ESHT 2014 - The narrow boat and the canal on the aqueduct

Sweet map. See the aqueduct over the River Dee in the center of the map? Look above it in the light gray area and find the words Anglo Welsh Boat Hire. Where the arrow points to the right from those words is where we began our aqueduct adventure, crossing that narrow little footbridge and turning right to walk along the towpath. Look to the left of the footbridge at the three white buildings with their black roofs in the parking lot. Right up against the back of those buildings, you'll see the narrow bridge on the New Road--the one Tommy tried to drive the coach over and couldn't because of its width and angles. Look down the canal from the footbridge towards the aqueduct itself. See the canal that dead ends into the waterway that crosses the aqueduct? It goes to Llangollen, which is where I think the couple on the Prince had been and now they're on their way back to Chirk--see the arrow at the bottom right of the map--and the end of their adventure so that they can return the Prince to Crest Narrowboats.



The couple on the Prince.



They certainly look relaxed.



Now that they're nearing the aqueduct which is 126 feet above the River Dee, the man appears more engaged as he guides the boat. I would be, too, if I were in charge. Not that I'd be brave enough to give it a go. Remember reading this a couple of days ago on the blog? The trough sides rise only about 6 inches (15 cm) above the water level, less than the depth of freeboard of an empty narrow boat, so the helmsman of the boat has no visual protection from the impression of being at the edge of an abyss. Scary sounding to me. And here's some advice about being on the narrowboat from the Canal & River Trust Web site: It is recommended that elderly passengers, children and pets should remain inside the craft during the crossing.

From the Canal & River Trust Web side: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Everyone should experience a trip over Thomas Telford and William Jessop's awe-inspiring Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, by boat or on foot. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument; a Grade I Listed structure – and in June 2009 became a World Heritage site, putting it on an equal footing with the Great Barrier Reef and Statue of Liberty. The aqueduct, taking the Llangollen Canal over the beautiful River Dee valley, is 1000 feet long and 125 feet high. Such distances had never before been conquered, until Telford's audacious decision to build it by laying an iron water-carrying trough on stone piers. To this day, the joints are effectively sealed using a mixture of flannel and lead dipped in liquid sugar. For those crossing in a narrowboat, the effect is that of being suspended in mid-air. The iron trough sits about a foot above the water level and is unprotected on one side - so on one side of the boat there is nothing but 128 feet of air to the valley floor below.

And for the non-Welsh speaker, Pontcysyllte is pronounced 'pont-ker-suth-tee' - - you may need to practise the famous Welsh 'll' sound.



The cast iron trough which holds the canal water is 11ft wide, 5 ft 3 ins deep and 1,007 ft long at its highest point. The Prince enters the aqueduct itself. Right past that tree--that's where the looking into thin air begins!



There are 19 arches, each with a 45 ft span and piers 116 ft high. To keep the aqueduct as light as possible, the slender masonry piers are partly hollow and taper at their summit. The mortar was made of oxen blood, lime and water. The use of both cast and wrought iron in the aqueduct enabled the construction of arches that were light and strong, producing an overall effect that is both monumental and elegant. Before I got too far along the towpath, I held the camera over the side and took this photo to show you part of the construction. Amazing!



What a sight to see, this section of the 1007 foot long aqueduct with a narrow boat making its way across. Wow!



The beauty all around, the fact that we're on an engineering marvel that has been in place since 1805, so awe-inspiring. Thank goodness we had sunshine so that we could enjoy the walk along the aqueduct's towpath. The towpath is mounted above the water, with the inner edge carried on cast-iron pllars in the trough. This arrangement allows the water displaced by the passage of a narrow boat to flow easily under the towpath and around the boat, enabling relatively free passage. Pedestrians, and the horses once used for towing, are protected from falling from the aqueduct by railings on the outside edge of the towpath, but the holes in the top flange of the other side of the trough, capable of mounting railings, were never used.



Can you believe I'm on this aqueduct, taking photos? My fear of heights did not come into play as long as I stayed near the railing on my left. I wonder why the railing on my right was never installed when the aqueduct was built? Every five years the ends of the aqueduct are closed and a plug in one of the highest spans is opened to drain the canal water into the River Dee below, for inspection and maintenance of the trough. The aqueduct holds 1.5 million litres of water and takes two hours to drain.



Always curious, I'm wondering what made the man on the Prince look away from what he was doing as he operated the narrow boat. Especially when you take a closer look and notice that there is a man seemingly right in front of the boat, not along its left side as we've been seeing. I walked the aqueduct on Google Maps and saw that the path is on both sides of the canal once it joins land again. I saw the top of a stairway on each side of the canal--I had read that you could go down to see the River Dee, so these steps on the far side of the aqueduct are one way to do that, and they explain how the man ahead of the boat appears to be on the other side of the canal.

ESHT 2014 - More sights I photographed during our aqueduct adventure--my head swiveled every which way, seeing so much of interest

The flower boxes on my left side as I crossed the footbridge caught my eye as I looked around, noticing so many interesting sights.



