Berkeley Deane Wise plaque, Whitehead - geograph

Berkeley Deane Wise (2 October 1855,

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located on the River Barrow, near the border with County Kilkenny, and is around northeast of Waterford. In 2016 it had a population of 8,040 people, making it the ...

– 5 May 1909,

Portrush Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart. The main part of the old town, including the railway station as well as most hotels, restaurants and bars, ...

) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

who made a significant impact on the development of railways and tourism, particularly in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Early years

Berkeley Deane Wise was born on 2 October 1855 in Berkeley Forest,

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

, the son of James Lawrence Wise, solicitor, and Elizabeth Deane. The family moved to 26 Waterloo Road in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, where Wise was brought up. He went to school in England before entering

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

in 1871, but he did not proceed to a degree.

Engineering career

Wise started his civil engineering career in 1872 as a pupil to Mr Marmaduke Backhouse and then Mr James Price, MICE, Chief Engineer of the

Midland Great Western Railway The Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) was the third largest Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was incorporated in 1845 and absorbed into the Great Southern Railways in 1924. At its peak the MGWR had a network of , making it Irela ...

of Ireland, during which time he was the Resident Engineer on the construction of the Navan and Kingscourt Railway.Wise, Berkeley Deane, Candidate's Application, The Institution of Civil Engineers, London, 1888. From October 1875 until December 1877 Wise was Assistant Engineer to the

Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway The Dublin and South Eastern Railway (DSER), often referred to as the Slow and Easy, was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland from 1846 to 1925. It carried 4,626,226 passengers in 1911. It was the fourth largest railway operation in Ireland ope ...

where he was engaged on a new tunnel 450 yards long at Bray Head. In December 1877 he moved north to become the Chief Engineer to the

Belfast and County Down Railway The Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948. All but th ...

(BCDR), where he stayed for 11 years, living at Salem Cottage on the Knock Road,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

.Crossland, Sir Bernard & Moore, John Shaw, The Lives of the Great Engineers of Ulster, Vol 3, p86, October 2008. During this time he re-made most of the line and carried out extensive alterations to the Belfast Terminus at Queen's Quay including new signal gantries. Towards the end of his time on the BCDR, Wise prepared drawings, specifications and estimates for the Quoile Viaduct to carry the railway over the

River Quoile The Quoile (; ) is a river in County Down, Northern Ireland. Course The river begins its life as the Ballynahinch River which flows from west of the town of Ballynahinch to Annacloy where it is known as the Annacloy River. This then becomes ...

. Wise was committed to the safe operation of the railway, and introduced interlocking signals at most of the stations. He developed and patented the signalling staff system which bears his name and is described in patent 1030 of 1896. He also gave the BNCR its characteristic somersault signal. Wise was elected as a member of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 4 December 1888, aged 33, and remained a member until his resignation through ill-health on 27 February 1907. Among those who proposed him were famous Ulster engineers

Luke Livingston Macassey Luke Livingstone Macassey (1843 – 9 May 1908) was an Irish civil engineer and barrister, notable for his contributions to public health by improving the water supply in the north of Ireland (today Northern Ireland). In 1874 he was appointed co ...

and

Bowman Malcolm Bowman Malcolm (1854 – January, 1933) was an Irish railway engineer. He became Locomotive Superintendent of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR) at the age of 22 and later took on the additional role of Civil Engineer. He was an ad ...

. He was elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland in 1880 and was its Vice President from 1904 to 1906.

Northern Counties

The pinnacle of Wise’s civil engineering career was his 18 years as Chief Engineer to the

Belfast and Northern Counties Railway The Northern Counties Committee (NCC) was a railway that served the north-east of Ireland. It was built to Irish gauge () but later acquired a number of narrow gauge lines. It had its origins in the Belfast and Ballymena Railway that opened t ...

