Makers of British History in the 18th C

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Makers of British History in the 18th C

• Thomas Telford
• Colossus of Roads
• 1757 - 1834

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This is a short PowerPoint presentation by
Victor T.C. Middleton, on the remarkable life
and significance of Thomas Telford Civil
Engineer. Telfords contributions are set In
the context of the transport/industrial/and
technological revolutions of the 18th
Century. The slides were used as a basis for a
talk given to U3A on October 21st 2014 In the
Coronation Hall, Ulverston. The sources on
Telford are vast because of the significance of
the man in his time and his legacy, which lives
on. Those who seek further information may find
it helpful to start with S. Smiles 1861 The
Life of Thomas Telford Civil Engineer Updated
2011 L.T.C. Rolt 1958 Thomas Telford Peter
Smith 1972 Waterways Heritage for Museum Art
Gallery, Luton
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Telford around 1797
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Context of transport in England pre 1700
Turnpike Roads in the 18th century
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Transport pre 1700

• Rich rode and poor walked - goods by cart or
  pack horse
• Roman Roads linking key Forts and early canals
  but largely left to decay for centuries
• 16th C focus on rivers and navigation
  improvements
• 1663 First Turnpike Act Commercial Turnpike
  Trusts established in 1706 - Toll roads (but 50
  years on for major impact road engineering by
  blind John Metcalfe)

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The industrial revolution was full on energy,
enterprise and hard graft but not pretty
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Industrial Revolution

• 1709 - Abraham Darby (1) - Iron works at
• 1761 - Bridgewater Canal
• 1764 - Arkwrights Spinning Jenny
• 1774 - James Watt - rotary steam engine
• 1771 - Worlds first factory established
• 1770s - London Stock Exchange created

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• Industrial Revolution impossible without
  affordable means of moving goods for trade, raw
  materials and finished goods - and for making
  urbanisation and factory production possible for
  domestic and international markets
• Coal
• Iron
• Textiles
• Agricultural supplies
• Manufactured goods

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Also impossible without pioneering
designer/engineers whose vision, skill, energy,
determination and enterprise would drive projects
through to conclusion. The men who built our
bridges, docks, lighthouses, canals and railways
were mostly country bred boys who were originally
hands-on craftsmen and self taught in the
science, technology and arts of their projects.
They laid the foundations of what became the
civil engineering profession (Rennie was the
exception) Brindley, Smeaton, Jessop, Metcalf
and Telford
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Canals and Rivers in England and Wales
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The opening up of the internal
communications of a country is undoubtedly the
first and most important element of its growth in
commerce and civilisation. Richard Cobden (1804
1865)
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Telfords Early Days

• Son of a shepherd in Eskdale, Dumfries Langholm
• Orphaned in year he was born
• Learned the basic 3 Rs at a Parish School
• Apprenticed at 14 to a stone mason where he first
• learned the intricacies of masonry and
  craftsmanship
• Including work on his first bridge
• Known as Laughing Tam for his good humour.
  Found
• Early supporter/patron in a Miss Pasley

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Edinburgh New Town
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Achievements and some Key Dates
1780 - (aged 23 employed as mason in
Edinburgh 1782 - to London and work on Somerset
House 1784 - Superintendent of Port Admirals
House in Portsmouth (designed by Samuel
Wyatt) 1786 - (aged 29) Surveyor of Public Works
for the County of Salop. Designing and
constructing bridges, roads, public buildings
project management 1793- (aged 35) Invited to be
sole agent, architect and engineer for the
Ellesmere Canal
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• Telford the remarkable man
• Humble origins, little formal education
• Totally dedicated honest and upright trusted
  and respected
• Methodical, nothing to chance, an excellent judge
  of character
• Laughing Tam
• A scholar by instinct and practice - and a poet

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Pontcysyllte Aqueduct over the River Dee
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PontyCysyllte Aqueduct 1795-1803

• 1500 ft embankment into valley of the Dee
• Masonry piers supporting 19 arches across the
  river and valley - over 1000 ft long
• Cast iron trough for the canal 127 ft above the
  river

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Chirk Aqueduct 1801 with rail way bridge behind
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Some Key Achievements still standing and
operational 1803 Pont-Cysylltau and Chirk
aqueducts 1803 Roads and bridges in Lowlands
and Highlands of Scotland (1200 bridges over
next two decades) 1804 1822 Caledonian Canal
(Rennie and Watt) 1810 - Gotha Canal in Sweden
(55 miles) 1814 Dundee Harbour
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Craigellachie Bridge - Highlands.
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Suspension Bridge over the Menai Straight
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Menai Straights Suspension Bridge - 1825

• Largest structure of its type ever attempted to
  Link Holyhead, Birmingham and London
• Months of methodical experimentation using latest
  iron techniques all supervised by Telford (only
  reference to sleepless nights)
• 7 masonry arches two massive piers 153 ft high
  16 chains to suspend the roadway
• One chain was 570 ft long weighing 23.5 tons

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Suspension Bridge at Conway Castle
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Canals and Rivers in England and Wales
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More lasting achievements
1816 - Design of Carlisle to Glasgow Road 1818 -
Grand Trunk Canal Sections 1822 - (1804)
Caledonian Canal (Rennie and Watt) 1824 -
Harecastle Tunnel (16 high and 14 broad) 3,926
ft long 1826 - Birmingham and Liverpool Junction
1827 - St Katherines Dock London 1834 - Design
to improve docks at Dover
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St Katherines Dock, London
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Dover Harbour a modern view
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Telfords Philosophy
We do not consider anything to be impossible.
Impossibilities exist chiefly in the prejudices
of mankind , to which some are slaves and from
which few are able to emancipate themselves and
enter on the path of truth. (Bridge over the
Danube) He admired commercial enterprise and its
activity, energy and intelligence. But I hold
that the aim and end of all ought not to be a bag
of money, but something far higher and far
better.
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A tribute from Robert Southey - Poet Laureate and
close friend Telfords is a happy life
everywhere making roads, building bridges,
forming canals and creating harbours works of
sure, solid, permanent utility everywhere
employing a great number of persons, selecting
the most meritorious, and putting them forward in
the world in his own way.
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Telfords Influential Legacy lives on

• Designed and built to last!
• Pivotal role in a national transport system
• Pioneered and developed the engineering design
  and project management techniques
• International figure
• First President Institution of Civil Engineers
• Influence on Victorian Red Brick universities?