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Pontcysyllte Aqueduct Walk

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is the most spectacular sight on the canal network and is the focus of the World Heritage Site.  Trevor Basin has lots of historical interest.

Walk

Branch
IWA Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch
Location

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Distance

3.2km (2 miles) to 17km (11miles)

Ease

Active

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Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is eleven miles of canal from Chirk Bank to Horseshoe Falls was named a World Heritage Site in July 2009.  The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal are early and outstanding examples of the innovations brought about by the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where they made decisive development in transport capacities possible.

 

Walk Details

Surface

Tarmac surface, but not really wide enough on the aqueduct for a wheelchair. 

Parking

At Trevor — follow the signs.  (Only vehicles for disabled persons may park in the car park immediately adjacent to Trevor Basin.)

Toilets

At Trevor Basin.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct Walk Map

Find directions to the Activity

Begin The Walk

1. Ruabon Brook Railway

Leave the main car park by the exit at the south end.  The path here is on the route of the Ruabon Brook Railway.  At the entrance to the Trevor Basin site, take the left hand path.

2. Trevor Basin

Trevor Basin was partly built on an artificial terrace retained by a stone wall at the south-east.  The house has been used as accommodation for canal-related workers and later as a public house.  The twin dry docks (one roofed) were built within a few years of the opening of the canal.  Behind the former store (now the visitor centre) are double wrought-iron basins on a masonry hearth to boil pitch. 

3. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Once you reach the aqueduct, there is the option to turn around and walk the same route back. Or continue for another half mile as far as Froncysyllte lime kilns. 

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, completed in November 1805, is a 19 span cast-iron aqueduct on tapering masonry piers, is 1,007ft long with a maximum height of 126ft above the Dee.  The trough is formed from plates one inch thick, the joints made watertight with flannel impregnated with white lead. Supporting each 44ft span are four ribs, cast in three sections, bolted together with connecting plates, the outermost ribs being infilled to give the impression of a solid span.  

The name Pontcysyllte, literally ‘the bridge which joins’.

 

 

4. Froncysyllte

If you are extending this walk and have reached the Froncysyllte lime kilns, the walk can be extended for a further four miles to create a round trip. Continue on the towpath to the main road (B5605) bridge, then walk down the main road, across Rive Dee and up the other side.  Turn left under the railway bridge, then enter Ty Mawr Country Park.  A footpath takes you down to the river then along the bank back to the aqueduct.

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