Woolly says – It was a proper winters morning with the sun out and frost on the ground, crisp as some would say, as we arrived on the outskirts of Llangollen, although chilly in the shade I hoped that my plan for the day would be satisfactory for both the human and the mutt. Leaving the car, we wandered across a steeply sloping field and towards Horseshoe Falls. The view from up high was incredible and I couldn’t wait to get closer for a further inspection.
The distinctively shaped weir, which is 460 feet (140 m) long, helps create a pool of water that can enter the Llangollen Canal (via an adjacent valve house and flow meter). The construction of the weir was authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1804 by the Ellesmere Canal Company. Thomas Telford was the civil engineer responsible for the design which was completed in 1808 and once complete became the start of the Shropshire Union Canal.
It was an incredibly pretty piece of engineering with trees surrounding it as the water cascaded down the horseshoe, Jo seemed delighted with my find as did Alfie the Dog who raced back and forth across the landscape chasing imaginary rabbits.
Built in 1947 the small pump house hardly looked big enough to do its job but looks can be deceptive and 8 ft below ground level is a 20ft long 3ft diameter pipe connecting the River Dee water source with the canal.
We started our walk into town along the side of the two lots of water, the river to our right and the cut on our left, the Kings Bridge with its five arches had been built between 1902 and 1906 and named to commemorate the Coronation of King Edward VII and provided road access across the river and canal, it also made for a lovely picture.
But better was to come, as we rounded a corner, I heard Jo’s sharp intake of breath at the sight of the Chain Bridge. The first chain bridge was built by Exuperius Pickering in order to transport coal, lime and stone from the Shropshire Union Canal, (Llangollen Canal) across the River Dee to Telford’s recently completed London to Holyhead Road.
The bridge allowed Pickering to bypass the Llangollen toll bridge and saved him a fortune, clever man hey. The bridge was completely restored in 2015 and I was eager to head across it, as I bounced up and down in the middle Jo looked less than impressed as she navigated the gently moving bridge before announcing that it made her feel seasick.
Although splendid to look at it didn’t feel that stable and having reached the middle I headed back to the bank and left the mammoth seeing if he could made it swing any more than it already was.
Woolly says – Having admired the rushing waters of the river and taken another bounce or two on the bridge I followed the others along the pathway towards the town of Llangollen. This was a place that we had been to a number of times over the years most recently had been whilst we were working in Wrexham and we had a lovely day on the steam train (https://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Wales/Denbighshire/Llangollen/blog-974996.html).
It was a lovely walk with small bridges to admire and a stillness in the air with areas full of trees and others that were merely rock faces.
Llangollen takes its name from the Welsh llan meaning “a religious settlement” and Saint Collen, a 7th-century monk who founded a church beside the river who is said to have arrived in Llangollen by coracle. I thought that this could make an excellent adventure but my carer just laughed telling me that the chances of staying out of the water in a coracle would be slim.
I pondered this thought as we wandered through the high street which was a mass of road digging equipment and men with shovels. Not the prettiest of places at the best of times currently it had little to offer at all.
A lovely War memorial surrounded with poppies was one of the only remarkable things about the small town although I did like the hat on the post box which had been knitted locally to keep it warm in the winter.
The view from the bridge was however lovely with the water racing under it following the huge amounts of rain we have had recently it was more of a torrent, the bridge was built across the Dee in the 16th century to replace a previous bridge built in about 1345 by John Trevor, of Trevor Hall (later Bishop of St Asaph), which replaced an even earlier bridge built in the reign of King Henry I. In the 1860s the present bridge was extended by adding an extra arch (to cross the new railway) and a two-storey stone tower with a castellated parapet. The bridge was also widened in 1873 and again in 1968, using masonry which blended in with the older structure. It is now a Grade I listed structure and a Scheduled Ancient Monument so unlikely to get any wider which given the amount of traffic and size of it in comparison to the bridge itself does make for some waiting to get across when lorries are involved.
Having admired the views and with Jo starting to flag we found ourselves a cosy seat in the café on the bridge and tucked into a warming plates of food and hot drinks while Alfie the Dog crunched away on his bone under the table. With tummies full and feet and paws rested we set off back towards the car before the light started to fade and the sun removed it’s warming presence.