Welsh Journals

Aug., 1882. BYE-GONES. 101 pleasant prospects, tried to get away from any plan specially suitable for a confined town site. He did it too, most completely, and the central portion of the general hotel plan on my illustration shows this house pretty nearly as he planned it; no room could have been better devised for its-situation, than the great drawing-room of the house, with its semicircular end. Now, Mr. Thomas Savin, who provided Wales with much of its railway accommodation, and whose ideas and schemes knew no end or hindrance, cast his eyes on this house designed by Mr. Nash. This was in the spring of 1864. One 'morning, at that time, he sent for Mr. Seddon (then on business for him at Towyn) to proceed to Aberystwith, and during the day survey the Castle House, so as to advise with Mr. Savin in the evening, as to making an hotel of it. Finding it a long, rambling, complicated building, Mr. Seddon mounted the roof, and, by a bird's-eye view, sketched out the scheme of the southern wing (the half timber part) much as it was after¬ wards built. Night came, and with it the conference. Mr. Savin saw the plan, at once approved it, and there and then rang a bell and gave directions for thirty men to be on the site early next day. Accordingly the work was set out and immediately commenced, and Mr. Seddon having no¬ ted the materials he could command, and directed as to the use of them, returned to town to make the drawings (the building already commenced.) Very delightful as it must be to be plunged right into a job at 24 hours' notice, here was certainly a difficulty as to the ordinary practice of an architect, who usually has contract drawings and details nicely elaborated before a sod is turned. But this was a slight matter. Hardly had the architect turned his back before he was followed by advice that the work was being rapidly proceeded with in rough brickwork, to be cemented over, and to have an additional floor otherwise than he hid directed! Of course, protest was not to be thought of, but how to proceed under these liabilities. So Mr. Seddon decided to have the first storey of timber construction, with cemented panels decorated by sgrafitto work, so as to get some picturesqueness of effect ; an inner wall of brick was to provide necessary strength for weight of floors and roof above. Whilst this south wing was in progress, further in¬ structions arrived from Mr. Savin to design a north wing, to comprise a drawing-room (to correspond with the dining-room in the south wing) public bar, billiard- rooms, bedrooms, and other service-rooms. Moreover, not only did these instructions arrive, but five hundred men were at once engaged to await the architect's orders. Under these circumstances, preparation of a set of work¬ ing drawings was simply out of the question, and Mr. Seddon had recourse to a wood model, which enabled him to settle matters rapidly on the spot. Full-size details were drawn out in great quantities by the archi¬ tect's own hand. To show by one instance that this hurried procedure laid no light task on the designer's shoulders, the following will serve:—On one occasion the foreman reported that fifty masons were waiting for work; and then and there Mr. Seddon designed and Bet out the principal staircase, with its vaulting and supporting shafts, and the stone arcade above the tri¬ angular entrance porch. At one time, I believe, Mr. Seddon had a little army of clerks at work in a vain endeavour to make drawings of the building as fast as it was executed, and now the building itself is its own only record, and the full scheme of its completion remains in the brain of its architect alone." AUGUST 2, 1882. NOTES. THE MENAI BRIDGE.—The following inte¬ resting details connected with the erection of this bridge were written by Mr. Withy of Llausantffraid a few years ago, at the suggestion of Mr. T. W. Hancock. Ed. According to your wish I will try and give you a few jottings relating to my knowledge and experience con¬ nected with the forging of the links, &c, of the Menai [Suspension] Bridge, and my Reminiscences therewith. My father resided in Montgomeryshire many years, commencing,at the close of the last century, and was acting as consulting engineer to the Canal Board during the formation of the Ellesmere and Newtown Canal, and had the management of the Upton Eorge Ironworks for many years. In all the accounts I have seen of the planning and con¬ struction of the Menai Bridge, I have not met with any description of the process and care that was takeu in the forging and finishing of the links, pins, and rollers, used in making the chains. In the first place I will give you some description of Mr. Hazeldine, who was connected also with the limestone rock at Llanymynech as well as lime burning on the canal. He was a very big powerful man both in person and mind, and, curious enough, was brought up a mill¬ wright, and worked at his trade at several of the works which afterwards became his own. And Telford, the great engineer, under whom he acted, was brought up a stonemason. The Pitchford works, Uffipgton splitting works, and Upton Works were originally charcoal works, but when the Shrewsbury Canal was made the latter works were altered to use coke, coal, and charcoal. At Upton there was a very good supply of water to drive three powerful water wheels, and two five-ton hammers. There were also puddling or ball furnaces, and two refineries, with powerful blowing machinery. These works were con¬ nected with the canal by a tramway and trucks. The first thing I can remember of the bridge was some experiments in lSl9, in what is known as faggotting bars of iron to increase their strength and toughness, which was proved by a powerful machine. When all was ready (some time in 1820), forging the links was commenced, by taking five bars of rolled iron made from the puddling furnace and rolled to one inch thick, five inches wide, and ten feet long. Five of these bars five feet long were placed or pilled on one another, forming amass five feet long by five inches square. These were then clamped together by strong iron tongs and half the lengths placed in the heat¬ ing furnace ; when at welding heat it was taken to the hammer upon a truck, when half the liuk was first made, which would be five feet long, five inches wide by one inch thick, with a round flat head to it, thirteen inches across. To form this was a difficult operation with one of those large hammers. A crane was obliged to be used to sup¬ port the bar when under the hammer, and it was surpris¬ ing to see how evenly and correctly the bars or links were turned out. When the part completed was cold, the other half was placed in the fire ; and finished the same as the first; which produced a bar ten feet long, with a round head at each end. These bars were then very closely tested by the ring, when struck by a small hammer and closely gauged to test their measurements. When found correct they were sent to Mr. Hazeldiue's works, '' The Foundry," Coleham, Shrewsbury, to be finished off. To connect the links together to form the chain, it was necessary to make flat pieces of iron, fifteen inches broad, and long enough to reach over the heads of the two bars