John Metcalf (15 August 1717 – 26 April 1810), known as Blind Jack of Knaresborough or Blind Jack Metcalf, was an English road builder, the first professional road builder to emerge during the Industrial Revolution. Blind from the age of six, Metcalf had an eventful life, which was documented by his own account just before his death. He was an accomplished diver, swimmer, card player and fiddler, but was better known for the period between 1765 and 1792 when he built about of turnpike road, mainly in the north of England, and as such, he became known as one of the fathers of the modern road.

His career spent on the roads in the region has been commemorated in a pub named after him, a statue in Knaresborough town centre and part of the A658 in Harrogate being named 'John Metcalf Way'.

Early life

Metcalf was born into a poor family in Knaresborough in Yorkshire, England on 15 August 1717. His father was a horse breeder. At the age of six John lost his sight after a smallpox infection; he was given fiddle lessons as a way of making provision for him to earn a living later in life. He knew his local area so well he was paid to work as a guide to visitors.

When he was 20, Metcalf met Dorothy Benson, the daughter of the landlord of the Granby Inn in Harrogate.

Career

Before army service, Metcalf worked as a carrier using a four-wheeled chaise and a one-horse chair on local trips. When competition cut into the business he switched to carrying fish from the coast to Leeds and Manchester. After 1745 he bought a stone wagon and worked it between York and Knaresborough. By 1754 his business had grown to a stagecoach line. He drove the coach himself, making two trips a week during the summer and one in the winter months.

Road builder

thumb|upright|Statue of Blind Jack Metcalf, Market Place, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. The device in his hand is a Viameter ([[Surveyor's wheel).]]

In 1765, Parliament passed an act authorising turnpike trusts to build toll roads in the Knaresborough area. There were few people with road-building experience and Metcalf seized the opportunity, building on his practical experience as a carrier.

He won a contract to build a three-mile (5 km) section of road between Minskip and Ferrensby on the road from Harrogate to Boroughbridge. He explored the section of countryside alone and worked out the most practical route.

Metcalf built roads in Lancashire, Derbyshire, Cheshire and Yorkshire, including roads between:

  • Knaresborough and Wetherby
  • Wakefield, Huddersfield and Saddleworth (via the Standedge pass)
  • Bury and Blackburn with a branch to Accrington
  • Skipton, Colne and Burnley

Metcalf believed a good road should have good foundations, be well drained and have a smooth convex surface to allow rainwater to drain quickly into ditches at the side. He understood the importance of good drainage, knowing it was rain that caused most problems. He worked out a way to build a road across a bog using a series of rafts made from ling (a type of heather) and furze (gorse) tied in bundles as foundations.

He mastered his trade with his own method of calculating costs and materials, which he could never explain to others, and he became known as one of the fathers of the modern road along with Thomas Telford and John MacAdam.

Later life

Competition from canals cut into his profits and he retired in 1792 to live with a daughter and her husband at Spofforth in Yorkshire. Throughout his career he built of road. At 77 he walked to York, where he related a detailed account of his life to a publisher.

Blind Jack of Knaresborough died aged 92 on 26 April 1810, at his home in Spofforth where he is buried in the churchyard of All Saints' Church.

On 7 July 2017, the A658, the Harrogate Southern Bypass, was named 'John Metcalf Way'.

Epitaph

right|thumb|All Saints' Church graveyard, Spofforth; Metcalf's final resting place.

upright|right|thumb|Headstone at All Saints' Church, Spofforth.

His headstone, erected in the churchyard of All Saints' Church, Spofforth, at the cost of Lord Dundas, bears this epitaph:

<blockquote>

"Here lies John Metcalf, one whose infant sight<br />

Felt the dark pressure of an endless night;<br />

Yet such the fervour of his dauntless mind,<br />

His limbs full strung, his spirits unconfined,<br />

That, long ere yet life's bolder years began,<br />

The sightless efforts mark'd th' aspiring man;<br />

Nor mark'd in vain—high deeds his manhood dared,<br />

And commerce, travel, both his ardour shared.<br />

'Twas his a guide's unerring aid to lend—<br />

O'er trackless wastes to bid new roads extend;<br />

And, when rebellion reared her giant size,<br />

'Twas his to burn with patriot enterprise;<br />

For parting wife and babes, one pang to feel,<br />

Then welcome danger for his country's weal.<br />

Reader, like him, exert thy utmost talent given!<br />

Reader, like him, adore the bounteous hand of Heaven."

</blockquote>

References

Sources

  • - -, 1804, The Life of John Metcalf, Third edition, Leeds
  • Smiles, 1861, John Metcalf, Road Maker, chapter in Lives of the Engineers Vol 1 Part III Ch V
  • Porrit, A. 6 February 1962, John Metcalf Blind Road Maker, Halifax Antiquarian Society Pamphlet.
  • Andrews, William. "Epitaphs on Notable Persons." Curious Epitaphs. 1883. Reprint. London: Hull Press, 1899. 149–153. Print. |Project Gutenberg: Curious Epitaphs, by William Andrews—A Project Gutenberg eBook
  • Newsletter of Eagles Byte Historical Research
  • Hyde Historical Group
  • Pannal village - Ancestors site