(BNCR). He was appointed to this position on 11 April 1888 at a salary of £400 (),, and held it until 1906 when his health failed. Wise ensured that renewal of the BNCR track was carried out to a high standard. He specified steel bull head rails of 83 lb per yard laid on creosoted Baltic redwood. Wise was a strong advocate of good quality stone ballast, and he developed a quarry near Ballymoney where he installed the latest stone-breaking plant. Wise introduced the tablet signalling system and gave the BNCR its characteristic somersault signals. His resignalling of York Road Station, Belfast in 1897-98 was the largest installation in Ireland. From around 1900, Wise also pioneered the use of reinforced concrete for railway structures, such as the King’s Bridge in Whitehead. Wise designed many of the stations of the BNCR (see List of Works). His first was Larne Harbour Station, built in 1890 to a budget of £3,000 (). it had a double faced platform, one side serving the broad gauge line from Belfast and the other the narrow gauge from Ballymena, and a clock with two minute hands showing both English and Irish time, which was 25 minutes later.Currie, JRL, The Northern Counties Railway, Vol 1,

David & Charles David & Charles Ltd is an English publishing company. It is the owner of the David & Charles imprint, which specialises in craft and lifestyle publishing. David and Charles Ltd acts as distributor for all David and Charles Ltd books and cont ...

, 1973.

But perhaps Wise's most famous building is

Portrush railway station Portrush railway station is the terminus of the Coleraine-Portrush railway line and serves the seaside town of Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History The station, which is 67¾ miles from Belfast, was opened on 4 December 1855. To ...

, which still stands. By 1891, the existing station was completely inadequate to deal with heavy summer traffic. Wise designed a mock Tudor building with black beams painted on white stucco, all on a red brick base. There was an elegant clock tower, some 50 feet high and three platforms 600 feet long, covered for the first 200 feet by a canopy supported by the girders known as the Belfast Truss. On the seaward side, Wise designed the Cafe and Restaurant for over 250 diners, with a balcony overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Portrush station was built by contractor McLaughlin and Harvey, opening in the spring of 1893. Wise gave the BNCR a distinctive architectural style of red brick buildings with large overhanging awnings and half-timbered gables. It owed much to the Old English style of architect

Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

. Two wooden kiosks, designed by Wise, one from Portrush and one from Belfast York Road in a Swiss style, are preserved in the

Ulster Folk and Transport Museum The Ulster Folk Museum and the Ulster Transport Museum are situated in Cultra, Northern Ireland, about east of the city of Belfast. The Folk Museum endeavours to illustrate the way of life and traditions of the people in Northern Ireland, past ...

in Cultra. Wise worked under

Edward John Cotton Edward John Cotton (1 June 1829 – 14 June 1899) was an English accountant who became manager of the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway and, subsequently, the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway where he was influential in developing tourism in t ...

, General Manager of the BNCR, and together they developed the most prosperous railway in Ireland, showing a particular flair for the promotion of tourism. So as well as his normal work on the railway and its stations, Wise designed tea rooms, promenades, bandstands, footpaths and golf courses across the network.

Glenariff Glenariff or Glenariffe ( or ) is a valley in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is one of the Glens of Antrim. Like other glens in that area, it was shaped during the Last Glacial Period, Ice Age by giant glaciers. It is sometimes called the ' ...

, one of the nine

Glens of Antrim The Glens of Antrim,Logainm.ie
(

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

as 'Switzerland in Miniature'. In 1889 the BNCR leased the upper part of the Glen and Wise constructed paths and walkways so that tourists could see the spectacular waterfalls. They were brought down by jaunting car from the narrow gauge station at Parkmore. In places Wise cantilevered the path from sheer rock faces and built rustic shelters at strategic points, including one below the Ess-na-Larach waterfall which tourists could view through coloured glass. Two years later, Wise designed and constructed a tea room at the bottom of the glen, which survives as a restaurant; ever mindful of the needs of tourists, it incorporated a darkroom for photographers. Wise constructed the Promenade in Whitehead using railway sleepers and made a beach by importing sand by train from Portrush.McCutcheon, William Alan, The industrial archaeology of Northern Ireland, 1984. A bandstand was built on the promenade and there were summer fireworks displays. In 1892 Wise also engineered a path that stretched 1¼ miles to the Blackhead promontory. The lower sections bordered the shore but blasting and cantilevering from the cliffs was necessary towards Blackhead. He designed Sunshine House, a refreshment room beside the path at Blackhead. The path can still be enjoyed today and there is a plaque to Wise’s achievement in the car park at Whitehead. Berkeley Deane Wise at the Gobbins

One of Wise’s most spectacular civil engineering masterpieces was the

Gobbins Path The Gobbins is a cliff-face path at Islandmagee, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the Causeway Coastal Route. It runs across bridges, past caves and through a tunnel, along The Gobbins cliffs (Irish: ''Gobán meaning "tip/point of land" or ...

