“Does America need a more searing visual image than eight men working for their piece of the America dream — filling potholes on a terrifying bridge in 1 a.m. darkness — to understand that our nation was built by immigrants, runs on immigrant labor and needs immigrants?”
This is Pontcysyllte, Thomas Telford’s magnificent bridge over the river Dee, as history books tell us.
We’ve returned from a walk on the Llangollen canal, having reached this, the highest canal aqueduct in the world at Cysyllte near Llangollen. But it was closed to all boats and pedestrians, for maintenance so we couldn’t walk over. We could look down at the structure though. A great feat of design by Thomas Telford, completed in 1805. It was not built by him, of course but by 100s if not 1000s of navvies and skilled workers, some of whom lost their lives building it. They are the real heroes for me, the nameless forgotten, who barely get a mention in the history books. Like my own grandfather, who a century later, died too young, after hewing the coal that powered the boats & trains, fueled the industries that created the materials for constructions …
This is Pontcysyllte, Thomas Telford’s magnificent bridge over the river Dee, as history books tell us.
We’ve returned from a walk on the Llangollen canal, having reached this, the highest canal aqueduct in the world at Cysyllte near Llangollen. But it was closed to all boats and pedestrians, for maintenance so we couldn’t walk over. We could look down at the structure though. A great feat of design by Thomas Telford, completed in 1805. It was not built by him, of course but by 100s if not 1000s of navvies and skilled workers, some of whom lost their lives building it. They are the real heroes for me, the nameless forgotten, who barely get a mention in the history books. Like my own grandfather, who a century later, died too young, after hewing the coal that powered the boats & trains, fueled the industries that created the materials for constructions like this magnificent bridge, and heated the houses of men such as Telford. #cymru#wales#canal#PontCysyllte#aqueduct#heroes