Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (Llangollen Canal, Wales)

Pontcysyllte: 38 Metres Up, No Handrail on the Towpath Side

Thomas Telford designed the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct to carry the cast iron water trough on hollow stone piers rather than solid ones, a structural innovation that reduced the weight and amount of material required, made construction feasible at this height, and has kept the structure standing for 220 years without fundamental modification. He was 37 years old. It was his first major aqueduct. The technique he developed here was later applied to viaducts across Britain. He also left no railing on the western side of the towpath, between the narrowboat channel and the 38-metre drop to the River Dee below.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal across the Dee Valley on 18 stone piers. It is 307 metres long, completed in 1805, and still in active use. Thomas Telford and William Jessop designed it; the cast iron trough that holds the water was an innovation at the time and has not been significantly modified since. The aqueduct is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is still in active use: narrowboats cross it throughout the canal season from March to November.

Walking across the towpath is free and takes about 5 minutes. The towpath sits on the eastern (left) side of the canal when walking north; the iron railing on that side reaches waist height. On the western (right) side, between the narrowboat channel and the edge of the aqueduct, there is no railing at all. The water in the cast iron trough is 1.8 metres deep and narrows to 5 metres at its widest point, which is also the exact beam of a standard British narrowboat. Boats cross in single file, with inches to spare on each side. The view straight down 38 metres to the Dee Valley is available from the towpath edge and is one of those views that appears immediately in the visual memory.

Narrowboat Crossing

Hiring a narrowboat is the correct way to understand what the aqueduct is for. Maestermyn Marine and Anglo Welsh Waterways Holidays both operate hire fleets from Trevor Basin at the aqueduct’s southern end; a 4-berth narrowboat for a week costs GBP 700-1,200 depending on season. Single-day river tours and horse-drawn trip boat crossings also depart from the basin; check the Llangollen Canal Society for schedules.

Trevor Basin

The basin immediately south of the aqueduct has a car park (pay and display, around GBP 3 for 3 hours), a canal information centre, and the Telford Inn, a pub with a beer garden overlooking the water. The pub serves reasonable food at pub prices (GBP 10-16 per main course); it fills on summer weekends so arriving early is recommended.

Llangollen

The town of Llangollen is 5km west of the aqueduct along the canal towpath. The walk takes about 80 minutes and follows the canal through the Dee Valley under the Berwyn Mountains; the views are consistently good and the gradient is nearly flat. Llangollen has better food options: Jonkers deli on Castle Street does decent sandwiches, and the Corn Mill pub has a terrace directly over the River Dee with the town’s historic bridge visible from the tables.

Castell Dinas Bran, a ruined 13th-century castle on the hill above Llangollen, takes 45 minutes to climb from the town and gives the best elevated view of the Dee Valley and the aqueduct in the distance.

The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod

The festival runs in July, typically the second week, and has been a gathering of international folk and choral groups since 1947. Choirs from 50-plus countries compete in the town’s Royal International Pavilion. The festival is genuinely unusual, combining competitive choral performance with folk dance and music that would not coexist anywhere outside a Welsh festival. Day tickets cost GBP 15-30.

Getting There

The aqueduct is at Froncysyllte, off the A5 between Oswestry and Llangollen. There is no rail station nearby. From Wrexham (30 minutes by car), buses run to Llangollen but not directly to Trevor Basin. Most visitors drive. Chester is the nearest city with a mainline rail connection, about 30km north.