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Telford in England & Wales 6th - 10th June 2022 The first of a series of unique, small-group, tours, under the title "The Lives of the Engineers" inspired by the title of the 3 volumes by Samuel Smiles published by John Murray in 1861. Led by Peter Brown 4 nights, full-board in a comfortable hotel - from £730 per person Price includes all entrance fees and donations. There is a discount for AIA members. Covid Money Back Guarantee In the event that, due to Covid 19, government regulations change such that we are unable to run this tour all monies paid will be refunded in full. Book online now |
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Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE (1757 – 1834) was born into poverty in Eskdale, Dumfriesshire but rose to be one of the two greatest civil engineers of the early 19th century.
Reflecting his command of all types of civil engineering of the time, he was elected as the first President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a post he held for 14 years until his death. A separate tour "Telford in Scotland" is planned for later but this tour explores how he built his reputation in Shropshire where in the 1790s he became County Surveyor, General Agent of the Ellesmere Canal and consultant to the Shrewsbury Canal. Later, he engineered the Holyhead Road and the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal. |
| Based at an hotel near the town of Telford, named after the great engineer, the highlights of this tour are planned to be visits to Longdon, Chirk and Pontcysyllte Aqueducts, the ‘New Main Line’ of the Birmingham Canal and Harecastle Tunnel, most of the route of the Holyhead Road including the Menai Bridge, and, less well known, all three of the churches which he designed. | |
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ITINERARY Note: We have yet to confirm some visits so the itinerary may be subject to slight changes. |
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| Monday - Telford the architect | |
| The tour begins at the Valley Hotel, Ironbridge where we will be staying for the whole tour.
The coach will leave the hotel at 14:30 for the short ride to St Michael’s Church at Madeley, where we will see this rare example of an octagonal church, designed by Telford and built in 1796. |
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After time for look a good look around we will drive to
St Mary Magdalene’s Church at Bridgnorth (left), said to be Telford’s finest architectural creation.
Then we will walk to the top of the Bridgnorth Cliff Railway, Britain’s only 19th century inland funicular railway, which has been in operation since 1892. We will ride down on the funicular, cross the bridge which Telford rebuilt, and re-join the coach to return to the hotel. Dinner will be served in a private room after which there will be a talk by our expert guide Peter Brown who will give an introduction to the life and times of Thomas Telford. |
| Overnight at the Valley Hotel. | |
| Tuesday - Telford, the experienced engineer | |
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In the morning we begin by taking the train to Galton Bridge near Smethwick.
On the way we will see aspects of the Birmingham Canal New Main Line including a cutting over 70 feet deep, part of the 5¾ mile virtually straight new line between Smethwick and Tipton designed by Telford and opened in 1827. |
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From the station there will be a towpath walk of about half a mile to the
Galton Valley Pumping Station (left). On the way we will see Telford’s 1829
Galton Bridge which, with a span of 150 feet, was at the time of building the longest single span iron bridge and the late 20th century
Galton Tunnel. The Pumping Station was built in 1892 to raise water from the lower Birmingham New Main Line to the higher Old Main Line Canal to replace water lost when boats went through the Smethwick locks. We have arranged for it to be opened specially for our visit. From the Pumping Station the coach will take us to Norbury Junction, which is the junction with the Shrewsbury branch, where we can see the historic maintenance depot is still in use. To the south, Telford designed the massive Shelmore embankment, 60 feet high and almost a mile long, which was the last part of the canal to be completed, six months after Telford had died. |
| A light lunch will be served at the Junction Inn, Norbury (included). | |
| In the afternoon we will drive to the southern end of the
Harecastle Tunnels.
The two canal tunnels were engineered by James Brindley (1766–77) and then Telford (1824–7).
Finally we will visit Tyrley Wharf and Locks - a private wharf which includes the best surviving Telford lock cottage, and provides a hint of an earlier canal. After dinner with the group the rest of evening is at leisure. Overnight at the Valley Hotel. |
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| Wednesday - Telford, General Agent of the Ellesmere Canal (or, the novice engineer) | |
| In the morning we will visit the Ellesmere Depot of the Canal & River Trust, a canal workshop still doing the job it was designed to do over 200 years ago. | |
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Then we will visit the 70-foot high and 710-foot long
Chirk Aqueduct that carries what is now the Llangollen Canal across the Ceiriog Valley.
It was built to a pioneering design by Jessop and Telford using hollow stone arches, an iron base plate and waterproof cement.
The tour would not be complete without a visit to the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (left) 336 yards long, standing 126 feet above the river Dee and now the central feature of the World Heritage Site. We plan to cross the aqueduct on a trip boat. At the northern end of the aqueduct we will also have time to see Trevor Basin to discover the remains of tramroads and a private canal. A light lunch will be served at the Pontcysyllte Chapel Tearoom (included) In the afternoon we will visit the distinctively shaped weir known as the Horseshoe Falls. The weir is 460 feet long and is the start of the navigable feeder bringing the water from the Dee to the summit level of the canal. |
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Nearby we can also see the Chain Bridge built in 1817 by Exuperius
Pickering and rebuilt twice after floods, but still using the
original chains. From there we will return to Ironbridge via part of
the Holyhead Road in England from Queen’s Head through Shrewsbury to
Atcham. After dinner with the group the rest of evening is at leisure. Overnight at the Valley Hotel. |
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| Thursday - Telford, the road engineer | |
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We will be driving longer distances today to see more of the Holyhead Road in Wales from Llangollen to Anglesey through Snowdonia.
In the morning we will head for Betws-y-Coed and the Waterloo Bridge (left). This bridge, designed in 1815, has a span of 105 feet, was made wholly of cast iron and was only the seventh such bridge to be built. A light lunch will be served at the Antelope Inn, Bangor (included) |
| In the afternoon we will visit the Menai Bridge - arguably Telford’s single greatest engineering achievement, then see how the Britannia railway bridge has been adapted to additionally take road traffic.
Then we will go to see the two Conwy Bridges - Telford’s suspension bridge of 1826 alongside Robert Stephenson and William Fairbairn’s tubular bridge of 1848. We then have a straight drive back to Ironbridge. After dinner with the group the rest of evening is at leisure. Overnight at the Valley Hotel. |
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| Friday - Around Telford town |
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In the morning we will visit the Longdon Aqueduct.
This 186 foot cast iron canal aqueduct was re-engineered by William Reynolds and Thomas Telford after the first construction designed by William Clowes was swept away by floods.
It was built in 1796 to carry the Shrewsbury Canal across the River Tern and is the earliest surviving navigable aqueduct built of iron.
Then we shall move on to Wappenshall Wharf, where the Newport Branch of the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal, engineered by Telford, passes under an elegant stone skew bridge to join the earlier Shrewsbury Canal. We shall then see St Leonard’s Church, Malinslee (left) - Telford’s third English church. |
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At the end of the morning the coach will return via Telford station to the Valley Hotel where the tour ends.
On each day, we plan to include morning and afternoon ‘coffee & comfort’ stops where time and circumstances permit (own expense). |
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OUR GUIDE ACCOMMODATION All the rooms are en-suite, and are double or twin bedded with tea and coffee making facilities in the room.
There is free parking onsite and free Wi-Fi is available. TRANSPORT COST
CANCELLATION CHARGES, HEALTH & INSURANCE PASSPORTS, VISAS & IMMIGRATION BOOKING For further information email: bill@heritageofindustry.co.uk ** The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 (SI 1992 No. 3288) |
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