The Life of Thomas Telford by Smiles

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But the opening of the Nene Outfall was only the first of a series
of improvements which eventually included the whole of the valuable
lands of the North Level, in the district situated between the Nene
and the Welland. The opening at Gunthorpe Sluice, which was the
outfall for the waters of the Holland Drain, was not less than
eleven feet three inches above low water at Crab-Hole; and it was
therefore obvious that by lowering this opening a vastly improved
drainage of the whole of the level district, extending from twenty
to thirty miles inland, for which that sluice was the artificial
outlet, would immediately be secured. Urged by Mr. Telford, an Act
for the purpose of carrying out the requisite improvement was
obtained in 1830, and the excavations having been begun shortly
after, were completed in 1834.

A new cut was made from Clow's Cross to Gunthorpe Sluice, in place
of the winding course of the old Shire Drain; besides which, a
bridge was erected at Cross Keys, or Sutton Wash, and an embankment
was made across the Salt Marshes, forming a high road, which, with
the bridges previously erected at Fossdyke and Lynn, effectually
connected the counties of Norfolk and Lincoln. The result of the
improved outfall was what the engineer had predicted. A thorough
natural drainage was secured for an extensive district, embracing
nearly a hundred thousand acres of fertile land, which had before
been very ineffectually though expensively cleared of the surplus
water by means of windmills and steam-engines. The productiveness
of the soil was greatly increased, and the health and comfort of
the inhabitants promoted to an extent that surpassed all previous
expectation.

The whole of the new cuts were easily navigable, being from 140 to
200 feet wide at bottom, whereas the old outlets had been variable
and were often choked with shifting sand. The district was thus
effectually opened up for navigation, and a convenient transit
afforded for coals and other articles of consumption. Wisbeach
became accessible to vessels of much larger burden, and in the
course of a few years after the construction of the Nene Outfall,
the trade of the port had more than doubled. Mr. Telford himself,
towards the close of his life, spoke with natural pride of the
improvements which he had thus been in so great a measure
instrumental in carrying out, and which had so materially promoted
the comfort, prosperity, and welfare of a very extensive
district.*[3]

We may mention, as a remarkable effect of the opening of the new
outfall, that in a few hours the lowering of the waters was felt
throughout the whole of the Fen level. The sluggish and stagnant
drains, cuts, and leams in far distant places, began actually to
flow; and the sensation created was such, that at Thorney, near
Peterborough, some fifteen miles from the sea, the intelligence
penetrated even to the congregation then sitting in church--for it
was Sunday morning--that "the waters were running!" when
immediately the whole flocked out, parson and all, to see the great
sight, and acknowledge the blessings of science. A humble Fen poet
of the last century thus quaintly predicted the moral results
likely to arise from the improved drainage of his native district:-

"With a change of elements suddenly
There shall a change of men and manners be;
Hearts thick and tough as hides shall feel remorse,
And souls of sedge shall understand discourse;
New hands shall learn to work, forget to steal,
New legs shall go to church, new knees to kneel."

The prophecy has indeed been fulfilled. The barbarous race of
Fen-men has disappeared before the skill of the engineer. As the
land has been drained, the half-starved fowlers and fen-roamers
have subsided into the ranks of steady industry--become farmers,
traders, and labourers. The plough has passed over the bed of
Holland Fen, and the agriculturist reaps his increase more than a
hundred fold.. Wide watery wastes, formerly abounding in fish,
are now covered with waving crops of corn every summer. Sheep graze
on the dry bottom of Whittlesea Mere, and kine low where not many
years since the silence of the waste was only disturbed by the
croaking of frogs and the screaming of wild fowl. All this has been
the result of the science of the engineer, the enterprise of the
landowner, and the industry of our peaceful army of skilled
labourers.*[4]

Footnotes for Chapter XIII.

*[1] Telford's Life, p261

*[2] The piers are built internally with hollow compartments, as at
the Menai Bridge, the side walls being 3 feet thick and the cross
walls 2 feet. Projecting from the piers and abutments are pilasters
of solid masonry. The main arches have their springing 70 feet from
the foundations and rise 30 feet; and at 20 feet higher, other
arches, of 96 feet span and 10 feet rise, are constructed; the face
of these, projecting before the main arches and spandrels,
producing a distinct external soffit of 5 feet in breadth.
This, with the peculiar piers, constitutes the principal distinctive
feature in the, bridge.

