Over 1,000 feet long and 126 feet high, the “Stream in the Sky” or Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, 3rd August 2022 (Author’s Collection).
The gloriously sunny late afternoon of 3rd August 2022 was spent with an old friend or rather a new friend, or indeed perhaps a new friend who, after two other separate visits in the preceding week or two, had become rather like an old friend and one who can never let you down. They say that “Pictures speak a thousand words” and whoever “they” are may be onto something. I hope the pictorial roll that follows really captures the beauty and those thousands of words that are better articulated by a 200+ year World Heritage Site than I could ever articulate.
The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is an act of engineering genius and although, in its rudimentary form a construction of iron and brickwork that towers into the sky from the river Dee 126 feet below and just a tight, straight canal aqueduct, it can and should also be regarded as breath taking, daunting, a little scary perhaps, and absolutely blooming beautiful. In recent days I have travelled across this self titled “Stream in the Sky” a number of times by foot and, on one memorable occasion now cast forever into the annals of both my memory and via my articles here, The Matrix, a canal boat as I hitchhiked my way back to the aqueduct after walking the wrong way for over 3 miles!
I bet you can’t say you’ve ever hitchhiked on the back of a canal boat!
That was then, this was 3rd August 2022 between the glorious sun filled hours of 3.30pm and 5pm and yet another recent memory I’ll lock away and treasure for a long time to come. I sincerely hope the following pictures paint the words I can’t, and that you enjoy a pictorial stroll and amble across a “Stream in the Sky”.
*All images captured by me on Wednesday 3rd August 2022*
Welcome to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal! In recent days I’ve had the very real pleasure of walking the entirety of this 9–10 mile stretch of the Llangollen Canal, from the equally beautiful aqueduct at Chirk through Llangollen itself and to the end of this branch of the canal at “Horseshoe Falls”.
Welcome to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal, an officially designated World Heritage Site.
View from atop Bridge 29W or “Scotch Hall Bridge” of the Llangollen Canal and the beautiful sight that greets you as you scan the length of the canal “basin” in the village of Trevor, the footbridge ahead, the world heritage aqueduct that bends to the left ahead as well as the famed rolling hills of Wales.
“A Stream in the Sky”.
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal — A World Heritage Site.
View from the canal basin footbridge in the village of Trevor and back from whence we came, with Bridge 29W or “Scotch Hall Bridge” a beautiful backdrop to a quite beautiful location and moment in time.
Over 1,000 feet in length and 126 feet high — “A Stream in the Sky”.
(1) A feat of engineering spanning two centuries and more — the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
(2) A feat of engineering spanning two centuries and more — the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
Commemoration Stone situated at the beginning of the aqueduct.
“A Stream in the Sky” that affords incredible panoramic 360 degree views but you’ll need a better “head for heights” than your humble narrator!
After crossing the aqueduct you arrive in the beautiful village of Froncysyllte and onward to it’s aqueduct cousin and fellow World Heritage Site at Chirk in 3–4 miles. But first, please say hello to “Canadian Bill”.
View from atop Bridge 28W or “Vron Lift Bridge” and the beginning of a 3–4 mile walk to Chirk that I’ve covered at length in other editions of these particular travel articles.
View from atop Bridge 28W and through the “Vron Lift Bridge” toward both the two paddle boarders enjoying the canal and the bend in the canal at Froncysyllte that leads directly back to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, is it?
The moorings at Froncysyllte and the long straight that leads to the aqueduct.
A return journey across the “Stream in the Sky” with canal boat “Rhonda” a little way ahead of us.
A perfect representation of the length and depth perception of the aqueduct that I hope these images convey.
A final shot of “Rhonda” and the world heritage site that looked so beautiful in the early evening sunshine.
Another beautiful image that perfectly captures this beautiful piece of sun bathed bliss.
19 cast-iron spans, 126 feet high, 12 feet wide, over 1000 feet in length and an engineering marvel at over 200 years old — the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
Your humble narrator posing again, this time beside “The Boat Inn” at Gnosall and the Shropshire Union Canal, end of July 2022.
Thanks for reading. There are numerous rolling pictorial articles such as these within my archives or please see the links below to my three most recently published travel articles to date:
