Thomas Telford's pioneering 1826 suspension bridge, among the first of its kind in the world, slung across the Menai Strait to Anglesey
For a long time the only way onto Anglesey was by ferry across the tidal Menai Strait, which could be slow and dangerous. Thomas Telford solved it with a suspension bridge, opened in 1826, where the deck hangs from iron chains strung between two tall stone towers rather than resting on arches in the water. It was the first major suspension bridge in the world, and part of Telford’s great coach road from London to the Holyhead ferry for Ireland. He set the deck high above the water on purpose, so that the tall sailing ships of the day could pass beneath with their masts up. It is still an open road bridge with a footway, so you can walk across and look down the strait. The chains were replaced with steel in the twentieth century, but the shape is Telford’s. On the island side, the village of Menai Bridge grew up around it, and the Wales Coast Path passes close by along the shore.
