Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wales,United Kindom..

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct caught the imagination of our Facebook followers recently – there’s a fair few of you who have braved the heights and admired the views from this impressively high structure.

Want to know more about it?  Here are the facts!

The aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal over the valley of the River Dee in Wrexham County Borough in north east Wales. Completed in 1805, it is the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain, a Grade I Listed Building and a World Heritage Site.What do you do if you are trying to build a canal to carry iron and coal and a deep river valley lies in your path.Thomas Telford's answer in 1805 was the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a 1000 ft long water filled metal trough on brick arches to carry canal boats 126 ft high above the valley.

They call it 'the stream in the sky.'

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Dare you cross it? And can you do it without looking down? 

You can walk across Pontcysyllte, or save your legs and take a leisurely boat ride. 

But there's one thing you have to take with you. A camera. The views are something else. 

Pop into our visitor centre too, to take in some information about the history of the aqueduct. 

Just by way of a taster:
 •Pontcysyllte means 'the bridge that connects'.
•There are 18 piers 126ft high, and 19 arches each with a 45ft span.
•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. Kind of like treacle toffee.
•The aqueduct holds 1.5 million litres of water and takes two hours to drain.
•The structure is 1,007ft long, with the River Dee running beneath it.
•The work was undertaken by Thomas Telford and supervised by the more experienced canal engineer William Jessop.
•The first stone was laid in July 1795. It was completed in 1805 using local stone.
•This is the largest aqueduct in Britain. It's fed by water from the Horseshoe Falls near Llangollen.
•The water runs through an iron trough that measures 11ft 10ins wide and 5ft 3ins

 My Friend Muthaiya Arrived thanks to the he walked from the carpark we met a guide ready to start a little tour.

Below a little side pen to park canal boats to repair them

Fantastic perspective of the aqueduct

A stone describing the aqueduct in both Welsh & English

Scary walk ....

The view from the aqueduct across the valley

...with the view down into the river

A view of another aqueduct in the distance

More info on the aqueduct http://www.pontcysyllte-aqueduct.co.uk/

Love the picture below of this sky train

er....it is pretty high

Along the aqueduct is a metal railing but note the worn notch in the metal rod from the ropes which guided the horses pulling the canal boats...

One of my favourite views - a group of very colourful kids in kayaks come paddling down

Eeeekkk sheer drop - will someone please call Health & Safety immediately

er love that paddle ! peeping over the edge 

Sheer glassy surface of the canal

View of the aqueduct - left, right , from afar

Wow look at the length of the aqueduct

A stone bridge across the Dee

Collection by M.Ajmal Khan.