Lightbulb

During the first eighty years of the bridge’s history, it was only lit for special occasions, using combinations of lighting and fireworks. A total of six electric lamps were installed on the towers and at the centre of the bridge for the opening ceremony on 8^th December 1964, but this early experiment did not meet the approval of the gathered crowds as they were very dim. The display was described as ‘causing great disappointment’. In 1933, for Bristol-Brighton week, a more impressive 1,500 electric lamps were used to illuminate the bridge – and in 1935, 3,000 were used to celebrate the coronation of King George V!