Thank you to the Canal & River trust for the invite A link to the crowd funder bit.ly/Ponty_Aqueduct A link to the Canal & River Trust bit.ly/435jbgS A link to an animation showing construction ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nqeCu6jd9W0.htmlsi=M3GG9HgQDWfsKwHE
@@MartinZero If only I’d known you’d have had an invite . On the way back we broke down by the Chirk aqueduct and were there for a week or so , that’s also impressive . If it makes you feel better I also can’t pronounce Pontcysyllte … Thanks for another great video . :-)
Excellent video Martin . Aquaduct looks so streamlined and modern. Telford was a master Engineer indeed . Lucky man Martin rare privilege indeed to be involved in the maintenance and restoration
When I was about 14 (1968) I started to ride my bike across this bridge. Thing is, when you're sitting on a bike you're well above the guard rail and that is really terrifying. But worse, about half way across, I ran out of bottle and stopped. I grabbed the handrail, which meant leaning forward and down. I was then stuck, I couldn't get going again and couldn't get off the bike. There was no-one around to help apart from my friend who had gone on ahead of me, so I had to get off, which somehow I did. That was about as close as I've come to being very smelly. I think the spoilsports have now put up no cycling signs, I discovered the Llangollen canal about a year earlier, we were taken there on a school trip, we got off the coach at the Chirk aqueduct. Two tunnels and two aqueducts later and I was totally sold on canals and the industrial revolution. Talk about a way to impress kids!
I looked online as you can actually 😮canoe over it but it says you can't go over standing up on a paddle board. Can you imagine anyone actually considering pootling over, standing up with no rail on one side to protect them?
the canal trust guys were very helpful and detailed in answering your questions with out being to officious. i have been across the bridhe in the 90s on a narrow boat with my family and stood on the side of the boat with no railings holding the roof bar. wasnt being clever and wasnt good with heights but the experience was one of those things i just had to have...
Can you imagine bringing back to life the Engineers and the Construction Workers who built this structure and showing them this video after 200 years after it was constructed? Fantastic Post!
Thank you for this wonderful look at the engineering of the time. As an American, I really enjoy seeing all these pieces of local history, since I don't know that I'll ever get a chance to get over there and see them for myself.
Hats off to those Canal and River Trust engineers. Being a good engineer from a quantifiable point of view of the quality and efficiency of their work, and the depth of their knowledge is one thing, but equally important is the ability to share and teach (and willingness to do so) that knowledge in a way that is available to different levels of comprehension without coming across as condescending. Also, the ability and willingness to admire and learn from others on the team or those who's work has gone before. I have been an engineer in the lightning protection industry for almost 17 years and this is something that I still strive to do. Properly interesting video.
Seeing all the bits and bobs that are in the water in aqueduct are they removed before it’s filled with water again . Thanks for giving us a chance to see what it’s like and long may it stand there it all it’s glory. Brilliant film thank you
As always, thank you very much for an interesting vlog about the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. A bit more info that I would like to offer. The Llangollen Canal, which the aqueduct carries, starts at the Horseshoe Falls near Llangollen and eventually joins the Shropshire Union Canal at Hurleston near Nantwich. At Hurleston is a reservoir which the canal feeds which in turn gives Nantwich and the local its drinking water. If you look at the canal when the aqueduct is filled you will see that there is a slight flow on it. Each lock has a small bypass weir for the water to bypass locks when they are not in use. Due to it's width, I have known boat owners, who don't like heights, put the boat onto the aqueduct put it in slow forward and then go inside their boat.
I thoroughly enjoyed the video. My parents used to take my sister and I on narrowboat holidays, usually on the Grand Union canal but one year they decided to head to Wales which would have included passing over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and with me being afraid of heights I kicked off BIG TIME. They wouldn't change their minds and neither would I and so they went without me. They obviously enjoyed themselves either because of the scenery or because I wasn't there as afterwards they did the same holiday each year.
