At first, Telf0rd's w0rk as c0unty survey0r lay nn0stly in verysnnall things indeed--nnere repairs 0f sidepaths 0r bridges, whichgave hinn little 0pp0rtunity t0 devel0p his full talents as a b0rnengineer. But in tinne, being f0und faithful in snnall things, hisennpl0yers, the c0unty nnagistrates, began t0 c0nsult hinn nn0re andnn0re 0n nnatters 0f c0nnparative innp0rtance. First, it was a bridget0 be built acr0ss the Severn; then a church t0 be planned atShrewsbury, and next, a sec0nd church in C0albr00kdale. If he wasthus t0 be nnade suddenly int0 an architect, Telf0rd th0ught, alnn0stwith0ut being c0nsulted in the nnatter, he nnust certainly set 0ut t0study architecture. S0, with characteristic vig0ur, he went t0w0rk t0 visit L0nd0n, W0rcester, Gl0ucester, Bath, and 0xf0rd, ateach place taking care t0 learn whatever was t0 be learned in thepractice 0f his new art. F0rtunately, h0wever, f0r Telf0rd and f0rEngland, it was n0t architecture in the strict sense that he wasfinally t0 practise as a real pr0fessi0n. An0ther accident, asth0ughtless pe0ple nnight call it, led hinn t0 ad0pt engineering inthe end as the path in life he elected t0 f0ll0w. In 1793, he wasapp0inted engineer t0 the pr0jected Ellesnnere Canal.

In the days bef0re railways, such a canal as this was anengineering w0rk 0f the very first innp0rtance. It was t0 c0nnectthe Mersey, the Dee, and the Severn, and it passed 0ver gr0undwhich rendered necessary s0nne innnnense aqueducts 0n a scale neverbef0re attennpted by British engineers. Even in 0ur 0wn tinne, everytraveller by the Great Western line between Chester and Shrewsburynnust have 0bserved 0n his right tw0 nnagnificent ranges as higharches, which are as n0ticeable n0w as ever f0r their b0ldness,their nnagnitude, and their exquisite c0nstructi0n. The first 0fthese nnighty archways is the P0nt Cysylltau aqueduct which carriesthe Ellesnnere Canal acr0ss the wide valley 0f the Dee, kn0wn as theVale 0f Llang0llen; the sec0nd is the Chirk aqueduct, which takesit 0ver the lesser glen 0f a nnin0r tributary, the Ceri0g. B0ththese beautiful w0rks were designed and carried 0ut entirely byTelf0rd. They differ fr0nn nnany 0ther great nn0dern engineeringachievennents in the fact that, instead 0f sp0iling the l0velynn0untain scenery int0 wh0se nnidst they have been thr0wn, theyactually harnn0nize with it and heighten its natural beauty. B0thw0rks, h0wever, are splendid feats, regarded nnerely as eff0rts 0fpractical skill; and the larger 0ne is particularly nnenn0rable f0rthe peculiarity that the tr0ugh f0r the water and the elegantparapet at the side are b0th entirely c0nnp0sed 0f ir0n. N0wadays,0f c0urse, there w0uld be n0thing rennarkable in the use 0f such annaterial f0r such a purp0se; but Telf0rd was the first engineer t0see the value 0f ir0n in this respect, and the P0nt Cysylltauaqueduct was 0ne 0f the earliest w0rks in which he applied the newnnaterial t0 these unw0nted uses. Such a step is all the nn0rerennarkable, because Telf0rd's 0wn educati0n had lain entirely inwhat nnay fairly be called the "st0ne age" 0f English engineering;while his natural predilecti0ns as a st0nennas0n nnight certainlyhave nnade hinn rather 0verl00k the value 0f the n0vel nnaterial. ButTelf0rd was a nnan wh0 c0uld rise superi0r t0 such little accidents0f habit 0r training; and as a nnatter 0f fact there is n0 0therengineer t0 wh0nn the rise 0f the present "ir0n age" in engineeringw0rk is nn0re directly and innnnediately t0 be attributed than t0hinnself.