The Llangollen And Return From Wrenbury.php Canal Boating Cruising Route
The cruise is for those who want a leisurely cruise along the Llangollen Canal, exploring both the Welsh and the English sides!!
This very beautiful canal is one of the most popular Waterways in Europe, and includes the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which is one of the most spectacular and amazing feats of engineering on the Canal system. Built by Thomas Telford in 1805, the Aqueduct is 126 feet high, and spans over 1000 feet across a valley with the River Dee thundering away in the distance below your feet.
The Chirk Aqueduct is another impressive structure built by Thomas Telford, and is 70 feet high, and beside it at 100 feet high is an impressive Viaduct built in 1848 to take the Shrewsbury & Chester Railway across the valley. The Chirk Tunnel is 1,377 feet in length, and once through this you can moor up and walk to Chirk Castle, a 700 year old Castle managed by the National trust.
Llangollen, a very pretty Welsh town at the Western end of the Canal, is easily reached from our marina in a couple of days, and is a pleasant base to moor up for 24 hours.
1st night
Cruising westwards towards Llangollen, on the first day you probably will not get very far, as by the time you've checked in and stashed all your belongings and provisions, watched the training video and had your training, time will be passing.
If you fancy a bit of cruising before dark, you will just have time to get used to the feel of your boat, and enjoy the beautiful countryside and get stuck into a couple of locks, before you moor up after a few miles and make yourself a cup of tea and relax after the stress and strain of the days car journey.
Cruise through Marbury and Quoisley Locks & moor up just before Willeymoor Lock, where there is a pub – The Willeymoor Lock tavern canalside.
It is 2 hours 26 minutes cruising to here.
If you only have time for about an hours cruising with no locks, cruise to Marbury and you can walk the ½ mile south into the enchanting village from Bridge 23, there is a pub here.
2nd night
Your 2nd days cruise will take to the Ellesmere.
After Willeymoor Lock, there is Poveys lock to negotiate just a little bit further on.
The open quiet countryside continues but as you approach Grindley Brook, prepare your crew as there are 6 locks ahead, including 3 in the form of a staircase. At the end of a straight stretch a massive railway embankment precedes a sharp bend, around which is the start of the locks. Boats should remain below the railway embankment, and between April to October 8.30am to 18.30 pm obtain the advice of the friendly lock-keeper before starting to negotiate the locks, as he will know which boats are queuing to go up and down.
The Horse & Jockey Pub is near the bottom lock, there is also Lockside Stores where you can obtain provisions and the cafe there has internet access & is open April-October for tea, coffee & snacks.
The canal now approaches Whitchurch, and if you have time it is worth exploring this fine old Roman town which has some beautiful old houses of all periods in its centre. The streets are narrow & it has a variety of shops and pubs, moor up along the Whitchurch Arm, after the lift bridge turn a sharp left and cruise to the end, it is about 15 minutes walk into the town.
It is 2.75 hours from Willeymoor Lock to Whitchurch.
From Whitchurch the canal once again goes through the open countryside passing no villages for miles.
At bridge 43 in the village of Platt Lane, there is a pub called the Waggoner Inn in the village.
Continue your cruise and you will shortly reach Whixall Moss, a raised bog with rare insect and plant life, but there might be mosquitoes as well! The bog was also formed during the Ice Age. There are walks & cycle routes over Whixall Moss, see leaflets near bridges 44 & 45.
There is a lovely lift bridge at bridge 45.
The canal branches away to your left but Prees Branch only leads to a nature reserve & a marina, so keep right.
The canal passes into England and then into Wales, going backwards & forwards past a remote and unpopulated area. At bridge 48 is the small village of Bettisfield, there is a stores here & off-licence.
Soon the open countryside gives way to more hilly wooded landscape as you start to pass through the Meres that make this area famously called the mini Lake District.
Cole Mere is the first on your left, then Blake Mere further on your right. The largest Mere is by Ellesmere itself, you can walk to it from Bridge 57 just after the short Ellesmere Tunnel. The Meres were carved out during the Ice Age.
You will soon be approaching Ellesmere, and a fine old warehouse and small canalside crane, and old canal company offices, testify to the canal trading that used to be carried out from here.
Ellesmere is a busy 18th century market town with delightful pubs and restaurants, also a variety of shops and a Co-op. Moor up the end of the Ellesmere Arm a canal branch to your right .
To Ellesmere it is 8 hours 15 minutes cruising from Willeymoor Lock
3rd night
From Ellesmere the country once again becomes quiet and rural until you pass the Montgomery canal at the Frankton Junction. This canal is restored for about 7 miles. To enter the canal there are 4 locks called the Frankton Locks, and these are only opened by a lock-keeper between 12-2pm (Please check hours when booking). 48 hours notice of passage is required. Only boats with a booking will be allowed through the locks. Please note that no passages will be allowed outside of the published hours. To book a passage call 01606-723800 during normal office hours from Monday to Friday.
If you want to stop off there is a pub coming up after a tricky bridge (No 4)- the Narrow Boat Inn, just before the Maestermyn Marina at Whittington.
Alternatively there is another lovely canalside pub at bridge 11, the Jack Mytton Inn, Hindford, both serve good food & beer.
Shortly after Bridge 11, you will come to your only locks on this part of the Canal. There are 2 locks quite close to each other.
After the 2nd lock on the right hand side, you can moor up and fill up with water if needed .
A bit further on, after Bridge 15, there are some very posh moorings outside the Lion Keys Pub & restaurant, just before you go under the A5 road. There are 20 moorings for customers.
You will start to see less cows & sheep & see more houses now, as you are approaching the town of Chirk.
