Isambard Kingdom Brunel
11 Apr 2006
Colin Garrat considers the great legacy of Brunel
Asked to list their all time inspirational heroes, Britons usually put Sir Winston Churchill in first place.
Pugnacious, unyielding, Churchill has an un-dying aura about him which ensures that he wins every time. Seldom far behind is Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Both men were individuals, blessed with great vision and equally important, the will and strength to act on their ambitions.
Both made mistakes; they were human beings. Yet they represented a perfection rarely equalled. Ironically Brunel and Churchill would today be regarded as politically incorrect to the point of being outrageous. Was it a coincidence that both were cigar smokers?
Inspirational mastery
Would Churchill have guided the nation through the dark days of World War Two with such absolute inspirational mastery, making the unendurable endurable without the solace of a good cigar? Likewise, would Brunel have achieved the same heights of inspiration and achievement of grandiose projects which not only function today, one and a half centuries later, but continue to inspire us?
Today’s over legislated, politically correct world - for all its civilised benefits - seems to stifle greatness. Brunel knew nothing of this. He was able to carry out the purity of his conceptions and be there, on the spot to direct operations and see his visions evolve. Such a concept is unimaginable today.
Multi-talented
Neither was Brunel limited to any particular sphere of engineering. He was multi-talented. He served the railway industry as Civil Engineer of the Great Western Railway from 1833 to 1859. Viaducts, tunnels, bridges, ships, all came under his domain. Brunel was equally at home on site with navvies and platelayers as he was chalking out ground plans, sketching blue prints and horrifying a generation of accountants and railway directors.
Brunel’s advocacy of the seven foot gauge for the Great Western mainline, between London and Bristol, was one of the most illuminating flashes of genius of the Victorian age. Brunel’s Box Tunnel is a triumph of engineering with the master touch that the sun shines directly through it on his birthday. Fact or fable, Brunel was entirely capable of such wonder.
The Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash is another master-piece of engineering, as timelessly beautiful as a great cathedral. His stations and wooden viaducts have both grace and beauty - the ultimate consummation of engineer and artist.
Ego mania, courage and gumption
Brunel, it must be said, was also blessed with sufficient ego mania, courage and gumption to carry great projects through, irrespective of cost. Money was seldom in the forefront of Brunel’s considerations.
The mighty steam ship the ‘Great Eastern’ constitutes one of the great legends of the Industrial Revolution. The world had never seen or dreamt of a vessel so utterly incredible. As L.T.C. Rolt stated; “The Great Eastern was the most remarkable single feat in the whole field of Victorian engineering and the ultimate expression of that spirit of boldness and daring which uniquely distinguishes the pioneer generation of British engineers.”
Will any British engineer of today be remembered in 150 years time? Brunel was a product of his time with the effortless superiority and confidence of a more assured age. Out in all weathers and fired with hard work it was perhaps an inevitable tragedy that he should die, burnt out, at the age of fifty three.
Colin Garratt is director of Milepost 92 1/2 and the railphotolibrary.com