The story of Gateshead Millennium Bridge

This was the first tilting bridge ever built. Instead of lifting or swinging, the whole curved bridge rotates on its axis so that boats can pass underneath – and because of its shape and the way it tilts, people nicknamed it the 'Blinking Eye' or 'Winking Eye' Bridge. It is only for pedestrians and cyclists, linking Gateshead's arts quarter on the south bank with Newcastle's Quayside on the north.

It was designed by the architects WilkinsonEyre and the engineers Gifford, opened in 2001, and has won many awards. It is part of a long history of bridges across the Tyne, going back to the Middle Ages. The river's quays grew rich in the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era, then declined after the Second World War, and this bridge, along with the Baltic art centre, was part of the effort to bring the riverside back to life.

Walk across it and look along the river at the other bridges, including the Tyne Bridge towering nearby.