*[3] "The Nene Outfall channel," says Mr. Tycho Wing,
"was projected by the late Mr. Rennie in 1814, and executed jointly
by Mr. Telford and the present Sir John Rennie. But the scheme of
the North Level Drainage was eminently the work of Mr. Telford,
and was undertaken upon his advice and responsibility, when only a
few persons engaged in the Nene Outfall believed that the latter
could be made, or if made, that it could be maintained. Mr. Telford
distinguished himself by his foresight and judicious counsels at
the most critical periods of that great measure, by his unfailing
confidence in its success, and by the boldness and sagacity which
prompted him to advise the making of the North Level drainage, in
full expectation of the results for the sake of which the Nene
Outfall was undertaken, and which are now realised to the extent of
the most sanguine hopes."

*[4] Now that the land actually won has been made so richly
productive, the engineer is at work with magnificent schemes of
reclamation of lands at present submerged by the sea. The Norfolk
Estuary Company have a scheme for reclaiming 50,000 acres; the
Lincolnshire Estuary Company, 30,000 acres; and the Victoria Level
Company, 150,000 acres--all from the estuary of the Wash. By the
process called warping, the land is steadily advancing upon the
ocean, and before many years have passed, thousands of acres of the
Victoria Level will have been reclaimed for purposes of
agriculture.

CHAPTER XIV.

SOUTHEY'S TOUR IN THE HIGHLANDS.

While Telford's Highland works were in full progress, he persuaded
his friend Southey, the Poet Laureate, to accompany him on one of
his visits of inspection, as far north as the county of Sutherland,
in the autumn of 1819. Mr. Southey, as was his custom, made careful
notes of the tour, which have been preserved,*[1] and consist in a
great measure of an interesting resume of the engineer's operations
in harbour-making, road-making, and canal-making north of the Tweed.

Southey reached Edinburgh by the Carlisle mail about the middle of
August, and was there joined by Mr. Telford, and Mr. and Mrs.
Rickman,*[2] who were to accompany him on the journey. They first
proceeded to Linlithgow, Bannockburn,*[3] Stirling, Callendar, the
Trosachs, and round by the head of Loch Earn to Killin, Kenmore,
and by Aberfeldy to Dunkeld. At the latter place, the poet admired
Telford's beautiful bridge, which forms a fine feature in the
foreground of the incomparable picture which the scenery of Dunkeld
always presents in whatever aspect it is viewed.

From Dunkeld the party proceeded to Dundee, along the left bank of
the Firth of Tay. The works connected with the new harbour were in
active progress, and the engineer lost no time in taking his friend
to see them. Southey's account is as follows:--

"Before breakfast I went with Mr. Telford to the harbour, to look
at his works, which are of great magnitude and importance: a huge
floating dock, and the finest graving dock I ever saw. The town
expends 70,000L. on these improvements, which will be completed in
another year. What they take from the excavations serves to raise
ground which was formerly covered by the tide, but will now be of
the greatest value for wharfs, yards, &c. The local authorities
originally proposed to build fifteen piers, but Telford assured
them that three would be sufficient; and, in telling me this, he
said the creation of fifteen new Scotch peers was too strong a
measure....

"Telford's 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."

After the inspection at Dundee was over, the party proceeded on
their journey northward, along the east coast:--

"Near Gourdon or Bervie harbour, which is about a mile and a half
on this side the town, we met Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Gibbs, two of
Mr. Telford's aides-de-camp, who had come thus far to meet him. The
former he calls his 'Tartar,' from his cast of countenance, which
is very much like a Tartar's, as well as from his Tartar-like mode
of life; for, in his office of overseer of the roads, which are
under the management of the Commissioners, he travels on horseback
not less than 6000 miles a year. Mr. Telford found him in the
situation of a working mason, who could scarcely read or write; but
noticing him for his good conduct, his activity, and his firm
steady character, he, has brought him forward; and Mitchell now
holds a post of respectability and importance, and performs his
business with excellent ability."

