Bridge End Hotel

10 Wonders of Llangollen

by budapest8

At the eastern entrance it as no man of myth who constructed the spectacular
Pontcysllte Aqueduct! The famous engineer Thomas Telford took ten years to
construct this masterpiece of canal engineering,
carrying the Llangollen Canal 126ft above the Dee Valley floor.

Just a short drive out of the city, I remember the last trip
I made with my father last year through the town.
Sadly he died almost a year later, almost a year to
the day we made our last visit to see him in North Wales
The structure and canal is now a World Heritage site and
any visitor walking, or floating, along its 1,007ft length wouldn't disagree at all!!

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which forms a key part of the Llangollen Canal,
stands majestically at the foot of the Horseshoe Pass, three miles east of
Llangollen, crossing over the River Dee at the dizzy height of 126 feet.

At over 1000 feet long, Pontcysyllte is the longest and highest cast-iron
aqueduct in the world. Treasured by British Waterways,
it is today a protected Grade I listed building, a Welsh National Monument
and is one of the seven wonders of the British Inland Waterways System.
It is of course still used for its original purpose, being crossed by more
than a thousand canal boats a year.

Song,Dance and Music!!

by adelaidean

Every July, an event that attracts people from all over the world happens in Llangollen.
It is the Llangollen Internation Musical Eisteddfod. The little town swells with all the visitors. For more information see their website.

Afon Dyfrdwy - The River Dee

by Mariajoy

Flowing fast and furious from recent heavy winter rain, the River Dee at Llangollen is popular with canoeists and kayakers and competitions are regularly held here - it is possible to rent canoes here but looking at how treacherous this stretch of white water is I suggest you wait for good weather and take someone with you who knows what they are doing - and have some lessons first!

What a beautiful place...LLANGOLLEN

by adelaidean

We decided to take a family day out and ride a stream train..I didnt for one minute think that I was going to be in for such a treat...Llangollen is one of the prettiest places I have visited...There is so much to do.. We were travelling with nine people, so we packed a picnic...jumped in the car...and set off for a day that created so many memories for us to take back to Australia!

In search of the aqueduct

by grandmaR

"July 24, 2002"

Our daughter took off work, and we took the Toyota (the American car as the Rover isn't reliable over long distances) to drive to Wales, accomplishing TWO goals - one to go to Wales, and one to see the big famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct up there.

It was a long drive. There was considerable construction around Birmingham. We had left at a leisurely time i.e. after 0800 in order to avoid the rush hour in Birmingham, and were successful in doing that. We got to Llangollen about noon and parked (80p for 4 hours)

We had lunch at a little place over looking the river called the River View Bistro. The waitress had to run up and down the stairs, as the kitchen was on a lower level.

The river Dee is full of rocks and rapids.

The canal was uphill from the town past the railway station. We tried to shop some on that side, but the stores were closed. So rather than huff and puff our way up the hill to the canal, we walked back across the bridge.

We went back to the parking lot. Our daughter got her husband a mug for his collection. I also got a Welsh love spoon and explanatory booklet for a wedding present for my niece. (She got married on the 27th. We couldn't go because she didn't decide on the wedding date until after we'd booked our plane tickets.)

Then we got back into the car and went in search of the Aqueduct. (See writeup under Trevor.)