Llangollen Canal

Here’s my problem: How to describe a trip on the Llangollen Canal without gushing so much that anyone reading this guide can still take me seriously. Because my narrowboat trip through the Vale of Llangollen and then through the Shropshire countryside was the most beautiful, pleasant, breathtaking and enjoyable experience of my life, and my need to relate that joy to others seems almost a religious calling.

A boat trip on the Llangollen will appeal to almost any taste. If you like quaint, you will melt at the sight of the picturesque town for which the canal is named. If you like thrills, you can look out over the edge of your boat as you cross the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. If you like history, you can enjoy exploring Chirk Castle and if you like a country walk, then you can enjoy the hike up to that castle while smelling chocolate wafting from the Cadbury plant. And if you like serene, you can enjoy the early morning mist as you pass through a bridge and see a field where sheep may safely graze (and occasionally butt heads).

The Llangollen Canal is really an arm or branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, and if we go back in time before the merger that created the Shropshire Union, the Llangollen would have been a branch of the Ellesmere Canal.

Actually the history is even more complicated than that. The Ellesmere was never originally intended to reach Llangollen, but when other stretches of the Ellesmere were never built for various reasons, a new source of water for the Ellesmere was needed. The Llangollen arm was then created to supply water from the River Dee at Horseshoe Falls. So the amazing Llangollen was really just a workaround or bodge.

The Llangollen Canal runs 45 miles from its water source at Horseshoe Falls just west of the town of Llangollen until it meets the Shropshire Union Canal at Hurleston. The canal crosses the Wales-England border several times as it travels southeasterly toward its junction with the Montgomery canal and then turns toward the northeast. The topography is pretty dramatic through the Vale (valley) of Llangollen, but after it crosses the River Dee the countryside is relatively flat. There are only 21 locks on the canal and only two of them are on the first 17 miles (Llangollen to Frankton Junction).

If you have limited time or if you want to minimize locks, then you might want to travel between Llangollen and Ellesmere (about 20 miles). You could hire a boat at either Trevor or Chirk, on either side of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, near the junction with the Montgomery Canal at Frankton Junction, or at Ellesmere. Obviously if you start from Ellesmere, you’ll travel east to west and back. If you start from Trevor or Chirk, you might want to go west to Llangollen first, then east and over the aqueducts toward Ellesmere and back. If you’re starting near the Monty, then it’s 50/50 which direction you go, although you’re much closer to Ellesmere.

For our trip, we picked up our boat in Trevor and traveled east (well actually southeast) toward Ellesmere, the siren call of the Pontcysyllte being too much resist (and because we’d already spent a day in Llangollen). For the purposes of this guide, however, we’ll begin at the beginning.

Horseshoe Falls

A circular weir (a low dam) diverts the water of the River Dee into the canal, which is a pretty prosaic way to describe the very lovely Horseshoe Falls, although honesty compels me to admit that the word falls incorrectly suggests something pretty dramatic. In reality, Horseshoe Falls is tranquil and beautiful and the water drops only a few feet. The water supply produced by the weir, however, is sufficient to make a noticeable current for the first thirteen or so miles of the canal. You’ll need to remember that when you’re traveling upstream your boat will be going slower, an important consideration when you’re rushing to return the boat.

So close to the source, however, the canal is too shallow for narrowboats (and they’d be unable to turn around). You will have probably arrived at the falls by walking the 1.75 miles from Llangollen, although you could have traveled part of the way on a horse-drawn boat tour. As you’re walking back to Llangollen, you could take a half-mile detour north to the picturesquely ruined Valle Crucis Abbey, which dates back to 1201.

When you return to the towpath, you might hear the sound of a steam locomotive, which is no surprise because the Llangollen Railway travels beside the Dee twelve miles to the little town of Corwen. The train will take you past the Llangollen Motor Museum, The Chainbridge Hotel, more sheep than you can possibly count and through the Berwyn Tunnel, stopping at a number of twee stations like Carrog and Glyndyfrdwy. Near Llangollen, the railway also passes by the Llangollen Pavilion, where the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod is held each July.