Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

What do you do if you are trying to build a canal to carry iron and coal and a deep river valley lies in your path.

Thomas Telford's answer in 1805 was the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a 1000 ft long water filled metal trough on brick arches to carry canal boats 126 ft high above the valley.

The aqueduct is a magnificent piece of nineteenth century engineering that is still operating, with over 10,000 boats crossing the aqueduct each year.

You can cross the aqueduct on foot as well as by boat, and this gives magnificent views of the surrounding Welsh countryside.

The aqueduct and eleven miles of the Llangollen Canal  are now a World Heritage site.

There is a canal basin nearby where boats wait to cross the aqueduct.

The canal basin with the aqueduct ahead and the canal going off to the right  to Llangollen