Opening up 11 miles corridor

Published: Wednesday, 05 May 2010

AS PART of achieving World Heritage Status for  Pontcysyllte Aqueduct,  an 11 miles corridor is being opened up as nature walks.

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct & Llangollen Canal Project is opening up the history of the corridor with a series of expert nature walks, heritage visits and conferences, with this Friday 7th May, the historic Valve House at Horseshoe Falls throwing open its doors to the public for the first time ever, between 10am and 12.30pm.

Valve House

Built in 1947, the centrepiece of the Valve House is a 20 foot long 3 foot diameter pipe which runs eight feet below ground level and connects the River Dee water source with the Llangollen Canal. The water flow is controlled by guillotines which in turn are raised and lowered by levers within the Valve House.

The man-made waterfall known as Horseshoe Falls was constructed 200 years ago by Thomas Telford to maintain water levels in the Llangollen Canal across Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.