Following on from yesterday’s article about Quakers Yard Viaduct, historian Victoria Owens, a regular contributor to this blog has sent the following fascinating observation.
Lady Charlotte Guest, found the viaduct a source of total wonder and delight. In her journal entry for 25 October 1839 she describes a visit to the site while the bridge was under construction. It sounds as though John Guest was keen to show it off to a party of his friends, which included Edward Divett MP (he would be one of the trustees appointed to run the Dowlais Ironworks on Josiah John Guest’s death) and his fragile-sounding wife. Charlotte writes:-
When the carriages had reached that point of the turnpike road nearest to the viaduct, we got out and walked to it. There was more scrambling to get there than some of the ladies liked – We crossed by the scaffolding as I had done before & all the party went back over it in the same way except Merthyr and myself and we went over the bridge itself, scrambling over the rough masonry. – Three of the six arches were not closed and in these places we had planks thrown down across for us & I believe I was the first female that ever crossed this bridge, and at the height of some 70 or so feet it appeared a perilous undertaking thought it was not really so . The expedition fatigued Mrs Divett so much that she was not able to dine with us, which the men regretted, as we had a very pleasant evening and had some singers to entertain us with welsh songs.