The crane was erected in the late 1870s and was capable of lifting loads up to 35 tons. The railway line in the foreground is part of the Harbour Railway and this section ran from Temple Meads, under St Mary Redcliffe via a tunnel, over Bathurst Basin and along to The Railway Wharf (where we see it here) and then alongside the river to Ashton. The crane's innovation was in the use of a curved jib, made of riveted wrought iron platework to form a square-section box girder. This curved jib…