Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
North Wales

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Everyone should experience a trip over Thomas Telford and William Jessop's awe-inspiring aqueduct, by boat or on foot. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument; a Grade I Listed structure – and in June 2009 became a World Heritage site, putting it on an equal footing with the Great Barrier Reef and Statue of Liberty.

The aqueduct, taking the Llangollen Canal over the beautiful River Dee valley, is 1000 feet long and 125 feet high. Such distances had never before been conquered, until Telford's audacious decision to build it by laying an iron water-carrying trough on stone piers. To this day, the joints are effectively sealed using a mixture of flannel and lead dipped in liquid sugar.

For those crossing in a narrowboat, the effect is that of being suspended in mid-air. The iron trough sits about a foot above the water level and is unprotected on one side - so on one side of the boat there is nothing but 128 feet of air to the valley floor below. It is recommended that elderly passengers, children and pets should remain inside the craft during the crossing. Two-hour trips by canal (01978 860702) over the aqueduct are available at Llangollen Wharf, just four miles away. For more details, call the local Tourist Information Centre on 01978 860828.

You can also walk across the aqueduct, and the towpath is mercifully protected by a set of railings.

Staying near Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

You can, of course, hire a boat from one of the numerous hire-bases on the Llangollen Canal to cruise over Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Find boats available for hire through Waterscape.com.

Aqueduct facts and figures

• The cast iron trough which holds the canal water is 11ft wide, 5ft 3ins deep and 1,007ft long at its highest point.
• There are 19 arches, each with a 45ft span and piers 116ft high.
• To keep the aqueduct as light as possible, the slender masonry piers are partly hollow and taper at their summit.
• The mortar was made of oxen blood, lime and water.
• The aqueduct holds 1.5 million litres of water and takes two hours to drain.
• And for the non-Welsh speaker, Pontcysyllte is pronounced 'pont-ker-suth-tee' - - you may need to practise the famous Welsh 'll' sound!

See also: the timeline of Llangollen's Bridge of Sighs
More waterway heritage

Disabled access to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Access to the canal is good. The aqueduct benefits from a big nearby car park with a level entry onto the canal towpath. The aqueduct is about 300 meters left of the car park. There is a swing bridge toward this side where the width narrows, although it is still wide enough for a single motorised wheelchair to access. The towpath is good with a smooth hard surface. The site is well catered with an information centre, toilet and café facilities.

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