Today was a very good day. We cruised across the Ceiriog viaduct, through the Chirk tunnel and then over the Pontcysyllte viaduct, which is now a World Heritage site, and on to Llangollen which is the day trippers capital of Wales.
We used to live in the Ceiriog valley, a wonderful place, and Tom and Jake both went to school in Llangollen so we know the area well. I have always wanted to cross the viaduct in a boat so today I ticked off one item off my “to do” list.
The picture above is the view from our boat crossing the Ceiriog valley next to the railway viaduct. The Pontcysyllte viaduct a little further on is rather more exciting. It was designed by Thomas Telford to avoid a long series of locks. It is a huge brick viaduct with a cast iron tank along the top, this is made in sections which have been bolted together. As you can see in the pictures on one side of the tank is a nice wide walkway and railings so the horses pulling the barge (or the tourists today) feel safe. On the other side there is nothing, from the side of the boat deck there is a sheer 100ft drop and only an inch of cast iron preventing you from certain death. It was quite exciting, Gill will drive us back over tomorrow!
The final bit of canal from the end of the aqueduct into Llangollen is very narrow so a bit fraught when you meet other boats especially if they are driven by the narrow minded boaters mentioned yesterday. We also had to stop for some cows who were taking a bath.
Llangollen is a strange place. It is of course famous for the Eisteddfod held every year, this is not a Welsh festival, it is very much an international event with musicians coming from all over the world. Many years ago an Italian choir had arranged to come to the festival but were a bit short on numbers so one of the singers press ganged his teenage son into coming along. He enjoyed himself so much he decided to become a professional singer. In 1995 Pavarotti came back to the Eisteddfod to say “Thank You” for changing his life.
But apart from the one week a year of the festival there is not a lot for tourists to see or do so they wander round the high street, eat fish and chips and pay £8 each for a horse draw canal boat ride lasting 45 minutes.
We however know the secret to enjoyment in Llangollen, we have just had a very nice meal in Gales Wine Bar, a bit of an institution with the locals and very nice it was too.