The Hidden Highway
A nineteenth-century rhyme places six of the 'Seven Wonders of Wales' in the North Wales borderlands:
Pistyll Rhaeadr,
Wrexham Steeple,
Snowdon's Mountain without its people,
Overton Yew Trees,
St Winifrede's Well,
Llangollen Bridge and Gresford Bells...
Chirk Castle (National Trust)
The magnificent castle has been continuously inhabited since its construction in the thirteenth century. It guards the beautiful Ceiriog valley and its elegant staterooms contrast with the miserable dungeons. There is a picturesque hawkhouse in the lovely gardens.
Chirk Aqueduct was built by the famous engineer, Thomas Telford. Seventy feet (21m) high, it spans the Ceiriog valley with ten striding arches. Even higher at 126 feet (38m) is the Pontcysylle Aqueduct which carries the Llangollen Canal over the River Dee. You can walk across or take a forty-five minute voyage on a canal boat - either way it is an unforgettable experience. The Shropshire Union and llangollen Canals criss-cross the area, and pleasure boats offer trips on them from several locations.
Llangollen
This beautiful town is famed for its steam railway, canal, and the musical Eisteddfod International Music Festival, which attracts participants from more than thirty nations. The forteenth-century bridge is one of e 'Seven Wonders of Wales'.
Celebrated local characters include ' The Ladies of Llangollen', who lived at Plas Newydd with their maid, 'Molly the Basher'. The Ladies were two Irish women who eloped here from Waterford and entertained many national and literary figures of their day, including the Duke of Wellington, William Wordsworth and Sir Walter Scott. Plas Newydd is an elegant black and white house where the classical style is mixed with Gothic with picturesque results. The interior has a large painting by Rex Whistler, an artist who had associations with Plas Newydd in the 1930s.
The Llangollen Railway is a standard-gauge steam railway which winds through the beautiful Dee Valley for several miles to a terminous at Carrog.
The ruins of Valle Crucis Abbey are just two miles (3.2km) from Llangollen. this is the most interesting ecclesiastical ruin in North Wales. Much of the west front of the abbey church survives, including the rose window.
Ellesmere
The town takes its name from Ellesmere, the largest of six glacial lakes which make up 'Shropshire's Lake District'. The pretty market town has a mediaval street plan lined by timber-framed buildings as well as some elegant Georgian houses. Visit the Mere Visitor Centre to pick up information about the town and its meres, including leaflets on walks and bird watching.
Canal Wharf, where colourful pleasure craft have their moorings, is a reminder that Ellesmere was once the centre of a busy canal network. Thomas Telford drew his plans for the llangollen Canal from his offices at Ellesmere.
A circular crown bowling green on the site of a Norman motte and bailey castle is reputedly the oldest bowling green of this type in the country.
At nearby Erbistock on an idyllic spot by the River Dee stands St Hilary's a small sandstone church on grownd hallowed by more than 1000 years of worship.
Overton is home to a group of yew trees that has been growing here since medieval times, another of the 'Seven Wonders of Wales'.
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