Bridges of the Falkland Islands

Issue Date: October 2000







Bridges of the Falkland Islands

This issue depicts local bridges and was reproduced from photographs of oil paintings by local artist Arthur (Mike) Peake. Mike's oil paintings are sought after quality works of art.

The Falkland Islands Government is known to have presented two very famous people with a "Mike Peake" painting.

A view of Two Sisters Mountain from Stanley was gifted to Lady Margaret Thatcher during her visit in 1992 for the local "Heritage Year" celebrations.

A painting showing a view of Stanley from the east, with horses in the foreground, was presented to Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, during a visit made in January 1996.

20p - Malo Bridge.

This bridge was built by the Falkland Islands Government in 1928, as part of a government plan to improve communications on the main "tracks" across the Islands. A bridge over the Chartres River on West Falkland was completed the same year.

The Malo Bridge was designed and supplied by the Horsehay Co of Shropshire, England. It is a steel girder bridge of the "bowstring" type. The span of the steelwork is 80ft and the total span of the bridge, including the approaches is 140ft.

The bridge was constructed in only five weeks, during January and February 1928, under the supervision of George Roberts, the newly appointed Colonial Engineer. Men and materials were transported to the site on the SS Fleurus and a tent and shanty were erected to serve as works office and dining hall. The men slept at the Lower Malo House, about half a mile upstream.

The final cost of the bridge was £1,621. 8s. 11d. and it was informally opened on the 29th February 1928, when George Roberts drove over it in a Citroën caterpillar car belonging to the Felton family of Teal Inlet, on whose land the bridge was constructed.

37p - Bodie Creek Bridge

This steel suspension bridge was built by the Falkland Islands Company between October 1924 and July 1925. The bridge was manufactured in London by David Rowell & Co. at a cost of £2,281.00 and shipped to the Falkland Islands on the SS Ballena.

It has a span of 400ft carrying an 8ft wide roadway. It is suspended by four 2in. diameter steel cables carried over two 40ft towers. The engineer in charge was C.P.Peters and the foreman was the mason E.S.Crawford. The gang on the project numbered fourteen on average.

The decision to build the bridge came about as a proposal to centralize the sheep farming operations of Darwin and Walker Creek at Goose Green. New shearing sheds were to be built at Goose Green and it was realised that a bridge was necessary if sheep were to be brought there from the Walker Creek camps.

After construction of the bridge itself, remaining ancillary work on the approach roads was completed by the end of October 1925, enabling the first sheep to be brought across the bridge in time for the new shearing season.

The bridge was closed to traffic in March 1997, as it has become unsafe.

The First Day Cover depicts another "Mike Peake" painting showing a view of Bodie Creek Bridge in the winter.

43p - Fitzroy River Bridge

Built in 1934 the bridge was financed by the Falkland Islands Company with assistance from government. It is 12ft wide and over 600ft in length and was designed to cater for both sheep and motor traffic.

When built it linked land leased by the Yonge family on the north side of the Fitzroy River, to Fitzroy farm on the south side, which belonged to the Falkland Islands Company. It greatly shortened the journey between Stanley and Fitzroy and thence on to Darwin, enabling travellers to avoid the soft countryside north of Mount Pleasant, where the old horse track ran.

It is a wooden bridge supported on reinforced concrete piles. Building work commenced on 1st August 1934 with a gang of fourteen men and was completed by the end of the year. The Falkland Islands Company's mason, Mr E.S.Crawford who had been the foreman for the building of the Bodie Creek Bridge, supervised construction.

Originally it had planned that the hulk of the SS Great Britain, that was beached in Sparrow Cove, should be towed to Fitzroy River and sunk as a support for the bridge at the deepest part of the crossing. It was eventually decided that this would prove too difficult, but the Great Britain still made a contribution, as her pitch pine cargo batons were found to be in as good condition as ever, and were put to use as railings for the new bridge.



Technical Details

Designer: Arthur (Mike) Peake
Borders & Layout: CASB Studio
Printer: Walsal Security Printers Ltd.
Process: Lithography
Stamp Size: 30.56 x 38.00mm
Pane: 50 (2 x 25)
Perforation Gauge: 14.2 per 2cms
Watermark: Crown Agents
Release Date: 16.10.00
Values: 20p, 37p, 43p.





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