of the area.

他們對自己的成就感到非常滿意，並描繪了該地區的美好景象。

A little bit of smoke rising from some chimneys up here.

And look, there's various members of the gentry.

Two ladies here being punted with their gentleman companion taking a look at the bridge, and

這兩位女士正被撐篙載著，她們的紳士同伴也在看著這座橋，

This is a genteel landscape, one of wealth.

這是一幅高雅的風景畫，展現了財富。

Everyone admiring this brand new bridge in the middle.

大家都在讚嘆中間這座全新的橋。

But look at this next one, painted only about 20 years later, same area.

但看看這幅畫，只畫於大約20年後，地點是同一個區域。

This is actually the Bedlam foundry, where some of the pieces of the bridge were cast.

這其實是貝德蘭鑄造廠，橋樑的某些構件就是在這裡鑄造的。

This is a dark, dystopian, smoky, terrifying image of life.

這是一幅黑暗、反烏託邦、煙霧瀰漫、令人恐懼的生活景象。

甚至不確定現在是白天還是黑夜。

There could be the sun in the sky here, or the moon.

天空可能在這裡有太陽，也可能有月亮。

People seem to exist in a state of semi darkness, illuminated only by the fires.

人們似乎生活在半黑暗的狀態中，只有火光照明。

The bridge cost 6,000 pounds by the time it was finished in 1779, nearly twice its original estimate.

到1779年完工時，這座橋的造價是6,000英鎊，幾乎是原估價的兩倍。

But the owners found a great way to make back their investment.

但業主們找到了一個絕佳的方法來回收他們的投資。

And on this end of the bridge, you've got the toll house because you had to pay money to cross.

在橋的這一端，你會看到收費站，因為過橋需要付費。

The Derbys weren't doing this entirely out of charity.

德比家族這麼做並非完全出於慈善。

And there's a whole table of tolls up here.

This is a replica of the sign that stood here or hung here since the 1780s.

這是從1780年代起，就掛在這裡的告示牌的複製品。

And it gives you a great sense of the social history of the time, how people are traveling around.

這能讓你對當時的社會歷史，人們如何四處旅行，有很深的瞭解。

Look for a carriage drawn by six horses, mares, geldings or mules.

尋找一輛由六匹馬、母馬、閹馬或騾子拉的馬車。

every foot pastor crossing the bridge has to pay half a penny or a halfpenny to do so.

每一位過橋的牧師都得付半便士。

This bridge being private property, every officer or soldier, whether on duty or not, is liable to pay toll for passing over.

這座橋是私人財產，所以每一位軍官或阿兵哥，無論是否在執勤，過橋時都必須繳納通行費。

So no freebies for people claiming they're on His Majesty's service and as well as any baggage wagon, mail coach, or the royal family.

所以，那些聲稱是在為國王陛下服務的人，以及任何行李車、郵政馬車或皇室成員，都不能免費通行。

But this bridge was so much more than just a way to cross the river.

但這座橋不只是一條跨越河流的通道。

This was a statement forged in metal and one that was a physical testament to the limitless potential of this flourishing industrial empire.

這是一件用金屬打造的宣言，也是這個蓬勃發展的工業帝國無限潛力的具體證明。

This iron bridge changed the lives of everyone living in this valley.

這座鐵橋改變了居住在這個山谷裡每個人的生活。

It still does because we're still using it 250 years later.

它至今仍然如此，因為我們在250年後還在使用它。

But more importantly, it changed the lives of everyone living in England and further afield.

但更重要的是，它改變了住在英格蘭和更遠地方的每個人的生活。

Because it gave people a vision of the future.

因為它讓人們看到了未來的願景。