After inspecting the little harbour of Bervie, one of the first
works of the kind executed by Telford for the Commissioners, the
party proceeded by Stonehaven, and from thence along the coast to
Aberdeen. Here the harbour works were visited and admired:--

"The quay," says Southey, "is very fine; and Telford has carried
out his pier 900 feet beyond the point where Smeaton's terminated.
This great work, which has cost 100,000L., protects the entrance
of the harbour from the whole force of the North Sea. A ship was
entering it at the time of our visit, the Prince of Waterloo.
She had been to America; had discharged her cargo at London; and we
now saw her reach her own port in safety--a joyous and delightful
sight."

The next point reached was Banff, along the Don and the line of the
Inverury Canal:--

"The approach to Banff is very fine,"*[4] says Southey, "by the
Earl of Fife's grounds, where the trees are surprisingly grown,
considering how near they are to the North Sea; Duff House--
a square, odd, and not unhandsome pile, built by Adams (one of the
Adelphi brothers), some forty years ago; a good bridge of seven
arches by Smeaton; the open sea, not as we had hitherto seen it,
grey under a leaden sky, but bright and blue in the sunshine; Banff
on the left of the bay; the River Doveran almost lost amid banks of
shingle, where it enters the sea; a white and tolerably high shore
extending eastwards; a kirk, with a high spire which serves as a
sea-mark; and, on the point, about a mile to the east, the town of
Macduff. At Banff, we at once went to the pier, about half finished,
on which 15,000L. will be expended, to the great benefit of this
clean, cheerful, and active little town. The pier was a busy
scene; hand-carts going to and fro over the railroads, cranes at
work charging and discharging, plenty of workmen, and fine masses
of red granite from the Peterhead quarries. The quay was almost
covered with barrels of herrings, which women were busily employed
in salting and packing."

The next visit was paid to the harbour works at Cullen, which were
sufficiently advanced to afford improved shelter for the fishing
vessels of the little port:--

"When I stood upon the pier at low water," says Southey, "seeing
the tremendous rocks with which the whole shore is bristled, and
the open sea to which the place is exposed, it was with a proud
feeling that I saw the first talents in the world employed by the
British Government in works of such unostentatious, but great,
immediate, palpable, and permanent utility. Already their excellent
effects are felt. The fishing vessels were just coming in, having
caught about 300 barrels of herrings during the night....

"However the Forfeited Estates Fund may have been misapplied in
past times, the remainder could not be better invested than in
these great improvements. Wherever a pier is needed, if the people
or the proprietors of the place will raise one-half the necessary
funds, Government supplies the other half. On these terms,
20,000L. are expending at Peterhead, and 14,000L. at Frazerburgh;
and the works which we visited at Bervie and Banff, and many other
such along this coast, would never have been undertaken without
such aid; public liberality thus inducing private persons to tax
themselves heavily, and expend with a good will much larger sums
than could have been drawn from them by taxation."

From Cullen, the travellers proceeded in gigs to Fochabers, thence
by Craigellachie Bridge, which Southey greatly admired, along
Speyside, to Ballindalloch and Inverallen, where Telford's new road
was in course of construction across the moors towards Forres.
The country for the greater part of the way was a wild waste, nothing
but mountains and heather to be seen; yet the road was as perfectly
made and maintained as if it had lain through a very Goschen.
The next stages were to Nairn and Inverness, from whence then
proceeded to view the important works constructed at the crossing
of the River Beauly:--

"At Lovat Bridge," says Southey, "we turned aside and went four
miles up the river, along the Strathglass road--one of the new
works, and one of the most remarkable, because of the difficulty of
constructing it, and also because of the fine scenery which it
commands.....

"Lovat Bridge, by which we returned, is a plain, handsome structure
of five arches, two of 40 feet span, two of 50, and the centre one
of 60. The curve is as little as possible. I learnt in Spain to
admire straight bridges; But Mr. Telford thinks there always ought
to be some curve to enable the rain water to run off, and because
he would have the outline look like the segment of a large circle,
resting on the abutments. A double line over the arches gives a
finish to the bridge, and perhaps looks as well, or almost as well,
as balustrades, for not a sixpence has been allowed for ornament on
these works. The sides are protected by water-wings, which are
embankments of stone, to prevent the floods from extending on
either side, and attacking the flanks of the bridge."

