| Date -30 May 2007 | Return to previous page |
Moray Council has been awarded £36,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to launch a festival marking the 250th anniversary of Thomas Telford's birth.
The project is part of the Highland Culture 2007 Community programme, and will celebrate the work of the brilliant Scottish engineer during his time in Moray.
Born in Dumfries, Telford built some of Moray's most iconic structures; the Spey Bridge at Fochabers in 1804, Burghead Harbour and Spynie Canal in 1808, the Findhorn and Speyside roads through Elgin in 1808/09, Aultmore Bridge in 1810, Craigellachie Bridge in 1812, Cullen Pier in 1817 and Tomintoul Church in 1827.
In addition to the festival, Craigellachie Bridge is to be designated as an international historic civil engineering landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers & the (UK) Institution of Civil Engineers this July.
The elegant structure is the oldest surviving iron road bridge in Scotland.
Members of both engineering institutions will be touring Telford’s works across the UK this year, and on July 4 will unveil a plaque at Craigellachie to cement its position in as a world-class landmark.
The festival will see the creation of a Telford Trail, linking all Moray’s sites with an explanatory leaflet, interpretation boards and exhibitions at each one. In early July, a 1934 Messerschmitt aircraft will fly over all of Telford's sites in Moray to record the historic trail from the air. The pre-war plane, originally built as a communications aircraft, is now equipped with DVD-recording cameras.
The rare aircraft will not only be an exciting sight for local people on the ground to witness, but the extraordinary aerial footage it collects will be used to create unique DVDs of ‘Telford in Moray’ to help promote the new trail.
From 30 June to 4 July a marquee will be erected at the Craigellachie Bridge site, from where professional actors in period costume will hold performances, workshops and a series of storytelling sessions based on a folklore surrounding Telford’s work.
One actor will play the part of Telford himself, and be able to interact with the audiences in character.
At the new Moray Arts Centre in Findhorn, the Institution of Civil Engineers’ touring exhibition will be on display.
This features original drawings by Telford, alongside artwork of Telford's works created by adults and children.
At all other Telford sites local community groups will provide exhibitions, open days, guided tours and interpretation panels for the new Telford Trail.
Tomintoul church will hold a special service to commemorate its own special connection to Telford.
Finally, a series of 12 workshops in 5 schools by the Out of Darkness theatre company will result in dramatic performances chronicling Telford’s life and works.
Match funding for this project has been provided by Highland 2007 (£15,000), Community Economic Development Programme Fund (£10,000) and the Moray Council (£11,000).