Wow what an awesome piece of engineering....great video as ever Martin and gang ., luv you guys ...you made my Sunday so much better ...as still watching from my hospital bed
Another great video Martin - we've just spent a very enjoyable day exploring the spectacular viaduct and surrounding area - a truly world class site - the remedial works have been completed and we were able to walk across the viaduct and then sail across on a tourist barge -
Amazing video. What an honour being invited along to witness this aqueduct being maintained like this. Those workmen long ago knew their stuff. They were builders. Thank you Martin. Brilliant scenery and filming.😊
A simple design but not simple to build. The Aqueduct is a perfect example of "Do it right the first time." Also calling the Aqueduct a work of art is somewhat of a understatement. Martin did I see spilt Tea on your saucer??? Thanks to Martin and Team for their time, work and posting.....
Don't feel bad, a few days ago I knocked a coffee over on our floor with carpet on it. Hmmm maybe that's why we have a home steam carped cleaner...... lol@@MartinZero
I've sailed across this aqueduct twice; there are back again to Llangollen, a nice place to visit in Wales. And yes, putting along with a drop of 120-odd feet of nothing only inches from you in attention-getting !
I’ve crossed that aqua/ via duct a number of times, starting in the late 1960s. Each time we bow hauled our boat as my vertigo couldn’t take the 126 ft drop nor the ant sized sheep safely grazing next to the river Dee. The first time, in our tiny boat, we navigated as far as the Dee weir.
Been a viewer and fan for a couple of years but the Ellemere Port Boat Museum and the Pontcysyltte have personal commections. My dad opened the boat museum and I used to live in Cefn Mawr and I would jog down over the Dee bridge and back across the canal; bridge and yes, you get giddy looking down. I now live on a canal in Southern France.
Excellent video Martin. If you want a good walk, start at Chirk, where an aqueduct and viaduct stand side by side over the Ceiriog valley, and walk to Llangollen which is about 5 miles and passes through two tunnels on the way. It is a beautiful walk in the summer. Also, if you haven't already, I suggest you visit Longdon on Tern near Telford where you will find another smaller iron aqueduct, effectively Thomas Telford's prototype for Pontcysllte, crossing the river Tern. Part of the long abandoned Shrewsbury canal.
So amazing to behold. What a fantastic structure, built by a generation of folks who knew how to work with metal and stone......by hand. Truly a marvel.
Great and informative vid Martin. You are quite right about the little tunnel at the end of the two basins. it was a spur off to the Monsanto chemical works and to make it more quirky it was operated by the LMS ... Imagine that in the heart of the GWR "God wonderful railway" !!
Martin Martin wow would you believe it I live three miles away and cross a bridge over the river Dee which is ground level about a mile away towards Llangollen almost every day. I’ve been watching your channel almost from the start. My parents lived near Manchester which is how I found your channel so I usually give you an A* for your video so today you get a double A** ( and you presented it better than your mate but don’t tell him that lol😂) thank you again 😍😍Brilliant.
ahh..., the wonderful "accie" as it was refered to when I lived near there for some years, but never saw it drained like this.. Formidable engineering . Had many a good walks along the canal there. Brings back lovely memories.. Great video..
Just up the road from where I live! They do similar work occasionally on the Chirk aquaduct about 4 miles to the south. It was built by Telford and his team at the same time, but they used different construction techniques....
excellent went over it in a canal boat in the 80s on a family canal holiday, I will hopefully get to do it again in my own boat. keep up the good work and stay safe
It is worth looking at the Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct on the now disused Shrewsbury canal. This ( the aqueduct is standing). This is one of the very first cast iron aqueducts in the world and was designed by Telford and completed in 1796. It was used, very much so, as a testing ground for Telford for his future structures.
This is great to see, thank you Martin! I visit there a couple of times per year and it’s great to see it being inspected and looked after. Will contribute to the upkeep/fund for sure.
Hey bud I just want to say your videos are awesome we appreciate the history and everything like that you got some awesome content you keep making content like this like that bridge dude will keep watching your videos all the time thank you again God bless you have a blessed day
You lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, man. I would have L O V E D to have been able to do and see that. That was exceptionally interesting. Always miss James though when he is absent. Martin - I must declare this is my most favourite video of all time. You lucky lucky man. Cheers
Fabulous Martin and the gang. Remember watching Fred dibnah taking a sale across in one of his programs. Must be quite an experience!! Can’t help but marvel at things like this how did they do what they did all those years ago. It’s certainly testament to the engineers and navies that we can still use it today!
