Glendinning & Birthplace of Thomas Telford
An opportunity to visit the birthplace of Thomas Telford, who was born, the son of a shepherd, in the remote valley of the Meggat Water. The landscape here has changed little over the centuries, and still bears evidence of continuous farming activity dating back to prehistoric times. Glendinning, a name believed to originate from the old Britonic language of Strathclyde, can be translated as “Glen of the fair hill” – and this is a beautiful, remote place still traditionally farmed. The hardy hill breeds of sheep and cattle hefted to the hill are little altered since Telford’s boyhood, and the remains of ring enclosures, rig and furrow cultivation and turf banks can still be seen. Thomas Telford was born into poverty, and no real trace remains of the simple building he was born in. His life took him far from this valley, but he remained deeply attached to the people and landscape of Eskdale: Deep ‘mid the green sequester’d glens below, Where murmuring streams among the alders flow, Where flowery meadows down their margins spread, And the brown hamlet lifts its humble head… Within Telford’s lifetime, the valley became much altered in character by the antimony mine opened by Sir James Johnstone of Westerhall. Antimony was used for hardening other metals for bells, guns and printing types, and mining it was a hard undertaking. Johnstone provided the road, basic housing for the 40 miners and their families, and set up a school for their children. In 1793 the Mining Company established a library for the use of the miners, now housed in Westerkirk Parish Library. You can walk up from Glendinning to visit the now green site of the mine.