When residents of Sydney's southern-most suburbs, in the Sutherland Shire, talk about going "across the bridge", they don't mean the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They're talking about Tom Ugly's between Blakehurst and Sylvania, or the Captain Cook bridge between Sans Souci and Taren Point.
This 3-lane box girder bridge was built in 1929. On the other side, there is another, more prosaic, concrete bridge, built in 1987 to alleviate traffic congestion.
Tom Uglys Bridge took its name from the southernmost part of Blakehurst, known as Tom Uglys Point. There is debate about how the Point got that name. Theories include:- An Aborigine by that name lived at Tom Ugly's Point in a cave;
- It was named after an old fisherman by the name of Tom Illigley;
- Named after Tom Huxley, a caretaker on a large estate. The Aborigines who visited him could not pronounce his name so it became Tom Hoogli which in turn became Tom Ugly's;
- Named after an Aborigine called Tommy who had only one leg, and who in the Aboriginal nomenclature was called "Waggerly" Tom (waggerly being the Aboriginal word for lame animal). Later on he was called Tom Waggerly which was finally changed to Tom Ugly.
I prefer the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Nice write-up though, very interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt looks OK to me and serves the purpose, ugly or not. I would sure hate to think of bridges I have crossed that were strikingly beautiful. Most were worse than the ugly one you cited. However, having said all that, I like your photography skills.
ReplyDeleteNot ugly to me because it means TRAVEL! What could be better? Your information is as fascinating as your photography. Local lore is usually more fun than facts. Good job!
ReplyDeleteNice photo.
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The bridge, from my point of view, is rather ordinary, but the story is really interesting!
ReplyDeleteLove the story of how the bridge got its name -- some commentators don't seem to have read your words and assumed it was a descriptive name.
ReplyDeletethe bridge is not that ugly right?
ReplyDeleteat first glance, i thought it was a bridge for a train line, with all the containers being transported. hehe..
I gotta cross that bridge very often, there is a very famous hamburger place on the southern side of the bridge. Paul's hamburgers I think, you've gotta try it.
ReplyDeleteit was ok you need more information to help people more with their research
ReplyDeleteJust wondering if u know how tall the bridge is thanks
ReplyDeleteI think you'll find that the 1929 bridge is a truss bridge and the 1987 bridge is the box girder bridge.
ReplyDelete