Meeting with Friends and Drowning the Dog … Chirk

It had taken some organising but we had finally managed to arrange a met up with the Mammoth’s bestie Sion and his carer Jen before they headed off on their next travel adventure and we headed across the border for our summer job.

Woolly says – Sion had suggested meeting at the Chirk Aqueduct with the added temptation of a nearby tea shop serving cakes, what’s not to like with arrangements like this. As Jo, Alfie the Dog and I headed towards our rendezvous I considered that fact that this would be another day of canals and that I’ll be able to write a book about them at this rate, this canal also had a long dark tunnel similar to the one we had visited in the Black Country but much shorter, we had come prepared with torches and being in company might mean that the human wouldn’t be so scared with this one. We pulled up at the same time as the sheep and as the women set about getting coffee and a snack for me from the café we immediately started to catch up on recent events in the world and the fact that our trip through Russia later in the year was now cancelled and that Sion was ready and packed for his next trip.

With the coffee consumed and the Wrexham sheep admired, which I remembered from our time working in the area we set off down the bank and onto the cut. I was mighty impressed with the view as we had not just an Aqueduct but a viaduct as well, two for the price of one.

The Aqueduct stands at 70 foot (21 m) high and is 710 foot (220 m) long that carries the Llangollen Canal across the Ceiriog Valley spanning two countries, England and Wales. We passed the Welcome to Wales sign and found ourselves in no mans land as we walked by the waterside towards England.

The aqueduct was designed by civil engineer Thomas Telford with the foundation stone being laid on 17th June 1796 and construction completed in 1801. It has a cast iron trough within which the water is contained which is hidden by brickwork, I peered into the water as did Sion and the panting beast, it looked cold and not a place for any of us to end up in. The aqueduct was briefly the tallest navigable one ever built, and it now is Grade II listed in both England and Wales forming part of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct World Heritage Site.

It was most impressive as was the viaduct that runs next to it, the viaduct had been designed by Scottish engineer Henry Robertson, and built by Thomas Brassey, being opened in 1848. It’s ten semi-circular arches seemed to frame the views across the countryside and meadows 100ft below us.

As we stepped into England Alfie the mutt raced ahead of us and the humans sniffing happily until we met the geese. Passing under a small bridge we arrived at some lovely cottages and gardens which were being guarded by the white vicious beaks of the gaggle.

The were huge birds and would have needed a commercial oven if their owners ever wished to roast them for dinner, they were also very menacing as we moved slightly closer loud hisses started to erupt from them and they started to head towards us.

Woolly says – As the stupid dog headed ever closer Sion and I took the sensible approach and ran for it with Jo pulling the mutt behind her and Jen keeping a watchful eye on the guard geese we made our escape.

We crossed back into Wales which felt much safer and l peered into the tunnel that lay in front of us. Originally known as ‘the Darkie tunnel’ it is the darkest canal tunnel in Wales and the longest, although compared to the Netherton Tunnel it was incredibly short at 1,236 yards (1,130 m) long.

The canal and tunnel had been authorised on the 30th April 1793 after a number of plans had been submitted to join the Ellesmere, Chester, Shrewsbury and Llangollen to support the limestone quarries in the area.

We set off into the dark, I gripped onto my carer as Alfie the Dog led the way with Jen and Sion following close behind. Having friends with us made it a lot less scary and being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel made it seem quite short, it wasn’t it went on and on getting darker and darker.

We put the torches on and they hardly made a difference to what could be seen, I gripped onto the railing that ran through the whole length and just hoped we wouldn’t fall in.

Woolly says – I couldn’t see a paw in front of me and kept a keen eye on Alfie’s white tail to guide me until it suddenly disappeared with a splash straight into the water. I screamed, Jo shouted and launched me in Jen’s general direction before dropping to the floor trying to see where the barking boy had gone, moments passed which felt like hours, I could hear Jo calling Alfie’s name as she leant further towards the water, just as Sion and I were deciding who was going to ring for the fire brigade and wondering if we needed a lifeboat calling out Jo hauled the soaked dog out of the water who promptly shook himself giving us all a shower before racing through the end of the tunnel and into daylight were he proceeded to zoom up and down the towpath stopping at points to shake again.

With my heart pounding I had never been so glad to get into the weak sunshine with Alfie the Dog, wet but unharmed, I quickly attached his lead before further accidents could happen.

Woolly says – We were all shaken and having taken a few moments for heart rates to readjust we considered our options to get back, did we head back into the dog drowning tunnel or take the road option not knowing how direct that route might be. After a short debate we put Jen and Sion at the front of our group, Alfie next with Jo and I following behind as we headed back into the tunnel as quickly as the darkness would allow, I have never been so pleased as to arrive back at our starting point without further incident. Having climbed back up the bank and walked the short distance to the café each one of us grateful that although still soaking wet Alfie the Dog could now enjoy a doggie ice cream as he dried off in the sun and the rest of us continued to talk about the future and our plans to come.

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