, which wound its way dramatically under the cliffs, over 250 feet high, on the

Islandmagee Islandmagee () is a peninsula and civil parish on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Whitehead. It is part of the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rural ...

coastline. It was designed to bring tourists to the area using, of course, the BNCR. Construction started in May 1901 and the design showed Wise’s typical design flair. The 2 mile path was cut precipitously into the cliffs, with tunnels and bridges, including two tubular bridges 70 feet long that connected the 'Man o'War Stack' to the main path. The bridges were built in

and floated to Islandmagee in barges to be lifted into position. The entrance to the path is tunnelled through a basalt outcrop and is known as ‘Wise’s Eye’. Two of the promontories were named in his honour: Deane's Head and Berkeley's Point. The first section of the Gobbins path opened in August 1902. An advertisement proclaimed “New cliff path along the Gobbins Cliffs, with its ravines, bore caves, natural aquariums etc, has no parallel in Europe as a marine cliff walk”. Sightseers would travel by scheduled services or special excursion trains and alight at the stations of Whitehead or Ballycarry, before travelling to the Gobbins by jaunting car or charabanc. The Gobbins Path was of great interest to a number of scientific and professional bodies. Members of the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...

made a visit on 20 August, shortly after it opened. They elected Wise as Chairman for the visit, and travelled by special train to Ballycarry, from where they were taken to the path. In June 1904, Wise was again the host for a visit by the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland. Many technical details of the construction of the path and its bridges are contained in the Transactions of the Institution.Transactions, Seventy First Session, pp 72-74 Vol XXXII, The Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland, DUBLIN, 1907. http://www.mocavo.co.uk/Transactions-of-the-Institution-of-Civil-Engineers-of-Ireland-1907/371940/7#84 The Gobbins Path was an extremely successful tourist attraction, as popular as the

Giants Causeway The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (5 km) northeast of ...

, and Wise planned to continue it over a full length of 3¼ miles to a northern exit at Heddle's Port. An extension was opened in 1906, but then Wise fell ill. In August 1906

reported to the Board that the full scheme would be too expensive, so he was authorised to proceed only to the 'Seven Sisters Caves' and to postpone any further work. After Wise left the company this final extension was opened in 1908, with a spectacular suspension bridge spanning the mouths of the Seven Sisters. The railings and bridges were last painted in 1936 and The Gobbins Path was closed in 1940 during World War 2. It was re-opened in 1951 by the

Ulster Transport Authority The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966. Formation and consolidation The UTA was formed by the Transport Act 1948, which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRTB ...

(UTA), with admission of 1 shilling for adults and 6d for children. A number of the bridges were strengthened by the UTA, but the path was afflicted by landslips and maintenance problems which forced its closure in 1961. Replacement tubular bridge at the Gobbins

Replacement tubular bridge at the Gobbins

Following many years of feasibility studies, reconstruction of the Gobbins Path was started by

Larne Borough Council Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mid ...

in 2011. The contractor for the reconstruction was

McLaughlin & Harvey Ltd McLaughlin & Harvey is a building and civil engineering firm founded in 1853. It operates all over UK and Ireland from its head offices located in Mallusk, just north of Belfast. History Henry McLaughlin and William Harvey first established ...

. The new path with its 6 cantilevered walkways and 15 new bridges (4 of them over 30m long) was opened by

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ballymena Borough Council, Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County A ...

on 19 August 2015 at a cost of £7.5m. In the latter part of his career with the BNCR, from 1896 to 1906, Wise lived in Silverstream House, Jordanstown, County Antrim where in his spare time he kept poultry. The house, now demolished, is near the site of Belfast High School. During this time he worshipped at Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church where the church records show that he occupied pew 46 and paid a yearly stipend of £3 10s. In 1896 Wise took as an apprentice his nephew

Freeman Wills Crofts Freeman Wills Crofts FRSA (1 June 1879 – 11 April 1957) was an Irish mystery author, best remembered for the character of Inspector Joseph French. A railway engineer by training, Crofts introduced railway themes into many of his stories, ...

, aged 17, who worked for the BNCR until 1929. In 1919, during an absence from work due to a long illness, Crofts wrote his first detective novel, ''

The Cask ''The Cask'' is a 1920 detective novel by the Irish-born writer Freeman Wills Crofts. His debut novel, it is considered his masterpiece. Long after the author's reputation had declined, this book was still hailed by critics as a cornerstone of th ...

'' (1920), which established him as a new master of detective fiction. Crofts gave up his railway career to write full-time, producing a book almost every year for thirty years.

