She's Gott It! is delighted to be awarded the contract by Northumberland County Council to deliver the launch event for the Lighting of the Royal Border Bridge in Berwick.

The Royal Border Bridge in Berwick will be illuminated later this month as part of a special event to mark its 160^th anniversary.

Designed and built by famous English civil engineer Robert Stephenson, the bridge, which carries the East Coast Main Line over the River Tweed, will have its arches lit up for the first time in a public switch-on ceremony.

The bridge’s state-of-the-art illumination system, to be formally switched-on on 27^th November, will enable any combination of colours to be created within the bridge arches, creating an iconic tourist feature for the Northumberland town.

The celebrations will begin with hundreds of Berwick school children taking part in an illuminated lantern parade finishing on the New Bridge, which runs parallel to the Royal Border Bridge. The celebrations will also include street performers and a spectacular firework display.

Northumberland County Council’s tourism and cultural development manager Nigel Walsh said:  “To illuminate such an impressive and significant piece of architecture has been a huge task and we are very excited about the plans we have in place for the celebration on the 27th November.”

Councillor Tom Brechany, executive member for regeneration at Northumberland County Council, said: “This is a wonderful way to mark the anniversary of the Royal Border Bridge and its importance to Berwick. It is also set to be a really enjoyable event for residents of the town and visitors to the area.  We certainly hope that the illumination will create a unique welcome to Berwick for tourists for years to come.”

The Royal Border Bridge was first opened in 1850 by Queen Victoria. It marked a significant boost to the UK’s transport infrastructure and meant the rail network connected London to Edinburgh for the first time.

The bridge illumination was initiated by Berwick History Society and Cittaslow as a legacy of their highly successful Stephenson 150 events last year which commemorated the 150^th anniversary of the death of Robert Stephenson in 1859.

The bridge illumination is being funded by The Railway Heritage Trust, administered by Northumberland County Council and the Coast and Lowlands Leader Programme, and supported by Northumberland Tourism. The illumination system has been designed by Do Architecture of Glasgow.

The celebrations on 27 November will begin at 6.00pm with the firework display taking place at 7.00pm against the backdrop of the Royal Border Bridge.

For further information on this event and/or other She's Gott It! events please refer to www.shesgottit.com or contact a member of the team on T: 0191 385 6619