Trailblazing work of railway engineers William and Murdoch Paterson who helped 'span the gaps' of Highland landscape – including Culloden vidauct 'masterpiece' - thrown into focus at Cromarty History Society
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Cromarty History Society got back down to business with a fascinating talk about civil engineers who had a massive impact on the Highlands.
The September lecture was the first of the new 2022-23 season. A spokeswoman said: "We sincerely hope that after the last two years of false starts, we will run for a complete September-April season again.
"Our speaker was freelance writer Anne-Mary Paterson, who has a special interest in railways, by virtue of coming from a local family of civil engineers, who were engaged in railway building in the nineteenth century."
Although the concept of a Highland railway was initiated by Joseph Mitchell, a man trained by Thomas Telford, it was Anne-Mary’s great grand uncles, both of whom went to work with Joseph Mitchell, who were largely responsible for the design and construction of the Highland network we see today.
William and Murdoch Paterson were brought up in Inverness and attended the Inverness Royal Academy. Despite starting out with different careers, they both ended up as railway engineers.
Anne-Mary showed fascinating photographs of the building of some of the classic viaducts and bridges of the network and scenes of Victorian trains. There were many stories associated with “spanning the gaps” and the tremendous challenges faced within the rugged landscape of the Highlands. Many of the viaducts and bridges were constructed with stone from local quarries and a few even from wood to reduce costs. Some of the landowners also needed to be appeased and were able to influence the routes taken and the appearance of the infrastructure on their own land.
Key examples of the work of Murdoch Paterson include the Kyle Line – now acknowledged to be one of the great railway journeys of the world and also his ‘masterpiece’, the Culloden Viaduct. This was his last project and he died before it was open to passengers in 1898. He did however get to be pushed across the structure using a bogie (railway truck) to enable him to give his last orders.
Murdoch was conscious of the welfare and safety of those who worked under him and was very popular. He was publicly mourned in Inverness after his death.
The talk made listeners aware of the incredible engineering achievements of the age, based on the skills and determination of people like the Patersons. Many of their structures are still part of the fabric of the current railway network in the Highlands.
The next meeting will be on Thursday, October 20 at 7.30pm in the West Church Hall, Cromarty. The speaker will be Anne Coombs and her subject “The Herring Gutters of North East Scotland 1840- 1950”. Visitors are always welcome to our meetings and further information is available on the website: www.cromartyhistory.scot