Later life

Following what was described as ‘a serious breakdown in health’, Wise moved in 1906 to live with his sister, Mrs Harding, at 18 Salisbury Terrace in

. There was little improvement in his condition and he died there on 5 May 1909, in sight of one of his best buildings,

. He was buried in the City Cemetery, Belfast. Many of his peers from the railway companies of Ulster attended, including his long-time colleague Bowman Malcolm, Locomotive Engineer of the BNCR. Wise was survived by his son James Berkeley Wise who was also a railway engineer, and by his wife Leah, who was buried beside him on 27 April 1922. Berkeley Dean Wise was an outstanding civil engineer. In his obituary, the ''Railway Engineer'' journal said: ‘His designs were both original and artistic, and he always strove to make the stations under his charge as attractive as possible. He was a great lover of the beauties of nature, and he will perhaps be best remembered as one who made several of the beauty spots of a beautiful country easily accessible without in the least marring their natural charms. His kindly disposition and gentle manners made him deservedly popular.’ The Railway Engineer, Obituary, Vol XXX, number 353, page 171, June 1909.

List of Works

* Dundrum Harbour, 1884. *

Larne Harbour railway station Larne Harbour railway station, Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, serves the ferry port for ferries to Cairnryan. There are also occasional sailings to Douglas, Isle of Man in conjunction with the Isle of Man TT. Sailings to Cairnryan are ...

, 1890 * Glenarriff Paths, Bridges and Tearoom, 1889 & 1891. * Whitehead Promenade and Blackhead Path, 1892. *

, 1893. *

Ballymoney railway station Ballymoney railway station serves the town of Ballymoney in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History Ballymoney station was opened by the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway on 4 December 1855. The station was rebui ...

, 1893. *

Greenisland railway station Greenisland railway station serves Greenisland in County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore o ...

, 1893. * Northern Counties Hotel, Portrush (alterations and additions), 1884 & 1892. *

Carrickfergus railway station Carrickfergus railway station serves the centre of Carrickfergus in County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the ...

, 1895. *

Whiteabbey railway station Whiteabbey Railway Station serves the village of Whiteabbey in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. History The station was opened by the Belfast and Ballymena Railway on 11 April 1848. The station buildings were erected in 1863–1864, and the wa ...

(down platform), 1896 *

Jordanstown railway station Jordanstown railway station serves Jordanstown and the University of Ulster in Newtownabbey Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement in North Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and ...

(down platform), 1896 *

Glynn railway station Glynn railway station serves Glynn in County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Nea ...

, 1896. *

Trooperslane railway station Trooperslane railway station serves the hamlet of Trooperslane in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. There are plans to open a park and ride facility at the station. The station was opened on 11 April 1848. For many years it was served only by ...

, 1896. *

York Road railway station York Road railway station (also referred to as Belfast York Road) served the north of Belfast in Northern Ireland. It was formerly one of the three terminus railway stations in Belfast. The others were Great Victoria Street, and Queen's Quay ...

Belfast (Port Cochere, Clock Tower, Midland Hotel), 1894–1898 *

Portstewart Tramway The narrow gauge Portstewart Tramway operated tramway services between Portstewart and Portstewart railway station at Cromore from 1882 to 1926.The Golden Age of Tramways. Published by Taylor and Francis. History The Portstewart Tramway Compa ...

Terminus, 1899. *

Whitehead railway station Whitehead railway station serves Whitehead in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The station has two platforms with a waiting room on each and the station is signalled in both directions and remains staffed during commuter hours by a Senior Por ...

(extension), 1900. * The Gobbins Path, Islandmagee, 1902. *Whitehead Beach Promenade, Whitehead, * Laharna Hotel, Larne (alterations), 1905. *

Limavady railway station Limavady railway station served Limavady in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The Londonderry and Coleraine Railway The Londonderry & Coleraine Railway is a railway line between the cities of Derry and Coleraine in County Londonderry, ...

, 1906. *

Antrim railway station Antrim railway station serves the town of Antrim in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The station currently serves trains on the Belfast to Derry line via Bleach Green and station. Until 2003, Belfast-Derry trains reached here by means of the ...

, 1902. *

Ballymena railway station Ballymena railway station serves the town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located just outside Ballymena town centre on the Galgorm Road, and is integrated with the local bus station. It is situated on the Belfast-Derry ...

, 1904.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise, Berkeley Deane 1855 births 1909 deaths Irish civil engineers