Crossing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in High Winds, “It’s Horrible”

“I don’t want to go at all, I want to go back, it’s horrible”.

Whilst my outer bravado was exuding British ‘fine day for it’ attitude, my inner anxiety couldn’t help but agree with the lady berating her husband on this narrow piece of metal, 39 metres up from the valley floor.

Fortunately, I was getting no such feedback, as my family had taken the clever tactic of staying in the car, under the guise of a toddler having tired legs, but they may well have had a sixth sense of what was to come.

This highwire-esque foolishness served no purpose other than to say I’d done it – ticking off another UNESCO World Heritage Site off my list (the 79th, before you ask – and I know you were about to).

And by the very nature of things, crossing a valley from one side, meant getting to the other involved turning back round and doing it all over again.

Outstanding news.

But I survived to tap this article in to my laptop, and even got some bara brith as a reward.

Here’s my tale – alongside some practical and factual information about visiting the site.

About Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (pronounced Pont – ker – sulth – tay) is a place so well-named it makes one feel like they’ve made a spelling mistake – twice (yes, aqueduct really does have an ‘e’ in it, I now know better), and one so well-made it got inscribed on the UNESCO Heritage list in 2009.

After a decade of construction, it opened in 1805, with its 18 tremendous stone archways propping up a cast iron trough to carry the Llangollen Canal and its barges full of industrial revolution coal and iron 307 metres across the River Dee. It is the highest longest aqueduct in the UK and the highest canal aqueduct anywhere in the UK.

Thomas Telford

Designed by Thomas Telford and completed under his careful supervision, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was a wonder of its time and remains so today. Telford, often referred to as the “Colossus of Roads”, was renowned for his pioneering use of new materials and engineering techniques. At Pontcysyllte, his innovative use of cast iron for the trough was groundbreaking. This allowed the aqueduct to not only support the weight of the canal water, but also to withstand the same rigours of the harsh Welsh weather that I was experiencing today.

The need for the aqueduct stemmed from the industrial activity in North Wales during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The region was rich in natural resources like coal and iron ore, vital for powering the Industrial Revolution. However, transporting these materials was a significant challenge due to the rugged terrain and limited transportation infrastructure.

The construction of the Llangollen Canal, of which the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is a part, was conceived as a solution to these logistical issues. It was designed to connect the ironworks and collieries of North Wales with the major cities like Chester and eventually to the sea, vastly improving the efficiency of material transport and boosting the local economy.

The aqueduct itself was a bold solution to one of the canal’s most significant obstacles: the deep valley of the River Dee. Telford’s design not only solved this problem, but did so with such elegance and durability that it turned a functional piece of infrastructure into a tourist attraction.

Parking & Approach

We parked up on the south side of the aqueduct, at this little car park, which doesn’t seem to be the usual place, as most reports I’ve read see people using the other side of the valley as there is a visitor centre at Trevor.

Still, it worked, the car parking was free, there was a nice little canal bridge to photograph, and it was less than a kilometre to reach the entrance of the aqueduct.

What’s odd about the approach is that there’s nothing really to tell you it’s coming. The canal just continues, no gates, no locks, just the same flat water that I’d walked alongside for the last 10 minutes or so.

A small commemorative plaque is just before the start, with a slight widening of the path which allows for some photos of the huge archways, in who’s engineering I was about to put my faith.

Crossing the aqueduct

What struck me most as I made my first pass of the aqueduct was not so much what was there, but what was missing.

I reflected after our trip to Southeast Asia that common sense should take precedence of safety in some instances, I was surprised to see no barrier on the western side of the bridge.

Whilst the two-and-a-bit metre canal served as a decent gap for us pedestrians, I imagine that holds little comfort to those navigating their boats across.

Thankfully the wind was also coming from the west, and blowing me towards the metal fence rather than into, but not so thankfully we’d timed our visit with the back end of storm Kathleen, and the 60km/h gusts were buffeting me around like a stone in a blender.

Around the halfway point is when I met the couple from the introduction, her clinging to the fence, him only just starting to realise how long he would be paying for making her cross (we bumped into them at a tearoom later in the day, and she had not quite left it in the past by then).

Unfortunately, her strong grip meant I had to move out from the fence, closer to the canal, and with the inconsistent wind, my leans to combat the gusts almost resulted in me experiencing this crossing in a rather more aquatic way than intended.

The wind eased off enough in the middle for me to take some time to appreciate the surroundings.

In one direction, the Dee Viaduct and rolling hills, in the other some houses pocketed amongst the trees, and a view down to the old Pontcysyllte Bridge, which was just about holding its own against the swollen river.

The Far Side (Trevor)

I was happy to reach the far side, and from here found another plaque about the aqueduct, detailing its 18 stone arches and the £47,000 original cost to get it built.

It was also a chance to get some more great photos of the great pillars of the aqueduct, and the metal troughs that hold up this ‘canal in the sky’.

At Trevor, there is a small visitor centre, and if you walk a little further, a pub and the fantastic Chapel Tearoom, which we drove to for toasted sandwiches, hot chocolate, coffee and bara brith after I got back to the car.

Narrow boat Crossing

Thankfully, I had some distractions on the return crossing, as one of the narrow boats that takes visitors on tours from Trevor was making its way across.

This gave me a good excuse to kneel and take photos, though I didn’t think it was acceptable to crawl to the safety of the far side, as much as I wanted to.

Photos From The Valley

Thankful to be back in the car, we set off to find the Pontcysyllte Old Bridge, which I’d seen from the crossing and looked perfect for getting shots of the aqueduct in all her intimidating glory.

We parked up the other side, and I walked back onto the bridge, where there were a few pedestrian passing places I could jump into to get shots.

I thought there would be more places to get photos of the aqueduct from the valley floor, but this bridge seemed to be the only one, so I was glad we made the stop off.

On reviewing Google when I got back, most of the images seem to be taken from drones, so this must be the best place.

To help you get more of an idea of the site, this drone footage is fantastic.

Finished Up

I hope you enjoyed this article and found some of it useful.

In short:

• Park at either Trevor or the car park I’ve noted above.
• You will need an hour or so to walk the aqueduct or take a tour.
• Visit the local tearoom or pub for great food.

If you are looking for more to do in Wales, check out our main page for Wales travel guides.

Don’t forget to leave a comment below on your experience of visiting the area.

Or see all our destination guides here.