Friends of Coughton Court

There was a very good attendance of the Friends of Coughton Court to hear Roger Cragg speaking about Thomas Telford, the great Scottish engineer.

Thomas was born in Eskdale, Dumfriesshire in 1757. His father John Telford, a shepherd died soon after Thomas was born and Thomas was raised in poverty by his mother.

On leaving school aged about 13, Thomas was apprenticed to a stonemason, Andrew Thompson.

Telford worked for a time in Edinburgh and in 1782 he moved to London where he met architects Robert Adam and Sir William Chambers and was involved in building additions to Somerset House. Two years later he found work at Portsmouth dockyard and extended his talents to the specification, design and management of building projects.

In 1787, through his wealthy patron William Pulteney, he became Surveyor of Public Works in Shropshire where he oversaw the renovation of Shrewsbury Castle; the town’s prison and several churches.

He was also responsible for bridges and in time designed and built some 40 bridges in Shropshire and others in Worcestershire, including the bridge at Bewdley which had been swept away in winter floods.

During his later years Telford turned his attention to roads and canals. He was the engineer for the Shrewsbury Canal. He had revolutionary ideas for bridges, tunnels, and aqueducts and designed the Menai Suspension Bridge to meet the challenge of crossing the Menai Strait and designed the tools necessary to do the job.

In 1818 Telford became the first President of the newly formed Institution of Civil Engineers.

He was a genius, entirely self-taught and he worked until he died in 1834 aged 77. He had asked for a simple funeral but such was his fame and esteem that he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

A truly remarkable man and a very enjoyable story well–told.

www.friendsofcoughtoncourt.btck.co.uk or Secretary, 01386/833767