ENGINEERING WONDERS
The Industrial Revolution and the birth of canal and rail travel transformed rural life and created some of modern Britain’s most iconic – and breathtaking – landmarks. Emma Griffin recalls the genius of Victorian engineers
Emma Griffin explains how the birth of canal and rail travel transformed rural lives and created some the Britain’s most breathtaking structures
The Victorians are rightly famed for some of their bold engineering projects – the visual legacy of their railways, canals, bridges, sewers and tunnels is evident on our landscape, and many still remain in use today. These projects embodied both the vision of great engineers, such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Thomas Telford and Sir Joseph Bazalgette, as well as the labour of many thousands of navvies who dug and carried and reshaped the rural landscape.
The railways stand out as the most dramatic development of the age. Their construction caused considerable anxiety to many Victorians, as they transformed both the environment and Britain’s way of life. From small beginnings as local lines in the 1820s, the immense potential of railway travel was quickly grasped, and by the late 1830s, longdistance lines, such as that linking London to Birmingham, were being laid. More than 2,000 miles of railway track had been laid by 1845, and by 1900, 18,680 miles were in use.
Millions of passenger journeys were made weekly in trains that travelled at speeds of up to 70 miles an hour. At the end of the century, the invention of the telephone created new engineering challenges: the laying of underground cables. The construction of a cable between Britain and France in 1891 drew on a long tradition of grand engineering projects, and paved the way for a yet bigger challenge: laying a cable under the Atlantic.
1 A MODERN SOCIETY
Engineering changed the fabric of daily life. The railways, for example, helped to speed up travel times and lower transportation costs. The sale of perishable goods, such as meat, milk, fish and vegetables, was revolutionised by rail travel, providing a boost to fishing and farming communities, cheaper food and far greater variety for consumers.
Telephones and telegraphs enabled new forms of rapid communication, first nationally and then internationally, too. Cumulatively, these developments transformed Britain – even the sleepy parts of rural Britain not visibly affected by large infrastructure projects – into a truly modern society.
2. CAEN HILL LOCKS WILTSHIRE
We associate the Victorians with their railways, but it was the earlier canal technology that paved the way for steam travel. The Caen Hill Locks is one such example: 29 locks over two miles along the Kennet and Avon Canal, enabling the barges to rise a height of 72m. Open daily. Devizes, SN10 1QR. canalrivertrust.org.uk
4. RIBBLEHEAD VIADUCT NORTH YORKSHIRE
Ribblehead Viaduct, completed in 1874, carries the Settle-Carlisle Railway across a 400m stretch of the valley of the River Ribble. As you gaze at this feat of engineering – comprising 24 stone arches rising 32m above the moor – spare a thought for the 2,300 men who built it. Hundreds lost their lives due to accidents and a smallpox outbreak; the railway paid for an expansion of the local graveyard as a result. Open daily. Ribblehead, LA6 3AS.
5. EAST AND WEST HILL CLIFF RAILWAYS, EAST SUSSEX
Engineering in Victorian Britain was not all about business. The East and West Hill Cliff Railways at the seaside town of Hastings were built in the 1890s as a tourist attraction. Now the UK’s steepest funiculars, they afford panoramic views of the Old Town and the beach, and the short ride can still be enjoyed today. £3. Open daily. Hastings, TN34 3EG.
7. STANDEDGE TUNNEL WEST YORKSHIRE
Standedge Tunnel, beneath the Pennines, forms part of the route of Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Construction began in 1794, but ran into technical difficulties with water drainage. Thanks to the intervention of Thomas Telford in 1807, this 5,029m tunnel was finally completed in 1811. Open daily. Marsden, HD7 6NQ. 01484 844298, canalrivertrust.org.uk
8. RYDE PIER ISLE OF WIGHT
The pleasure pier was a British invention, and the pier at Ryde (1814) was the first of its kind. Designed to transport ferry passengers directly to seaside resorts whatever the state of the tide, these fine Victorian structures are part of a long history of tidal engineering constructions. Open daily. Ryde, PO33 2HE.
9. OLD WYE BRIDGE MONMOUTHSHIRE
The Old Wye Bridge crosses the Wye close to Chepstow Castle. Wooden bridges had crossed this stretch of river for hundreds of years, but this cast-iron road bridge, erected in 1816, made it the third largest iron-arch road bridge in the world at the time. Open daily. Chepstow, NP16 5HF.
10. BOX TUNNEL WILTSHIRE
Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western Railway line from London to Bristol contained many innovations, including the vast Box Tunnel, which took five years to dig (1836-1841). At two miles, it was the world’s longest railway tunnel when built. Did Brunel deliberately align the tunnel so that the rising sun shines through it on his birthday? Box Hill, Box, SN13 8HA.