At Bridge 21 you can moor up and walk to the Bridge Inn, the last pub in England, before you cross the Chirk Aqueduct into Wales. Make sure there is no-one coming over the aqueduct.
The Aqueduct is 70 feet high and was built between 1796 and 1801 by Thomas Telford & William
Jessop, it is a practise run before you get to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, but it is very beautiful in itself, and crosses over the River Ceiriog.
It is not as frightening as you would think, with spectacular views of the River cascading down the valley below, and the Chirk Viaduct above you, as the aqueduct is only wide enough for one boat, make sure there is no boat crossing before you go over it.
You cannot go very fast across the Aqueduct, so just enjoy the view, as very soon you come to the end, and the beginning of the Chirk Tunnel, which at over 400 metres is one of the longest tunnels on the waterways system to have a towpath running through it.
After the tunnel moor up & you can walk back into Chirk & explore the town which has many historical buildings and to help you see them a fascinating town trail has been devised.
If you want to first visit the fantastic medieval Chirk castle moor up just after Chirk Tunnel , walk along the road westwards (right) to the castle gates, it is about a 20 minute walk but well worth it. This magnificent 700 year old fortress was built by Edward the 1, and has family apartments, state rooms, servants quarters and dungeons which can be viewed.
After the Chirk tunnel there are some factories hidden away to your right behind the embankment, so it is convenient to moor here, but you might want to spend the night a bit further on.
If you want to moor up off the canal you can do so at Chirk Marina, which is a bit further on, there is a Golf Club there, with a bar & restaurant which are open to the public, they charge about £7 for an overnight stay.
It is 5 hours cruising to here from Ellesmere.
4th night
Once the canal turns away from the railway you will find the Offas Dyke path following the Canal.
There is a very quaint lift bridge to negotiate at Froncysylite, you will have to lift it up using your windlass key.
If you want to build up your nerve before crossing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, you can stop at Froncysyllte for the night, there are 2 pubs, the Britannia Inn and the Aqueduct Inn.
You might have to queue for the Aqueduct , you will need a runner to go ahead & see if any boats are coming over towards you, if not you can go for it.
They sometimes have British waterways staff here who will try & organise who can go first!!
The views are breathtaking, but so is the fact that you have nothing but fresh air for 130 feet below you on your left. There is a walkway on your right.
The River Dee thunders away far beneath you.
You immediately come into Trevor Wharf, where you can moor for the night if you want, or carry onto Llangollen so turn a sharp left as you leave the aqueduct. There is a pub – The Telford inn, next to the Anglo Welsh base.
You will encounter shallow water & narrow sections of canal between here & Llangollen, in some cases down to single file.
Be careful all along the Canal about going too close to the sides, as in some cases it is shallow & you may get stuck, in which case you will need to reverse & use your pole to push yourself away from the bank, or jump out and push off.
It takes about 3 hours to navigate to Llangollen, and requires a bit of concentration & some reversing, but it is well worth it.
It is very pretty hilly countryside, but have your first mate & other shipmates handy, in case they need to jump off & hold the boat steady by the ropes whilst you pull in & let other boats pass, its all part of the adventure.
You pass by another pub at bridge 41, the Sun Trevor, in case you are in need of some refreshment.
When the sun is shining, you can think to yourself that there is no better place to be than amongst the Welsh hills & valleys.
As you plod on towards Llangollen, you will see the mysterious ruins of Dinas Bran castle on top of a very steep hill, and you know that you are not far away now.
However you have the narrowest bit to negotiate now, all single file traffic with just a few passing places.
You will need to send a runner ahead to see if it is OK to proceed.
You eventually emerge into Llangollen and if the ticket office is open you can purchase a ticket for about £7 to moor overnight in the Canal basin, or there are some moorings on the left where you can tie up for a few hours.
If the ticket office is closed, just purchase a ticket when it reopens.
The Canal basin has electric hook up & water, so you can connect yourself to the mains & do some sightseeing for a day or so.
It is 3.5 hours cruising to here from Chirk.
Llangollen is very pretty, with the River Dee cascading through the town, with lots of white water crashing through the rocky river bed.
If you are lucky you will see the steam engines as you walk into the town, at the Llangollen Steam railway, and it is well worth having a ride on one. It will take you to Carrog & back, some 8 miles of some of the most stunning scenery in Britain.
There are many craft & souvenir shops & even some selling gorgeous chocolate & fudge, plus cafes, bars, tearooms & restaurants.
If you tire of Llangollen & want some exercise after being on a boat for a few days, take a walk to the beautiful Horseshoe falls, just a couple of miles along the towpath to the end of the canal.
On the way back stop off for a pub lunch at the Chainbridge Hotel, where you can enjoy spectacular views of the River Dee beside you.
You can take a detour near here as just off the A542 is the ruins of the beautiful Valle Crucis Abbey, one of the most complete Cistercian abbeys in Wales.
Then getting back on the towpath again, you pass a very quaint Canal & motor Museum, which is worth a look.
Back in Llangollen there is more to see & do, including Plas Newydd, an 18th century house open to the public, which now houses a museum.
Of course every July the International Eisteddford is held here, this world renowned International musical festival has some world class artists, this year 2007 hosting concerts from Jose Carreras and Joan Baez.
5th night
Have a morning in Llangollen as you gave only 4/5 hours of cruising today, back over both aqueducts and to Moreton bridge 17, where the splendid Lion Keys pub awaits with moorings outside
6th night
Cruise past Ellesmere & Whitchurch this 17 mile stretch has only 2 locks and should take about 7.25 hrs.
Moor near Platt Lane Bridge 43, there is a pub in Platt Lane off to your right- The Waggoner Inn.
7th night
The last day there is no let up for your crew, with 10 locks on the cruise back to the marina whichshould take you 7.5 hours.