Talk:Galton Bridge

Galton Bridge is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on January 24, 2023.

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Date	Process	Result
October 28, 2022	Featured article candidate	Promoted

Bridges and Tunnels Mid‑importance

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Dubious

Not the longest span?

I think it was actually the highest span (due to the deep cutting), with the Menai being quite a bit wider. But arguably more spectacular. The obstruction of the view by means of the adjacent tastelessly crude roadway has to be a masterpiece of irony in its naming as "Telford Way". R Clarke —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.132.142.23 (talk) 20:06, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Menai Bridge isn't single-span, although its longest single span is longer than Galton Bridge's. So perhaps the record that Galton Bridge held was "longest single-span bridge", not "longest single span *of* a bridge"? 86.150.149.37 (talk) 22:58, 2 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Not the highest bridge either?

The timeline of highest bridges in the world doesn't name this bridge and clearly shows there were multiple higher bridges at the time of opening. I'm not sure where the record breaking concept came from. If it was a record holder my guess would be the longest arch bridge span. ShakyIsles (talk) 05:19, 28 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Ideas for additions to the page

Perhaps add a link to the Sandwell Council Listed Building Description. I'm not sure what the copyright status on this is.

Maybe add a photo of the bridge? I've got one at flickr that can be relicensed, though it's not that good. --Manicstreetpreacher 23:45, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified

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Misspelling in file description

Please could an admin correct "Smetwhick" to "Smethwick" in the description of File:Galton Bridge, Smethwick 02.jpg. Page is currently protected so am unable to do so. Jameboy (talk) 13:39, 24 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Height

The height above the canal is given as 21m in the lead section but 20m in the article body, while the width is given as 8m and 7.9m respectively. While any conversion between imperial and metric will have a small margin of error due to rounding, shouldn't it be done consistently within the article? --Jameboy (talk) 14:18, 24 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Definite article

This should not have been restored, any more than we should have articles on "The London Bridge, "The Tower Bridge " and "The Westminster Bridge".

The name of the bridge is "Galton Bridge".

It is referred to as such in the National Heritage List for England, by The national Archives [1], by its local authority [2], in the title of historic artworks [3], by the BBC [4],[5] (except on one page written by someone in a different region) and on local signage. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:21, 24 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Pigsonthewing I agree, and if it hadn't been approved as a FA with "the Galton Bridge" throughout, I'd have changed it myself. @HJ Mitchell: seems to have added "The" to the lead and might like to comment here. The bridge itself carries the name without "The", as shown in an image in the article. PamD 06:45, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Where it's referred to in a sentence, it's often referred to with the definite article. It's named for a person, and bridges named for a person usually take a definite article (the Wharncliffe Viaduct, the Royal Albert Bridge, the King Edward VII Bridge, the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, River Tyne, the various other QEII bridges, the Second Severn Crossing, the Victoria Bridge), though there doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule. Many people writing about it seem not to realise that it's named for a person (one book even refers to it as "the bridge at Galton" as though Galton were a place!). HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 12:09, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Are there any older photos with the old color

I am wondering if there are any photos of the bridge in the older color? 71.169.160.200 (talk) 20:37, 24 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Wrong region

West Midlands (Region it is in and belongs to as well the county) and Sandwell (It is part of for government purposes), not Birmingham (Which it is not part of) and central England (Which is non existent). West Midlands region exists, not Central England. Put the correct information in and not a fake region or city it is not part of. DragonofBatley (talk) 23:13, 24 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The sentence describes where it is, not which local government denomination it's in. Sandwell and West Midlands mean nothing to international readers. They were created for local government purposes in 1974, nearly 150 years after this bridge was built. It's near Birmingham, and roughly in the middle of England. The rest is trivia. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 23:22, 24 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

No it is not trivia, middle of England is trivia and Midlands is the name given to it by both UK and world. Also Birmingham has no relevance to Smethwick except Geography and fodder. So England is enough for the town. Birmingham is trivia. DragonofBatley (talk) 23:27, 24 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@DragonofBatley "central England", with a small "c", exists and does not need a Wikipedia article: it is the middle part of the country, like "northern England", used in plain good English language to describe the bridge's location. Please note that this article has passed the demanding scrutiny of the Featured Article assessors, so its wording has been found to be first-rate. There are better battles to fight. PamD 23:57, 24 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The county should still be mentioned even if only created in 1974, counties are the primary means of locating places even though this one is less relevant. Crouch, Swale (talk) 18:53, 25 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]