The Llangollen Canal

The Llangollen Canal is the now the busiest and most popular pleasure cruising waterway in the British Waterways' network. Running for forty-six miles from the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal near Nantwich, it wends its way across rural Cheshire, into the Welsh mountains, to a terminus by the river Dee in the Vale of Llangollen. Historically, the waterway is most of the finally completed route of the original Ellesmere Canal; planned and built by such famous engineers as Thomas Telford and William Jessop. Among its outstanding engineering structures are the aqueducts at Chirk and Pontcysyllte. The latter – which celebrated the bicentenary of its official opening in 2005 -is the premier 'wonder' of Britain's waterways, and is now a major part of an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Written by the late Harry Arnold, renowned waterway journalist and photographer – and author of the book on the linking Montgomery Canal – this history features many photographs from his extensive archive; taken and collected during boating and working on the Llangollen Canal for over four decades.