Telford is one of history's greatest civil engineers and was a widely admired and respected figure in his day. He built over 1,000 miles of road although road building was only one of his accomplishments.

His roads were famed for their quality. His methods differed from Metcalf's and McAdam's in that he used a deeper layer of hard stones on a base of heavy, tapered foundation stones. There was a thin surface of gravel.

Probably his greatest achievement was the London to Holyhead road, the main route to Ireland. The road took a total of 11 years to complete and included the spectacular Menai Suspension Bridge which still carries local traffic today.

Telford also built two canals and 1,000 bridges as well as lighthouses, harbours and docks. He built roads in Shropshire for the iron industry in the 1780's. He brought many of Scotland's roads up to standard between 1802 and 1815.

Robert Southey, a famous poet and a friend of Telford said of him:

"If the hill be cut away, it is walled a few feet up, and then sloped and the slope turfed; if there be no slope a shelf must be left, so that no rubbish may come down upon the road, and on the hillside back drains are cut out… The road is made as nearly perfect as possible. After the foundation has been laid, the workmen are told to throw out every stone that is bigger than a hen's egg."