The Life of Thomas Telford by Smiles

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Attention was especially turned to the improvement of the longer
routes, and to perfecting the connection of London with the chief
town's of Scotland and Ireland. Telford was early called upon to
advise as to the repairs of the road between Carlisle and Glasgow,
which had been allowed to fall into a wretched state; as well as
the formation of a new line from Carlisle, across the counties of
Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, and Wigton, to Port Patrick, for the
purpose of ensuring a more rapid communication with Belfast and the
northern parts of Ireland. Although Glasgow had become a place of
considerable wealth and importance, the roads to it, north of
Carlisle, continued in a very unsatisfactory state. It was only in
July, 1788, that the first mail-coach from London had driven into
Glasgow by that route, when it was welcomed by a procession of the
citizens on horseback, who went out several miles to meet it.
But the road had been shockingly made, and before long had become
almost impassable. Robert Owen states that, in 1795, it took him
two days and three nights' incessant travelling to get from
Manchester to Glasgow, and he mentions that the coach had to cross
a well-known dangerous mountain at midnight, called Erickstane
Brae, which was then always passed with fear and trembling.*[1]
As late as the year 1814 we find a Parliamentary Committee
declaring the road between Carlisle and Glasgow to be in so ruinous
a state as often seriously to delay the mail and endanger the lives
of travellers. The bridge over Evan Water was so much decayed, that
one day the coach and horses fell through it into the river, when
"one passenger was killed, the coachman survived only a few days,
and several other persons were dreadfully maimed; two of the horses
being also killed."*[2] The remaining part of the bridge continued
for some time unrepaired, just space enough being left for a single
carriage to pass. The road trustees seemed to be helpless, and did
nothing; a local subscription was tried and failed, the district
passed through being very poor; but as the road was absolutely
required for more than merely local purposes, it was eventually
determined to undertake its reconstruction as a work of national
importance, and 50,000L. was granted by Parliament with this
object, under the provisions of the Act passed in 1816. The works
were placed under Mr. Telford's charge; and an admirable road was
very shortly under construction between Carlisle and Glasgow.
That part of it between Hamilton and Glasgow, eleven miles in length,
was however left in the hands of local trustees, as was the
diversion of thirteen miles at the boundary of the counties of
Lanark and Dumfries, for which a previous Act had been obtained.
The length of new line constructed by Mr. Telford was sixty-nine
miles, and it was probably the finest piece of road which up to
that time had been made.

His ordinary method of road-making in the Highlands was, first to
level and drain; then, like the Romans, to lay a solid pavement of
large stones, the round or broad end downwards, as close as they
could be set. The points of the latter were then broken off, and a
layer of stones broken to about the size of walnuts, was laid upon
them, and over all a little gravel if at hand. A road thus formed
soon became bound together, and for ordinary purposes was very
durable.

But where the traffic, as in the case of the Carlisle and Glasgow
road, was expected to be very heavy, Telford took much greater
pains. Here he paid especial attention to two points: first, to lay
it out as nearly as possible upon a level, so as to reduce the
draught to horses dragging heavy vehicles,--one in thirty being
about the severest gradient at any part of the road. The next point
was to make the working, or middle portion of the road, as firm and
substantial as possible, so as to bear, without shrinking, the
heaviest weight likely to be brought over it. With this object he
specified that the metal bed was to be formed in two layers, rising
about four inches towards the centre the bottom course being of
stones (whinstone, limestone, or hard freestone), seven inches in
depth. These were to be carefully set by hand, with the broadest
ends downwards, all crossbonded or jointed, no stone being more
than three inches wide on the top. The spaces between them were
then to be filled up with smaller stones, packed by hand, so as to
bring the whole to an even and firm surface. Over this a top course
was to be laid, seven inches in depth, consisting of properly
broken hard whinstones, none exceeding six ounces in weight, and
each to be able to pass through a circular ring, two inches and a
half in diameter; a binding of gravel, about an inch in thickness,
being placed over all. A drain crossed under the bed of the bottom
layer to the outside ditch in every hundred yards. The result was
an admirably easy, firm, and dry road, capable of being travelled
upon in all weathers, and standing in comparatively small need of
repairs.

