Thames Tideway, London

[Mearing]

I agree, what with Isambard almost getting drowned.

And hanging over the gorge at Bistol on a single wire stretched across it!

 

[Hayman]

And hanging over the gorge at Bistol on a single wire stretched across it!

The website "Home / History / Brunel’s Suspended Traveller" goes into a lot of detail about what happened and what was reported about what happened. It seems there was first a series of iron bars welded to form a single bar 1.5 inches diameter that was suspended across the gorge. This was replaced by one 2 inches in diameter. A series of mishaps occurred to both bars, and Brunel did apparently travel in the 'box' attatched to the second bar. He may or may not have had to climb out of the box to free a trapped rope. Today's 'always have a back-up philosophy' was not very common in the 1830s-1840s.