Biographies of Working Men | Page 6

importance. It was to connect the Mersey, the
Dee, and the Severn, and it passed over ground which rendered
necessary some immense aqueducts on a scale never before attempted
by British engineers. Even in our own time, every traveller by the Great
Western line between Chester and Shrewsbury must have observed on
his right two magnificent ranges as high arches, which are as noticeable
now as ever for their boldness, their magnitude, and their exquisite
construction. The first of these mighty archways is the Pont Cysylltau
aqueduct which carries the Ellesmere Canal across the wide valley of
the Dee, known as the Vale of Llangollen; the second is the Chirk
aqueduct, which takes it over the lesser glen of a minor tributary, the
Ceriog. Both these beautiful works were designed and carried out
entirely by Telford. They differ from many other great modern
engineering achievements in the fact that, instead of spoiling the lovely
mountain scenery into whose midst they have been thrown, they
actually harmonize with it and heighten its natural beauty. Both works,
however, are splendid feats, regarded merely as efforts of practical skill;
and the larger one is particularly memorable for the peculiarity that the
trough for the water and the elegant parapet at the side are both entirely
composed of iron. Nowadays, of course, there would be nothing
remarkable in the use of such a material for such a purpose; but Telford
was the first engineer to see the value of iron in this respect, and the
Pont Cysylltau aqueduct was one of the earliest works in which he
applied the new material to these unwonted uses. Such a step is all the

more remarkable, because Telford's own education had lain entirely in
what may fairly be called the "stone age" of English engineering; while
his natural predilections as a stonemason might certainly have made
him rather overlook the value of the novel material. But Telford was a
man who could rise superior to such little accidents of habit or training;
and as a matter of fact there is no other engineer to whom the rise of the
present "iron age" in engineering work is more directly and
immediately to be attributed than to himself.
Meanwhile, the Eskdale pioneer did not forget his mother. For years he
had constantly written to her, in print hand, so that the letters might be
more easily read by her aged eyes; he had sent her money in full
proportion to his means; and he had taken every possible care to let her
declining years be as comfortable as his altered circumstances could
readily make them. And now, in the midst of this great and responsible
work, he found time to "run down" to Eskdale (very different "running
down" from that which we ourselves can do by the London and North
Western Railway), to see his aged mother once more before she died.
What a meeting that must have been, between the poor old widow of
the Eskdale shepherd, and her successful son, the county surveyor of
Shropshire, and engineer of the great and important Ellesmere Canal!
While Telford was working busily upon his wonderful canal, he had
many other schemes to carry out of hardly less importance, in
connection with his appointment as county surveyor. His beautiful iron
bridge across the Severn at Build was was another application of his
favourite metal to the needs of the new world that was gradually
growing up in industrial England; and so satisfied was he with the
result of his experiment (for though not absolutely the first, it was one
of the first iron bridges ever built) that he proposed another magnificent
idea, which unfortunately was never carried into execution. Old
London Bridge had begun to get a trifle shaky; and instead of
rebuilding it, Telford wished to span the whole river by a single iron
arch, whose splendid dimensions would have formed one of the most
remarkable engineering triumphs ever invented. The scheme, for some
good reason, doubtless, was not adopted; but it is impossible to look at
Telford's grand drawing of the proposed bridge--a single bold arch,
curving across the Thames from side to side, with the dome of St Paul's
rising majestically above it-- without a feeling of regret that such a

noble piece of theoretical architecture was never realized in actual fact.
Telford had now come to be regarded as the great practical authority
upon all that concerned roads or communications; and he was reaping
the due money-reward of his diligence and skill. Every day he was
called upon to design new bridges and other important structures in all
parts of the kingdom, but more especially in Scotland and on the Welsh
border. Many of the most picturesque bridges in Britain, which every
tourist has admired, often without inquiring or