A similar practice was introduced in England about the same time by
Mr. Macadam; and, though his method was not so thorough as that of
Telford, it was usefully employed on most of the high roads
throughout the kingdom. Mr. Macadam's notice was first called to
the subject while acting as one of the trustees of a road in
Ayrshire. Afterwards, while employed as Government agent for
victualling the navy in the western parts of England, he continued
the study of road-making, keeping in view the essential conditions
of a compact and durable substance and a smooth surface. At that
time the attention of the Legislature was not so much directed to
the proper making and mending of the roads, as to suiting the
vehicles to them such as they were; and they legislated backwards
and forwards for nearly half a century as to the breadth of wheels.
Macadam was, on the other hand, of opinion that the main point was
to attend to the nature of the roads on which the vehicles were to
travel. Most roads were then made with gravel, or flints tumbled
upon them in their natural state, and so rounded that they had no
points of contact, and rarely became consolidated. When a heavy
vehicle of any sort passed over them, their loose structure
presented no resistance; the material was thus completely
disturbed, and they often became almost impassable. Macadam's
practice was this: to break the stones into angular fragments, so
that a bed several inches in depth should be formed, the material
best adapted for the purpose being fragments of granite,
greenstone, or basalt; to watch the repairs of the road carefully
during the process of consolidation, filling up the inequalities
caused by the traffic passing over it, until a hard and level
surface had been obtained. Thus made, the road would last for
years without further attention. in 1815 Mr. Macadam devoted
himself with great enthusiasm to road-making as a profession, and
being appointed surveyor-general of the Bristol roads, he had full
opportunities of exemplifying his system. It proved so successful
that the example set by him was quickly followed over the entire
kingdom. Even the streets of many large towns were Macadamised.
In carrying out his improvements, however, Mr. Macadam spent several
thousand pounds of his own money, and in 1825, having proved this
expenditure before a Committee of the House of Commons, the amount
was reimbursed to him, together with an honorary tribute of two
thousand pounds. Mr. Macadam died poor, but, as he himself said,
"a least an honest man." By his indefatigable exertions and his
success as a road-maker, by greatly saving animal labour,
facilitating commercial intercourse, and rendering travelling easy
and expeditious, he entitled himself to the reputation of a public
benefactor.

[Image] J. L. Macadam.

Owing to the mountainous nature of the country through which
Telford's Carlisle and Glasgow road passes, the bridges are
unusually numerous and of large dimensions. Thus, the Fiddler's
Burn Bridge is of three arches, one of 150 and two of 105 feet span
each. There are fourteen other bridges, presenting from one to
three arches, of from 20 to 90 feet span. But the most picturesque
and remarkable bridge constructed by Telford in that district was
upon another line of road subsequently carried out by him, in the
upper part of the county of Lanark, and crossing the main line of
the Carlisle and Glasgow road almost at right angles. Its northern
and eastern part formed a direct line of communication between the
great cattle markets of Falkirk, Crief, and Doune, and Carlisle and
the West of England. It was carried over deep ravines by several
lofty bridges, the most formidable of which was that across the
Mouse Water at Cartland Crags, about a mile to the west of Lanark.
The stream here flows through a deep rocky chasm, the sides of
which are in some places about four hundred feet high. At a point
where the height of the rocks is considerably less, but still most
formidable, Telford spanned the ravine with the beautiful bridge
represented in the engraving facing this page, its parapet being
129 feet above the surface of the water beneath.

[Image] Cartland Crags Bridge.

The reconstruction of the western road from Carlisle to Glasgow,
which Telford had thus satisfactorily carried out, shortly led to
similar demands from the population on the eastern side of the
kingdom. The spirit of road reform was now fairly on foot.
Fast coaches and wheel-carriages of all kinds had become greatly
improved, so that the usual rate of travelling had advanced from
five or six to nine or ten miles an hour. The desire for the rapid
communication of political and commercial intelligence was found to
increase with the facilities for supplying it; and, urged by the
public wants, the Post-Office authorities were stimulated to
unusual efforts in this direction. Numerous surveys were made and
roads laid out, so as to improve the main line of communication
between London and Edinburgh and the intermediate towns. The first
part of this road taken in hand was the worst--that lying to the
north of Catterick Bridge, in Yorkshire. A new line was surveyed by
West Auckland to Hexham, passing over Garter Fell to Jedburgh, and
thence to Edinburgh; but was rejected as too crooked and uneven.
Another was tried by Aldstone Moor and Bewcastle, and rejected for
the same reason. The third line proposed was eventually adopted as
the best, passing from Morpeth, by Wooler and Coldstream,
to Edinburgh; saving rather more than fourteen miles between the
two points, and securing a line of road of much more favourable
gradients.

