Thomas Telford’s genius is reflected in the variety and technical skill of his achievements, most of which are still in use today. But it is perhaps Telford’s work on Canals which attracts most attention now: Ellesmere Canal with its aqueducts at Pontcycyllte and Chirk; the Caledonian cutting its way through the Great Glen in Scotland. Telford’s appointment as first president of the Institution of Civil Engineers showed that his generation recognised him as the real founder of his profession.