The Bridge Rising

The campaign against the tolls on the Skye Bridge pitted plucky Scottish islanders against the might of the government and the Bank of America. Packed with humour, twists and bittersweet surprises, “The Bridge Rising” tells the inside story for the first time. From protesters to police to politicians, from the toll-collector to the Bridge engineer, this film takes you behind closed doors. The private toll bridge became the only way on or off the island. The Bank of America raked in over £30 million in tolls. Metre for metre, the Skye Bridge was the most expensive toll road in the world. 2014 is the tenth anniversary of the end of the tolls on the Skye Bridge. After nearly a decade of campaigning, defiance, arrests and court cases, the tollbooths were bulldozed. The islanders’ outrage against Westminster’s policy of private funding for public works, and using Skye as a guinea-pig, led to victory… but at a high cost. One of the longest-running uprisings in modern Scottish history, the Skye Bridge protest is hugely relevant to a new generation in 2014, the year of the Scottish referendum on independence.