Tour Scotland short 4K Spring road trip drive, with Scottish bagpipes music, along Dundee road to Bridgend on ancestry, genealogy, family history visit and trip to cross Smeatons Bridge in Perth, Perthshire, Britain, United Kingdom. Perth Bridge, also known as Smeaton's Bridge, locally, the Old Bridge and in the local dialect of Scots, The Auld Brig, is a toll free bridge that spans the River Tay, connecting Perth, on the western side of the river, to Bridgend, on its eastern side, carrying both automotive and pedestrian traffic of West Bridge Street. The bridge was completed in October 1771. The engineer of its construction was John Smeaton, after whom the bridge is named. 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. John Smeaton died after suffering a strokeon on 28 October 1792. An increase in traffic resulted in the bridge being widened in 1869. 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. When driving on Scottish roads in Scotland slow down and enjoy the trip. The date for astronomical spring is Sunday 20th March, ending on Tuesday 21st June, while by the meteorological calendar, spring will start on Tuesday 1st March.. @tourscotland #spring #music #drivingtrip #scotland #bagpipes
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