Thomas Telford Through Time

Before the emergence of the steam railway rocketed the likes of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Robert Stephenson – the great Victorian engineers – into the limelight, there was a ‘Colossus’ who dominated the engineering scene and laid the foundations for what was to follow. Thomas Telford built a series of ambitious road and canal projects, as well as many notable bridges – including the ground-breaking Menai Suspension Bridge – numerous harbour works and buildings. Contrasting old and new images, John Christopher examines Telford’s principal works to highlight his diverse, but often overshadowed, achievements. These include not only the Menai bridge, of course, but also the other masonry and iron bridges, the Ellesmere Canal with its aqueducts at Pontcysyllte and Chirk, the Caledonian Canal slicing though Scotland’s Great Glen, and the A5 road running between London and Holyhead.