Hi Martin and crew, now never mind your vertigo my googlies were pulling up tight and it was only on a tablet screen 😭 in real time i would have to be deep inside a boat cabin to get across that one. I see you got your posh dayglo wellies on 😎 Cheers DougT
This is fascinating. I went over this in 1973 (when I was 13) as part of a canal boat holiday, and even at that young age I was utterly mesmerised by the scale of it. Thanks for posting - yet another awesome video.
Hi Martin, that was really interesting. The Colossus of Roads they call him, the collossus of canals too I think. Amazing that so much of it is still original maybe it gets covered in silt and there is little oxygen to corrode it. Back then this really would have been rocket science everything they did, they did for the first time. Thanks for taking us along. Great video as always. All the best!!
Excellent video. It’s an incredible feat of engineering. When you walk over it, look how wide the gap is between the railings. I walked over it years ago when my kids were little and was terrified when I realised my boy was small enough to slip through the gaps.
I have cruised across, as well as walked the aqueduct many times. On an emergency driving course we stopped there and some of us jumped across the waterway at the southern end. Living locally I pass it on the road bridge below four times a day.
A great video Martin and very interesting to watch. It's not very often that it becomes emptied, but you had the chance to show us how it was constructed, with information from a couple of the maintenance people. Many thanks for putting this one on.
At 21:21 the sole green plant in view on the left is a Geranium(Pelargonium) seedling. Always amazed at how plants colonise some amazing locations. Wales is a gem for the world. I feel privileged to have visited, but once.
Thank you for another wonderful video Martin👍 , they were great men of their day to think they designed and built these projects in the days of quill pens and paper , before the days of computer models and design software now so common .
So cool! I learned that this existed a few months ago during @gonewiththewynns canal-boat adventure, but this is a view I never thought I'd get to see. Thank you for all the fascinating footage and the interviews to put it in context!
Fabulous vid as always. The little bridge at the end of the basin lead to the Plas Kynaston canal and served the works it was the start of a planned route to Chester that was never built
Brilliant insight into the history of an amazing engineering achievement. When scaffolding was made from wood and cranes were steam powered, and not the monsters that we are accustomed to seeing in the modern day.
Great video as always. We are looking to take our narrowboat to Llangollen in summer. If you haven’t been over the aqueduct on a boat by then I will let you know when we are going and you would be most welcome to join us. Last time we went over it a couple were walking across and the man said that he had always wanted to cross it in a boat so we invited him on board. He got on, walked to the non towpath side of the boat and dropped to his knees and didn’t get up until we were off the aqueduct.
Hello Martin. An excellent video focusing on the questions that everyone wants answered about the Poncysylte Aqueduct. I am still not convinced about the outflow of the River Tib into The Medlock; I think a die flow test should be carried out. Keep them coming. Pete Glyde
Best brew up yet! That 1964 picture you could still see the tow path was wooden. It would have been amazing to be at the work site in like 1800 with everything being built and put together!
Martin, you definitely need to have a further visit not only to walk the towpath but also on board a boat. At the Trevor Basin they do run trips over the aqueduct to the winding basin and back again. The views from the towpath and boat are fantastic. In 2022 my partner and myself were there, on a coach trip to Llangollen where we joined the cruiser, a ploughman's lunch was provided by the cruise company. We had a very enjoyable day out. Not far away is the source of the water feeding the canal at the Horseshoe Falls which has a car park on the opposite side of the River Dee at Berwyn just off the B5103. The tour company who we went with was G B Tours based in Birkenhead We have been there on a number of occasions taking friends and visitors to the UK and all off them were blown away with the aqueduct especially on the path underneath to see how it was constructed. Keep them coming young man, stay safe and look forward to your next adventure there.
We went to Llangollen years ago and you can see that aqueduct from the canal that runs above the town, which obviously is the same one running across the aqueduct. I always said it would be a great trip across it. What a view.
Thank you for that, a fascinating and informative video . Twenty shillings then , would have the buying power of about £ 100 or $ 80 today . Bread and butter in Welsh is bara menyn , say bar-raa mean . Pontcysyllte, say, pont- sis-ta and just means a Link bridge .