To my right, beautiful blossoms with the aqueduct in the background.



Back to the left, striped petunias! I had no idea these even existed.



You can tell just how bright the sunshine was in this particular photo. Our luck held, no rain even with that gray sky in the distance. There on the left of the canal, James photographs Martina--a very nice couple among many fine folks in our tour group. One of these days, I hope to see his photos because I imagine, no, I know that they will be outstanding!



I turned around one more time before walking down the steps and off the footbridge. Am I ever glad that I did because I decided to zoom in on the bridge on the New Road. I wonder how old it is? Very old is my guess. See those two gray trapezoid shapes atop those short, pillar-like structures towards the left of the bridge. There's a wrought iron gate there. Well, I assume it's a gate, but why would a stone wall on a bridge have a gate, or an opening, for that matter? Anyway, you can see through it the different colored stones which are on the inside of the bridge's opposite wall.



So, when I noticed the wrought iron in the close up of the bridge, I remembered a photo that I had taken through the coach window while we backed off the bridge. Now it makes sense! Thanks, zoom lens!



Now I'm off the footbridge and on the towpath. You can see the bridge that the Prince came through, over on the right side of the photo. Notice the yellow-green jacket right at the roof of the blue boat? That's the man on the Prince, guiding it through the turn, per the instructions given to him when he rented the narrow boat. In looking at Google Maps and trying to follow that canal visible underneath that bridge, I believe that you go to Llangollen that direction. Our next coach stop--Llangollen!



As I walked along the towpath I noticed these two enjoying their walk. So, after they passed, I looked behind me, hoping to get a photo of this gentleman and his friend. Not as good as I wanted, but I think it shows their comfortable relationship. I also like that you can see the footbridge and its flower boxes in the distance.



Across the way, ducks in the canal that comes underneath the bridge, the one that the Prince used to get onto the canal on the aqueduct, the one I believe goes to Llangollen--it's labeled the Shropshire Union Canal Llangollen Branch on Google Maps. Looks like you're not allowed to walk along this section of this canal, maybe elsewhere but not here although I did follow it on Google Maps and couldn't tell if there is walking space provided alongside it because the trees lining both sides block the view from above, so I dropped the Street View icon in there and saw a towpath! I've walked along the canal! My, oh, my. Would I ever like to be able to afford to rent one of those narrow boats and make this trip! What an adventure! Gorgeous scenery, lots of stone bridges to go under, all sorts of narrow boats going either way along the canal, and then I came to the Llangollen Moorings where quite a few boats had tied up. You buy a mooring ticket, park, and go on the towpath where you will. I imagine there's a time limit on the ticket.



Back to my side of the canal, along the towpath, a sculpture. I like it. I found it labeled the Hand of Industry on several Web sites. Once you take a look at it, that certainly makes sense.

ESHT 2014 - Where to start? How to divide up the sights? Here's the first of them, for your enjoyment.

As we walked into the parking area that you saw in the second photo in yesterday's post, I immediately noticed this boat in just about the same place as the yellow and green boat seen in yesterday's post. Now we know where it's floating as it enters a canal intersection. Look beyond the boat, and you see where it will turn to go towards the aqueduct which is where we're going to walk.

I've looked up this particular boat online at Crest Narrowboats' Web site discovered that this is the 58 ft. Glyndwr (Prince) - Cruiser Style Narrow Boat, coming from the Chirk Marina in Wrexham. I'm guessing it's on a holiday hire adventure because that's how Crest operates. The specs say the boat has  accommodations for a maximum of four people and, from the Web site: Double Glazed front windows. Double beds 6’3" x 4', single beds 6'3" x 2' with interior sprung mattresses. Full central heating with radiators and airing cupboard. Carpeted throughout (Except kitchen and bathroom areas). Colour TV/DVD and radio/CD player. Full size shower, 140 gallon stainless steel water tank. 4-ring gas cooker, oven and grill. Electric Fridge with freezer compartment. 12v cigar lighter plug point for mobile phones, camcorders. Macerator toilets to discrete tanks. 240v hairdryer.

About the name of the boat: Owain Glyndwr was the last native Welsh person to hold the title Prince of Wales. He was a thorn in the side of the English establishment and was never captured, nor tempted by Royal Pardons and never betrayed. He was last seen in 1412 and, even today, his final years remain a mystery.

I read some reviews online and once you've rented the boat for your holiday, you arrive and get onsite instructions on how to operate the narrow boat, then you're off on your own. Wow. Their Web site says the boats are available for short breaks (I found mention of four day trips, maybe that's a short break) and weekly rentals. It seems there are other companies where you may get a horse-drawn trip and/or a two-hour ride, both with an employee on board to take care of getting you along the canal.  



I looked left and realized how far behind the rest of the group I was, but I knew I couldn't get lost because the towpath along the canal where we were and where we were going was only on one side of the canal. I took a photo of the footbridge and started walking.



From the footbridge, I took this photo of the bridge on the New Road, the one that Tommy tried to drive across in the coach. These are the narrow boats you saw in the photos on yesterday's post.