Thomas Telford, born in Scotland in 1757, was one of the greatest and most prolific engineers. He designed roads, bridges, harbours, canals, churches and even whole towns. Many of these are around the Moray Firth. His most famous works include the Caledonian Canal, the Menai Straits Suspension Bridge linking Anglesey to Wales and the Gotha Canal in Sweden.

In the early 19th century, the herring fishing boom began to change the face of our coast. Telford designed many new harbours, including Wick, Invergordon, Portmahomack, Dingwall, Fortrose, Avoch, Nairn, Burghead, Cullen, Banff, and Fraserburgh.

Following his successful design of Ullapool on the West coast, the British Fisheries Society commissioned Telford to design a new fishing town at Pultneytown, Wick. This was to help accommodate the 1000’s of incoming workers involved in herring processing, together with facilities for drying the fish, boat building etc. You can find out more at the local museum and town trail.

Also in the early 19th Century, Telford constructed over 120 bridges and 920 miles of roadway in the Highlands, including from Inverness to Perth and Dingwall to Dornoch, Wick and John O’Groats.

The magnificent Caledonian Canal links Inverness on the East coast, via Loch Ness and Loch Lochy to Fort William on the West coast, saving a long sail around the Pentland Firth. You can marvel at his feat of engineering, built by manual labour, as you walk along the canal path, or take a boat ride on the canal.

Some of his works are vastly changed or even gone now, but the map shows how all his works opened up the North East of Scotland to trade, following on from Wade’s military roads.

Not only a great Mechanical Engineer but a Social Engineer too!
Text by Heather Dent