The principal bridge on this new highway was at Pathhead, over the
Tyne, about eleven miles south of Edinburgh. To maintain the
level, so as to avoid the winding of the road down a steep descent
on one side of the valley and up an equally steep ascent on the
other, Telford ran out a lofty embankment from both sides,
connecting their ends by means of a spacious bridge. The structure
at Pathhead is of five arches, each 50 feet span, with 25 feet rise
from their springing, 49 feet above the bed of the river. Bridges
of a similar character were also thrown over the deep ravines of
Cranston Dean and Cotty Burn, in the same neighbourhood. At the
same time a useful bridge was built on the same line of road at
Morpeth, in Northumberland, over the river Wansbeck. It consisted
of three arches, of which the centre one was 50 feet span, and two
side-arches 40 feet each; the breadth between the parapets being 30
feet.

The advantages derived from the construction of these new roads
were found to be so great, that it was proposed to do the like for
the remainder of the line between London and Edinburgh; and at the
instance of the Post-Office authorities, with the sanction of the
Treasury, Mr. Telford proceeded to make detailed surveys of an
entire new post-road between London and Morpeth. In laying it out,
the main points which he endeavoured to secure were directness and
flatness; and 100 miles of the proposed new Great North Road, south
of York, were laid out in a perfectly straight line. This survey,
which was begun in 1824, extended over several years; and all the
requisite arrangements had been made for beginning the works, when
the result of the locomotive competition at Rainhill, in 1829, had
the effect of directing attention to that new method of travelling,
fortunately in time to prevent what would have proved, for the most
part, an unnecessary expenditure, on works soon to be superseded by
a totally different order of things.

The most important road-improvements actually carried out under
Mr. Telford's immediate superintendence were those on the western
side of the island, with the object of shortening the distance and
facilitating the communication between London and Dublin by way of
Holyhead, as well as between London and Liverpool. At the time of
the Union, the mode of transit between the capital of Ireland and
the metropolis of the United Kingdom was tedious, difficult, and
full of peril. In crossing the Irish Sea to Liverpool, the packets
were frequently tossed about for days together. On the Irish side,
there was scarcely the pretence of a port, the landing-place being
within the bar of the river Liffey, inconvenient at all times, and
in rough weather extremely dangerous. To avoid the long voyage to
Liverpool, the passage began to be made from Dublin to Holyhead,
the nearest point of the Welsh coast. Arrived there, the
passengers were landed upon rugged, unprotected rocks, without a
pier or landing convenience of any kind.*[3] But the traveller's
perils were not at an end,--comparatively speaking they had only
begun. From Holyhead, across the island of Anglesea, there was no
made road, but only a miserable track, circuitous and craggy,
full of terrible jolts, round bogs and over rocks, for a distance of
twenty-four miles. Having reached the Menai Strait, the passengers
had again to take to an open ferry-boat before they could gain the
mainland. The tide ran with great rapidity through the Strait,
and, when the wind blew strong, the boat was liable to be driven
far up or down the channel, and was sometimes swamped altogether.
The perils of the Welsh roads had next to be encountered, and these
were in as bad a condition at the beginning of the present century
as those of the Highlands above described. Through North Wales
they were rough, narrow, steep, and unprotected, mostly unfenced,
and in winter almost impassable. The whole traffic on the road
between Shrewsbury and Bangor was conveyed by a small cart, which
passed between the two places once a week in summer. As an
illustration of the state of the roads in South Wales, which were
quite as bad as those in the North, we may state that, in 1803,
when the late Lord Sudeley took home his bride from the
neighbourhood of Welshpool to his residence only thirteen miles
distant, the carriage in which the newly married pair rode stuck in
a quagmire, and the occupants, having extricated themselves from
their perilous situation, performed the rest of their journey on
foot.

