Heading for the heights!

 

I honestly thought we’d never make it to Llangollen, what with the winter stoppages and my knee operation. It’s taken a long time, but we made it! This blog is rather full of photos, it’s the only way to do it justice, after all, some of it is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Some of this canal was never meant to be a canal, it’s shallow, gets very narrow in parts. Unlike most canals it has a flow with very big by-washes around the locks. The top section of the Llangollen Canal was originally built as a feeder to supply water to both the canal and to the towns and industries of north Shropshire and Cheshire. The water is diverted from the River Dee at Horseshoe Falls, Llantysilio and flows down the 46 miles of the Llangollen Canal to the reservoir at Hurleston.

For a water conduit it is spectacular. 46 miles long with 21 locks, but it boasts two sensational aqueducts and three tunnels. Chirk Tunnel is the second ever to be built with a tow path. Most of the canal tunnels in the UK don’t have them, so the crews of the original horse-drawn boats had to lie on boards across their boats and “leg-it” through,  the horses were led over the hill to be re-hitched at the other end. Walking the 1,381ft, 420 metres of Chirk tunnel takes some courage as it is extremely dark inside with spiders and slimy walls. Of course, Ian walked it barefoot, twice. And claims he never saw any spiders.

One tunnel visitor described seeing a narrowboat pass her in the tunnel, when she wished the boater a “Good morning!” they dropped their mug of coffee in shock. She was only a few feet away, but the boater couldn’t see her. If you’re feeling brave and decide to walk through it, then please follow the advice and wear a headtorch!

The constant flow of water is a problem for boaters going upstream. The tunnels and aqueducts are very narrow and shallow, boats struggle against the flow. With such small channels the displaced water causes the boat to be sucked down and makes it difficult to make progress. This is particularly true as you go over the very narrow Chirk and Pontcysyllte aqueducts, which is fine if you don’t get vertigo. Chirk Aqueduct is 70ft (21 m) high and the Pontcysyllte is 126 ft (38 m) high (believe me it looks a lot higher from the back of the boat!). Both are amazing feats of engineering and must be experienced first-hand to truly be appreciated.

Llangollen town has been a popular tourist destination since Victorian times. It is very pretty and full of interesting shops and cafes, the bakers sell Oggies (huge pasties) and the weirdest versions of scotch eggs ever (Blackwatch made with black pudding).

 

 

The railway station is an absolute delight and runs steam trains and diesel engines to Carrog passing along stunning valleys of the River Dee. https://llangollen-railway.co.uk. In it’s heyday, the line linked to the main line and went all the way to Barmouth, on the coast. 

We rode the steam train up to Berwyn and walked on to Horseshoe Falls before following the feeder canal back downstream to the canal basin. This top section is kept shallow so that only the horse-drawn trip boats can make passage up to the Chainbridge Hotel. The river is quite dramatic up here and a favourite of kayakers, they have a steep slate slide to launch themselves down the bank and into the river, great fun to watch!

On previous trips to Llangollen, we’ve admired the ruins of the local medieval castle from below, but this time we were blessed with the perfect weather and headed up for a closer look. Castell Dinas Bran, known locally as Crow Castle, dominates the skyline. Occupation of the hill dates back to the iron age, around 600BC, but the remaining romantic arches that frame the landscape are from around the 13th century.

The views are incredible and well worth the climb. In the Victorian period, the local people used to set up a teashop at the top and there was even a camera obscura to admire the view. Today we had to rely on our own cameras and making a well-earned brew back on the boat.