Our UK travels now take us to north Wales, near the small town of Llangollen, to the even smaller village of Corwen in the Dee river valley. The surrounding countryside offered us lovely walks along the river, over rolling green hills, and upward to centuries old hillfort ruins. Most of the area shops and attractions were in Llangollen, including a vintage steam railway, and the Llangollen canal, once so vital in the transportation of slate from the now closed local mines.
Now on the subject of canals, a few miles from Llangollen, is one of the most spectacular engineering achievements of the early 19th century, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, designed by Thomas Telford. Construction began in 1795, and when the project was completed in 1805, it became the world's tallest (126 feet) navigable aqueduct. This world heritage site is still operational, and having already walked across on the towpath, the following Sunday we decided to cross in grand fashion aboard the ‘Thomas Telford’ narrowboat while enjoying a traditional afternoon tea. On the journey back to the wharf I opted for the view from topside with the Tillerman.
*** Place names in Welsh are for the most part nearly impossible for non-native speakers to pronounce. Both Llangollen and Pontycysyllte are great examples. Llanngollen sounds something close to Lan-Goth-Luhn or Th-Lan-Goff-Len, and Pontcysyllte sounds something like Pont-Ker-Sell-Teh or Pont-Ker-Cash-Ta. We were easy to spot as foreigners the moment we spoke.
For more information on the aqueduct:
https://www.pontcysyllte-aqueduct.co.uk/tour/pontcysyllte-tour/#intro-start
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