could not be done. 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. Memorials In 2009 a statue of John Metcalf was placed in the market square in Knaresborough, across from Blind Jack's pub. On 7 July 2017, the A658, the Harrogate Southern Bypass, was named 'John Metcalf Way'. Epitaph His headstone, erected in the churchyard of All Saints' Church, Spofforth, at the cost of Lord Dundas, bears this epitaph: "Here lies John Metcalf, one whose infant sight Felt the dark pressure of an endless night; Yet such the fervour of his dauntless mind, His limbs full strung, his spirits unconfined, That, long ere yet life’s bolder years began, The sightless efforts mark’d th’ aspiring man; Nor mark’d in vain—high deeds his manhood dared, And commerce, travel, both his ardour shared. ’Twas his a guide’s unerring aid to lend— O’er trackless wastes to bid new roads extend; And, when rebellion reared her giant size, ’Twas his to burn with patriot enterprise; For parting wife and babes, one pang to feel, Then welcome danger for his country’s weal. Reader, like him, exert thy utmost talent given! Reader, like him, adore the bounteous hand of Heaven." 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 External links Newsletter of Eagles Byte Historical Research Hyde Historical Group Pannal village - Ancestors site 1717 births 1810 deaths English civil engineers English blind people