Соқыр Жек Кнаресборо: Жолдар Салушы және Көшпелі Көлік Иесінің Өмірі

English civil engineer and road builder

John Metcalf (15 August 1717 – 26 April 1810), known as Blind Jack of Knaresborough or Blind Jack Metcalf, was the first professional road builder to emerge during the Industrial Revolution. Blind from the age of six, Metcalf had an eventful life, which was documented by his own account just before his death. He was an accomplished diver, swimmer, card player and fiddler, but was better known for the period between 1765 and 1792 when he built about 180 mile (290 km) of turnpike road, mainly in the north of England and as such, he became known as one of the fathers of the modern road. His work on the roads in the north has been commemorated in a pub named after him, a statue in Knaresborough town centre and part of the A658 in Harrogate being named John Metcalf Way.

Metcalf was born into a poor family in Knaresborough in Yorkshire, England on 15 August 1717. His father was a horse breeder. At the age of six John lost his sight after a smallpox infection; he was given fiddle lessons as a way of making provision for him to earn a living later in life. He knew his local area so well he was paid to work as a guide to visitors. When he was 20, Metcalf met Dorothy Benson, the daughter of the landlord of the Granby Inn in Harrogate.

Before army service, Metcalf worked as a carrier using a four wheeled chaise and a one horse chair on local trips. When competition cut into the business he switched to carrying fish from the coast to Leeds and Manchester. After 1745 he bought a stone wagon and worked it between York and Knaresborough. By 1754 his business had grown to a stagecoach line. He drove the coach himself, making two trips a week during the summer and one in the winter months.

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 180 mile (290 km) 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. On 7 July 2017, the A658, the Harrogate Southern Bypass, was named 'John Metcalf Way'.