A historic milestone marker on the A5, placed by Thomas Telford in 1825, has been recovered after being stolen 20 years ago.

 

As well as designing the Menai Suspension Bridge, Thomas Telford also built more than 1,000 miles of road during his lifetime, including the improvement of the road between London and  Holyhead.

The flamboyant trademark milestones are a reminder of his work and preserve the unique character of the A5 London to Holyhead Road. 84 milestones and cast iron plates were placed along the route from Holyhead to Chirk.

PC Matt Raymond of North Wales Police Rural Crime Team explained: “We recovered the old milestone from Gwlachmai (Anglesey), it was stolen approximately 20 years ago and its whereabouts were unknown.”

A replacement replica plate had been set into the stone in 2003, fortunately police have now recovered the original milestone plate, which will hopefully be returned to its original housing.

PC Raymond added: “Fortunately we’ve been able to recover this item after twenty years, it’s really important as part of the heritage of Wales.”