Brunel’s letters reveal engineering row

GREAT WESTERN Railway may be experiencing delays and overspends with its electrification of the London-Bristol route, but it is not alone in its woes.

Letters from the railway’s founder Isambard Kingdom Brunel reveal that the Victorian engineering giant suffered similar issues 179 years ago.

Two handwritten letters from Brunel will be auctioned in Chippenham, Wiltshire, on April 29. In the documents, Brunel writes to his engineer leading the construction of the London end of the railway to complain about a contractor on its Reading section.

Principal auctioneer Richard Edmonds, of Chippenham Auction Rooms, said: “Today we see Brunel as an icon of the Victorian age and the mastermind behind some amazing feats of engineering. But the reality is that Brunel was a hard-headed businessman who could be difficult to deal with. If there was a dispute, Brunel acted as both judge and jury.”