Speaker Martin Farrant talked to Bishopsteignton Probus Club about Thomas Telford – The Colossus of Roads

Martin Farrant, a retired civil engineer, made a presentation to Bishopsteignton Probus Club about his hero, the civil engineer Thomas Telford whose nickname “Colossus of Roads” was based on the vast number of road projects he undertook. Telford was also known as “The Man Who Built Britain”.

Thomas was born in 1757 in an isolated croft on the Scottish borders. His father, a shepherd, died when Thomas was only three months old. His uncle Jackson paid for him to attend school, he enjoyed writing poetry and was such a cheerful youngster that he quickly got the nickname, the Laughing Tarn.

As a civil engineer, Telford played a major role in developing a new town in Scotland, then supervised the building of Somerset House in London, after which he spent two years working in Portsmouth Naval dockyard.

At the relatively young age of 32, he was appointed as Surveyor of Public Works for the County of Shropshire and soon after that he was commissioned by Parliament to supervise projects including 920 miles of road between twelve bridges. During this time, he pioneered the use of major contractors employing up to 3,200 employees. He was next appointed as Engineering Chief of Caledonian Council at £2,377 per annum which was a high salary at that time. As well as working in Scotland, he continued projects in England and Wales. As his reputation spread, he was contracted to build canals in Sweden, for which he was knighted. Parliament then directed him to build a new, safer road between Shrewsbury and Holyhead.

He continued working into his seventies, was honoured for his work by the Institute of Civil Engineers and when he died (aged 77) in 1834, he was buried in Westminster Abbey, having achieved phenomenal success in his lifetime.

Attached photo: Probus Club member John Stevenson(left), a civil engineer, gave the Vote of Thanks to the speaker Martin Farrant.