Top 5 Thomas Telford works in the Highlands and Moray
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Create your own Thomas Telford trail in the north and north-east and follow in the footsteps of the renowned Scots’ engineer
Craigellachie Bridge, Moray
Thomas Telford built so many fantastic bridges but one of the most beautiful would have to be Craigellachie Bridge over the River Spey. The bridge, built between 1812 and 1815, boasts impressive castle-like stone abutments and was constructed using the finest iron. When it first opened, it was innovative and greatly admired – and it is still a spectacular sight today, more than 200 years later! In its bicentenary year in 2015 the bridge was celebrated in a set of Royal Mail stamps. You can walk or cycle across this stunning Telford creation.
Ullapool Museum, Ullapool
The museum, on West Argyle Street, is housed in a grade A listed building, formerly a church designed by Telford. The museum reopens for the tourist season in April. The church was constructed as part of an initiative to provide places of worship throughout the Highlands. www.ullapool.co.uk
Pulteneytown, Wick
In the Caithness town of Wick, you will find one of Telford’s most remarkable creations. Pulteneytown is a planned, industrial fishing port he designed to improve the size of the herring catch. Today much of it is intact. Follow a signed trail and learn about the herring boom at Wick Heritage Museum, open Easter to October.
Nethy Bridge, Strathspey
The village of Nethy Bridge in Strathspey can boast four Thomas Telford bridges! There is the main one over the River Nethy, one is over the Duack Burn, another over the Aultmore Burn and the fourth is on the golf course!
Clachnaharry Locks, Inverness
At the Inverness end of the Caledonian Canal, Telford and his team had to wrestle with a huge challenge: how to get boats into safe water in the sea. The coast consisted of mud flats and digging them out proved impossible. The solution was to extend the land into the sea, by piling up roads until a solid peninsula was formed.