The first step taken was to improve the landing-places on both the
Irish and Welsh sides of St. George's Channel, and for this purpose
Mr. Rennie was employed in 1801. The result was, that Howth on the
one coast, and Holyhead on the other, were fixed upon as the most
eligible sites for packet stations. Improvements, however,
proceeded slowly, and it was not until 1810 that a sum of 10,000L.
was granted by Parliament to enable the necessary works to be
begun. Attention was then turned to the state of the roads,
and here Mr. Telford's services were called into requisition.
As early as 1808 it had been determined by the Post-Office authorities
to put on a mail-coach between Shrewsbury and Holyhead; but it was
pointed out that the roads in North Wales were so rough and
dangerous that it was doubtful whether the service could be
conducted with safety. Attempts were made to enforce the law with
reference to their repair, and no less than twenty-one townships
were indicted by the Postmaster-General. The route was found too
perilous even for a riding post, the legs of three horses having
been broken in one week.*[4] The road across Anglesea was quite as
bad. Sir Henry Parnell mentioned, in 1819, that the coach had been
overturned beyond Gwynder, going down one of the hills, when a
friend of his was thrown a considerable distance from the roof into
a pool of water. Near the post-office of Gwynder, the coachman had
been thrown from his seat by a violent jolt, and broken his leg.
The post-coach, and also the mail, had been overturned at the
bottom of Penmyndd Hill; and the route was so dangerous that the
London coachmen, who had been brought down to "work" the country,
refused to continue the duty because of its excessive dangers.
Of course, anything like a regular mail-service through such a
district was altogether impracticable.

The indictments of the townships proved of no use; the localities
were too poor to provide the means required to construct a line of
road sufficient for the conveyance of mails and passengers between
England and Ireland. The work was really a national one, to be
carried out at the national cost. How was this best to be done?
Telford recommended that the old road between Shrewsbury and
Holyhead (109 miles long) should be shortened by about four miles,
and made as nearly as possible on a level; the new line proceeding
from Shrewsbury by Llangollen, Corwen, Bettws-y-Coed, Capel-Curig,
and Bangor, to Holyhead. Mr. Telford also proposed to cross the
Menai Strait by means of a cast iron bridge, hereafter to be
described.

Although a complete survey was made in 1811, nothing was done for
several years. The mail-coaches continued to be overturned, and
stage-coaches, in the tourist season, to break down as before.*[5]
The Irish mail-coach took forty one hours to reach Holyhead from
the time of its setting out from St. Martin's-le-Grand; the journey
was performed at the rate of only 6 3/4 miles an hour, the mail
arriving in Dublin on the third day. The Irish members made many
complaints of the delay and dangers to which they were exposed in
travelling up to town. But, although there was much discussion, no
money was voted until the year 1815, when Sir Henry Parnell
vigorously took the question in hand and successfully carried it
through. A Board of Parliamentary Commissioners was appointed, of
which he was chairman, and, under their direction, the new
Shrewsbury and Holyhead road was at length commenced and carried to
completion, the works extending over a period of about fifteen years.
The same Commissioners excrcised an authority over the roads
between London and Shrewsbury; and numerous improvements were also
made in the main line at various points, with the object of
facilitating communication between London and Liverpool as well as
between London and Dublin.

The rugged nature of the country through which the new road passed,
along the slopes of rocky precipices and across inlets of the sea,
rendered it necessary to build many bridges, to form many
embankments, and cut away long stretches of rock, in order to
secure an easy and commodious route. The line of the valley of the
Dee, to the west of Llangollen, was selected, the road proceeding
along the scarped sides of the mountains, crossing from point to
point by lofty embankments where necessary; and, taking into
account the character of the country, it must be acknowledged that
a wonderfully level road was secured. While the gradients on the
old road had in some cases been as steep as 1 in 6 1/2, passing
along the edge of unprotected precipices, the new one was so laid
out as to be no more than 1 in 20 at any part, while it was wide
and well protected along its whole extent. Mr. Telford pursued the
same system that he had adopted in the formation of the Carlisle
and Glasgow road, as regards metalling, cross-draining, and
fence-walling; for the latter purpose using schistus, or slate
rubble-work, instead of sandstone. The largest bridges were of
iron; that at Bettws-y-Coed, over the Conway--called the Waterloo
Bridge, constructed in 1815--being a very fine specimen of
Telford's iron bridge-work.