Nine miles further north, they arrived at Dingwall, near which a
bridge similar to that at Beauly, though wider, had been constructed
over the Conan. From thence they proceeded to Invergordon, to
Ballintraed (where another pier for fishing boats was in progress),
to Tain, and thence to Bonar Bridge, over the Sheir, twenty-four
miles above the entrance to the Dornoch Frith, where an iron
bridge, after the same model as that of Craigellachie, had been
erected. This bridge is of great importance, connecting as it does
the whole of the road traffic of the northern counties with the
south. Southey speaks of it as

"A work of such paramount utility that it is not possible to look
at it without delight. A remarkable anecdote," he continues,
"was told me concerning it. An inhabitant of Sutherland, whose
father was drowned at the Mickle Ferry (some miles below the bridge)
in 1809, could never bear to set foot in a ferry-boat after the
catastrophe, and was consequently cut off from communication with
the south until this bridge was built. He then set out on a journey.
'As I went along the road by the side of the water,' said he,
'I could see no bridge. At last I came in sight of something
like a spider's web in the air. If this be it, thought I, it will
never do! But, presently, I came upon it; and oh! it is the finest
thing that ever was made by God or man!'"

Sixteen miles north-east of Bonar Bridge, Southey crossed Fleet
Mound, another ingenious work of his friend Telford, but of an
altogether different character. It was thrown across the River
Fleet, at the point at which it ran into the estuary or little
land-locked bay outside, known as Loch Fleet. At this point there
had formerly been a ford; but as the tide ran far inland, it could
only be crossed at low water, and travellers had often to wait for
hours before they could proceed on their journey. The embouchure
being too wide for a bridge, Telford formed an embankment across
it, 990 yards in length, providing four flood-gates, each 12 feet
wide, at its north end, for the egress of the inland waters.
These gates opened outwards, and they were so hung as to shut with
the rising of the tide. The holding back of the sea from the land
inside the mound by this means, had the effect of reclaiming a
considerable extent of fertile carse land, which, at the time of
Southey's visit,--though the work had only been completed the year
before,--was already under profitable cultivation. The principal
use of the mound, however, was in giving support to the fine broad
road which ran along its summit, and thus completed the
communication with the country to the north. Southey speaks in
terms of high admiration of "the simplicity, the beauty, and
utility of this great work."

This was the furthest limit of their journey, and the travellers
retraced their steps southward, halting at Clashmore Inn:
"At breakfast," says Southey, "was a handsome set of Worcester china.
Upon noticing it to Mr. Telford, he told me that before these roads
were made, he fell in with some people from Worcestershire near the
Ord of Caithness, on their way northward with a cart load of
crockery, which they got over the mountains as best they could;
and, when they had sold all their ware, they laid out the money in
black cattle, which they then drove to the south."

The rest of Southey's journal is mainly occupied with a description
of the scenery of the Caledonian Canal, and the principal
difficulties encountered in the execution of the works, which were
still in active progress. He was greatly struck with the flight of
locks at the south end of the Canal, where it enters Loch Eil near
Corpach:--

"There being no pier yet formed," he says, "we were carried to and
from the boats on men's shoulders. We landed close to the sea shore.
A sloop was lying in the fine basin above, and the canal was full
as far as the Staircase, a name given to the eight successive
locks. Six of these were full and overflowing; and then we drew
near enough to see persons walking over the lock-gates. It had
more the effect of a scene in a pantomime than of anything in real
life. The rise from lock to lock is eight feet,--sixty-four,
therefore, in all. The length of the locks, including the gates
and abutments at both ends, is 500 yards;-- the greatest piece of
such masonry in the world, and the greatest work of the kind beyond
all comparison.

