Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.

Mrs TD had a hankering after visiting this spectacular aqueduct at Pontcysyllte, a few miles from Llangollen. We started off at the top and set foot on to the towpath leading across the chasm. At a mere 38 metres above the river, I would have prefered jumping into the canal and swimming across to walking any further. The five souls up there (including the small person) have no such scruples, though I must point out that, although there are three with bikes, none are actually riding them. Designed by Thomas Telford, apart from the hollow masonry piers, the construction is cast iron and shows no sign of either rust or leakage.
 
From there we went into Llangollen for lunch which, while filling, wasn’t exactly the best lunch I’ve ever tasted, and then onto the Horseshoe Waterfall, again designed by Telford and built to both please the eye and to provide water for the canal and its locks. It is an impressive structure that really would please the eye if the parkland was properly, and sympathetically, maintained.
 
From there, we drove up the Horseshoe Pass which gives a wonderful view back towards the town (see first extra), and once over the top there’s a contrasting landscape of gentle agricultural pasture land. We stopped at the top at the Ponderosa Café, full of hairy bikers and warmed up on some hot chocolate and high octane cake
 
The final stop was at the Valle Crucis Abbey (Vale of the Cross – second extra) for an explore and a photoshoot. At the left side of the picture is the cloister, while the right side is the chapterhouse. Mrs TD contrived to duplicate all the detail photographs on Wikipedea, though hers are upright, lacking the artistic list to port of the web site.