Those parts of the road which had been the most dangerous were
taken in hand first, and, by the year 1819, the route had been
rendered comparatively commodious and safe. Angles were cut off,
the sides of hills were blasted away, and several heavy embankments
run out across formidable arms of the sea. Thus, at Stanley Sands,
near Holyhead, an embankment was formed 1300 yards long and 16 feet
high, with a width of 34 feet at the top, along which the road was
laid. Its breadth at the base was 114 feet, and both sides were
coated with rubble stones, as a protection against storms. By the
adoption of this expedient, a mile and a half was saved in a
distance of six miles. Heavy embankments were also run out, where
bridges were thrown across chasms and ravines, to maintain the
general level. From Ty-Gwynn to Lake Ogwen, the road along the face
of the rugged hill and across the river Ogwen was entirely new
made, of a uniform width of 28 feet between the parapets, with an
inclination of only 1 in 22 in the steepest place. A bridge was
thrown over the deep chasm forming the channel of the Ogwen, the
embankment being carried forward from the rook cutting, protected
by high breastworks. From Capel-Curig to near the great waterfall
over the river Lugwy, about a mile of new road was cut; and a still
greater length from Bettws across the river Conway and along the
face of Dinas Hill to Rhyddlanfair, a distance of 3 miles; its
steepest descent being 1 in 22, diminishing to 1 in 45. By this
improvement, the most difficult and dangerous pass along the route
through North Wales was rendered safe and commodious.

[Image] Road Descent near Betws-y-Coed.

Another point of almost equal difficulty occurred near Ty-Nant,
through the rocky pass of Glynn Duffrws, where the road was
confined between steep rocks and rugged precipices: there the way
was widened and flattened by blasting, and thus reduced to the
general level; and so on eastward to Llangollen and Chirk, where
the main Shrewsbury road to London was joined.*[6]

[Image] Road above Nant Frrancon, North Wales.

By means of these admirable roads the traffic of North Wales
continues to be mainly carried on to this day. Although railways
have superseded coach-roads in the more level districts, the hilly
nature of Wales precludes their formation in that quarter to any
considerable extent; and even in the event of railways being
constructed, a large part of the traffic of every country must
necessarily continue to pass over the old high roads. Without them
even railways would be of comparatively little value; for a railway
station is of use chiefly because of its easy accessibility, and
thus, both for passengers and merchandise, the common roads of the
country are as useful as ever they were, though the main post-roads
have in a great measure ceased to be employed for the purposes for
which they were originally designed.

The excellence of the roads constructed by Mr. Telford through the
formerly inaccessible counties of North Wales was the theme of
general praise; and their superiority, compared with those of the
richer and more level districts in the midland and western English
counties, becoming the subject of public comment, he was called
upon to execute like improvements upon that part of the post-road
which extended between Shrewsbury and the metropolis. A careful
survey was made of the several routes from London northward by
Shrewsbury as far as Liverpool; and the short line by Coventry,
being 153 miles from London to Shrewsbury, was selected as the one
to be improved to the utmost.

Down to 1819, the road between London and Coventry was in a very
bad state, being so laid as to become a heavy slough in wet
weather. There were many steep hills which required to be cut down,
in some parts of deep clay, in others of deep sand. A mail-coach
had been tried to Banbury; but the road below Aylesbury was so bad,
that the Post-office authorities were obliged to give it up. The
twelve miles from Towcester to Daventry were still worse. The line
of way was covered with banks of dirt; in winter it was a puddle of
from four to six inches deep--quite as bad as it had been in Arthur
Young's time; and when horses passed along the road, they came out
of it a mass of mud and mire.*[7] There were also several steep and
dangerous hills to be crossed; and the loss of horses by fatigue in
travelling by that route at the time was very great.

Even the roads in the immediate neighbourhood of the metropolis
were little better, those under the Highgate and Hampstead trust
being pronounced in a wretched state. They were badly formed,
on a clay bottom, and being undrained, were almost always wet and
sloppy. The gravel was usually tumbled on and spread unbroken,
so that the materials, instead of becoming consolidated, were only
rolled about by the wheels of the carriages passing over them.

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