Telford was born in the Scottish Borders and went on to become one of the greatest civil engineers of his time. He was an eminent builder of roads, bridges, canals and harbours and among his most celebrated feats of engineering is the Caledonian Canal.

In Moray alone he was responsible not only for the Craigellachie Bridge but also the original Spey Bridge at Fochabers, Burghead harbour, the Spynie Canal, Cullen pier and Tomintoul Church. The Craigellachie Bridge has been designated as an International Historic Civil Engineering landmark in June 2007.

Later this year (2007) it is planned to create a Thomas Telford Trail linking all of Telford's surviving construction projects in Moray, as part of the Telford in Moray celebrations to mark the occasion of the 250th Anniversary of his birth.