Menai Bridge - The Irish Day Mail from Euston Entering the Tubular Bridge over the Menai Straits

Stirring image of late-Victorian rail

This beautifully composed shot taken from the south side of the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits - with its grand Egyptian-style facade fronted by imposing twin lions - is all the more stunning for being shot on WKL Dickson's own 68mm format. The exceptional detail of this large-format film (nearly four times the area of conventional 35mm film and almost as big as today's IMAX) enhances what is already a highly evocative image.

The bridge was designed by 'father of the railways' George Stephenson.