After the completion of his masterpiece, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in North Wales in 1805, Telford spent the next 30 years of his life involved in a vast range of works up and down the country. These included the construction of over a thousand bridges; 1200 miles of good road across tough terrain; 43 harbours and fishing ports (from Wick to St Katherine's Docks in London); canals throughout England; and the great new road across Wales to the Menai Bridge and Holyhead.

In particular, his new roads and bridges revolutionised access to the Scottish Highlands, and in 1819 Telford embarked upon a 'promotional tour' of the north of Scotland in the company of the Poet Laureate Robert Southey.

But the Highlands were also the location of one of the great struggles of Telford's career: the Caledonian Canal (designed to link Inverness on the east coast with Fort William on the west). Begun in 1804, construction was slow, difficult and costs kept rising; it was not completed until 1822 - and Telford did not attend the formal opening ceremony.

Julian Glover has written the first full modern biography of Thomas Telford: a shepherd's son, who revolutionised British engineering and set the stage for the Industrial Revolution.

Read by Robin Laing.

Abridged by David Jackson Young

Producer: Kirsteen Cameron.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2017. Show less