"A panorama painted from this place would include the highest
mountain in Great Britain, and its greatest work of art. That work
is one of which the magnitude and importance become apparent, when
considered in relation to natural objects. The Pyramids would
appear insignificant in such a situation, for in them we should
perceive only a vain attempt to vie with greater things. But here
we see the powers of nature brought to act upon a great scale,
in subservience to the purposes of men; one river created, another
(and that a huge mountain-stream) shouldered out of its place, and
art and order assuming a character of sublimity. Sometimes a beck
is conducted under the canal, and passages called culverts serve as
a roadway for men and beasts. We walked through one of these, just
lofty enough for a man of my stature to pass through with his hat
on. It had a very singular effect to see persons emerging from this
dark, long, narrow vault. Sometimes a brook is taken in; a cesspool
is then made to receive what gravel it may bring down after it has
passed this pool, the water flowing through three or four little
arches, and then over a paved bed and wall of masonry into the canal.
These are called in-takes, and opposite them an outlet is sometimes
made for the waters of; the canal, if they should be above their
proper level; or when the cross-stream may bring down a rush.
These outlets consist of two inclined planes of masonry, one rising
from the canal with a pavement or waste weir between them; and when
the cross-stream comes down like a torrent, instead of mingling
with the canal, it passes straight across. But these channels
would be insufficient for carrying off the whole surplus waters in
time of floods. At one place, therefore, there are three sluices
by which the whole canal from the Staircase to the Regulating Lock
(about six miles) can be lowered a foot in an hour. The sluices
were opened that we might see their effect. We went down the Bank,
and made our way round some wet ground till we got in front of the
strong arch into which they open. The arch is about 25 feet high,
of great strength, and built upon the rock. What would the
Bourbons have given for such a cascade at Versailles? The rush and
the spray, and the force of the water, reminded me more of the
Reichenbach than of any other fall. That three small sluices, each
only 4 feet by 3 feet, should produce an effect which brought the
mightiest of the swiss waterfalls to my recollection, may appear
incredible, or at least like an enormous exaggeration. But the
prodigious velocity with which the water is forced out, by the
pressure above, explains the apparent wonder. And yet I beheld it
only in half its strength; the depth above being at this time ten
feet, which will be twenty when the canal is completed. In a few
minutes a river was formed of no inconsiderable breadth, which ran
like a torrent into the Lochy.

"On this part of the canal everything is completed, except that the
iron bridges for it, which are now on their way, are supplied by
temporary ones. When the middle part shall be finished, the Lochy,
which at present flows in its own channel above the Regulating Lock,
will be dammed there, and made to join the Speyne by a new cut from
the lake. The cut is made, and a fine bridge built over it.
We went into the cut and under the bridge, which is very near the
intended point of junction. The string-courses were encrusted with
stalactites in a manner singularly beautiful. Under the arches a
strong mound of solid masonry is built to keep the water in dry
seasons at a certain height; But in that mound a gap is left for
the salmon, and a way made through the rocks from the Speyne to
this gap, which they will soon find out."

Arrived at Dumbarton, Southey took leave of John Mitchell, who had
accompanied him throughout the tour, and for whom he seems to have
entertained the highest admiration:--

"He is indeed," says Southey, "a remarkable man, and well deserving
to be remembered. Mr. Telford found him a working mason, who could
scarcely read or write. But his good sense, his excellent conduct,
his steadiness and perseverance have been such, that he has been
gradually raised to be Inspector of all these Highland roads which
we have visited, and all of which are under the Commissioners' care
--an office requiring a rare union of qualities, among others
inflexible integrity, a fearless temper, and an indefatigable
frame. Perhaps no man ever possessed these requisites in greater
perfection than John Mitchell. Were but his figure less Tartarish
and more gaunt, he would be the very 'Talus' of Spenser. Neither
frown nor favour, in the course of fifteen years, have ever made
him swerve from the fair performance of his duty, though the lairds
with whom he has to deal have omitted no means of making him enter
into their views, and to do things or leave them undone, as might
suit their humour or interest. They have attempted to cajole and to
intimidate him alike in vain. They have repeatedly preferred
complaints against him in the hope of getting him removed from his
office, and a more flexible person appointed in his stead; and they
have not unfrequently threatened him with personal violence.
Even his life has been menaced. But Mitchell holds right on.
In the midst of his most laborious life, he has laboured to improve
himself with such success, that he has become a good accountant,
makes his estimates with facility, and carries on his official
correspondence in an able and highly intelligent manner. In the
execution of his office he travelled last year not less than 8800
miles, and every year he travels nearly as much. Nor has this life,
and the exposure to all winds and weathers, and the temptations
either of company or of solicitude at the houses at which he puts
up, led him into any irregularities. Neither has his elevation in
the slightest degree inflated him. He is still the same temperate,
industrious, modest, unassuming man, as when his good qualities
first attracted Mr. Telford's notice."

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