The Blind Man's Road

Two of our local routes were built as turnpike roads in the 18th century by a blind man !

John Metcalf was born in Knaresborough in 1717. Six years later he contracted smallpox which left him totally blind. Known locally as "Blind Jack", he was a man of great accomplishments, especially his expertise as a road builder.
Within a few months of losing his sight, John had gained the confidence to leave his home unaided and within a few years could find his way throughout the town. Making the acquaintance  of boys of his own age, he soon learned to climb trees, joining them in regular forays into local orchards. He learned to ride his father's horses and eventually took up hunting. At the age of 13 he was taught to play the violin, a skill which was to prove a ready means to earn a living.
The deep pools of the River Nidd were popular bathing places and aged 14, Metcalf became a strong swimmer and it was he who was called upon to rescue a drowning soldier who accidentally fell in the river. 
There are numerous anecdotes telling of Metcalf's adventurous life and a popular story relates to a wager with Colonel Liddell, MP for Berwick. Jack won  10 guineas when he walked from London to Harrogate in five and a half days, arriving before the colonel whose journey by coach was slowed by the state of the roads.
Obtaining a four wheeled chaise, he entered the trade of a carrier, initially on local journeys but later transporting fish from the Yorkshire coast to Leeds and Manchester.
Joining the army, he was sent to Scotland during the Jacobite rising of 1745. His duties involved moving guns and entertaining the troops with his music.
On leaving the army, he obtained a stagecoach and driving it himself made a twice weekly journey between Knaresborough and York. 

The Turnpike acts of the 18th century empowered trusts to build and maintain new roads financed by tolls. An act of 1752 authorised a road between Harrogate and Boroughbridge and Metcalf with his experience of the bad state of the roads tendered to construct this three mile section. Despite having no knowledge of roadbuilding, he was awarded the contract and completed the work ahead of schedule. He now embarked on a long career during which he built 180 miles of new roads, often employing innovative methods. He earned more than £40,000 in this enterprise continuing to work until the age of 75. He died at Spofforth near Harrogate in 1810 at the age of 92.
This extraordinary man is commemorated in his home town where a sculpted figure sitting on a bench, holding a surveyors wheel, graces the Market Place.

Fernilee Toll Bar

The road from Macclesfield to Chapel-en-le-Frith was built by Metcalf in 1770. One feature of the road "Blind Jack's Bridge" in Rainow is Grade 2 listed. This is met by another Metcalf road at Horwich End for he constructed the Long Hill route between Whaley Bridge and Buxton.