Coldstream Bridge With Bagpipes Music On History Visit To The Border Between England And Scotland

Tour Scotland short 4K travel video clip, with Scottish bagpipes music, of Coldstream Bridge which spans the River Tweed on ancestry, genealogy, family history visit to the border between England and Scotland, Britain, United Kingdom. The 18th century bridge carries the A697 road across the Tweed. The toll house on the Scottish side of the bridge became infamous for the runaway marriages that took place there, as at Gretna Green, hence its name, the Wedding House or Marriage House. It ceased to be a toll bridge in 1826. The architect for the bridge was John Smeaton, responsible for the third Eddystone Lighthouse, working for the Tweed Bridges Trust. Construction lasted from July 1763 to 28 October 1766, when it opened to traffic. John Smeaton was born on June 8, 1724, in Austhorpe, Leeds, England. After studying at Leeds Grammar School he joined his father's law firm, but left to become a mathematical instrument maker, working with Henry Hindley, developing, among other instruments, a pyrometer to study material expansion. In 1750, his premises were in the Great Turnstile in Holborn. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1753 and in 1759 won the Copley Medal for his research into the mechanics of waterwheels and windmills. Employing his skills as a mechanical engineer, he devised a water engine for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1761 and a watermill at Alston, Cumbria in 1767, he is credited by some with inventing the cast iron axle shaft for water wheels. In 1782 he built the Chimney Mill at Spital Tongues in Newcastle upon Tyne, the first 5 sailed smock mill in Britain. He also improved Thomas Newcomen's atmospheric engine, erecting one at Chacewater mine, Wheal Busy, in Cornwall in 1775. Smeaton died on 28 October 1792, after suffering a stroke while walking in the garden of his family home at Austhorpe, and was buried in the parish church at Whitkirk, West Yorkshire. He is highly regarded by other engineers, having contributed to the Lunar Society and founded the Society of Civil Engineers in 1771. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day. Find things to see and do in Scotland where you are always welcome. All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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