Route 84 – Chirk To The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct – National Cycle Network – Video Guide

Join me as I explore route 84 of the national cycle network from Chirk train station along the Llangollen branch of the Shropshire union canal. We join the canal just after the Chirk tunnel and Chirk Aqueduct but don’t worry we have another tunnel to pass through along the way and an aqueduct to cross on the journey. We pass through the Whitehouse tunnel, 175 meter in length before coming to the Dee valley. We cross the Dee valley on the world famous, Thomas Telford designed Pontcysyllte aqueduct, 38 meters above the river Dee. We great views of the valley and the Cefn viaduct which takes the train line between Shrewsbury and Chester. We also have a look at the Froncysyllte lime kilns and the Kronospan factory along the way.

To carry on along route 85 this is the video guide:

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Hello thank you for joining me today we’re going to be cycling along Route 84 of the national cycle network from cherk on the Welsh English border to here the Ponto Sil Aqueduct we’re starting today’s ride in the welshtown of cherk just next to the rather quaint train station here parking for the ride can be found on Station Road or in the canal wood industrial estate where there’s a small car park we’re going to be heading north along Route 84 which follows the clang

Goem branch of the shopshire Union canal and the end point of the ride will be in the small town of Trevor just across the Ponka suth Aqueduct apologies in advance for my Welsh pronunciations I am neither consistent or very good at it but I will try my

Best if you park on station road head across the Railway Bridge and the entrance to Route 84 will be found on your right with these blue signs to Mark the way as you turn off the road onto Route 84 be aware there is quite a step as you

Go down onto the canal tow path it’s not very bike friendly and even on my mountain bike with 29in wheels it was a bit of a bump so just something to be careful of and then we’re going to head down the hill here down to the canal tow

Path immediately behind us at this point is the cherk tunnel this is a 421 M long tunnel it does have a toe path but it’s not part of the national cycle Network so I’m not going to head through it it comes out at the other side just before

Cherk Aqueduct which crosses over the English Welsh border at this point the canal is in a bit of a cutting and as it’s been a rather wet February and March the toe path isn’t in the best condition it is quite muddy um but it’s definitely still perfectly ridable um especially on my mountain

Bike but I probably wouldn’t be ringing a road bike down here especially during the winter the entire ride that we’re doing today follows this canal toe path so it is entirely traffic free the ride from cherk to the Pont couth Aqueduct is about 3 and 1/2 mil

Long so there and back I’m doing about 7 mil today so not a particularly long ride but we are going to be going through a tunnel and over an aqueduct so it’s quite an interesting one and once we reach the small town of Trevor it’s also possible to carry on along Route 85

Of the national cycle Network towards clang Goan and the H shoe falls I did that ride a couple of years ago now and so I’ll put a link to that video in the description but definitely two lovely routes you could link up for

A nice 10 m ride or 20 M if you rideing both ways and we do go through some extremely pretty scenery definitely one I would advise to really take your time with and enjoy as we carry on along the canal it does open up a little bit as we leave

The cutting and if you look behind you at this point you’ll see the corona span Factory a large employeer in cherk which manufactures wood based panels canals are generally pretty peaceful places today but let’s not forget they were built to support industry and so it’s always interesting to see that

There are large industrial areas next to canals to this day this canal was no different it was built to support industry and connect the industrial centers of the West Midlands and Northeast Wales to the river Mery and the port of Liverpool however the canal was never completed

Because of rising costs and failure to generate enough commercial traffic the sections that were completed were taken in and incorporated into other Canal systems this part was incorporated into the shopshire Union canal and is now known today as the clang Galan Canal plans for the canal were made in

1791 and the final part to be constructed was the Pont cth Aqueduct built in 1805 the section of canal that we’re riding today was made a world heritage site in 2009 recognizing its importance in the history of the British Canal system the whole section that was made

To a world heritage site included two aqueducts and two tunnels one of each that we will be riding through and across today we’re now passing by jerk Marina if you’re looking to travel this route by boat rather than by bike this is somewhere where you would be able to hire a boat

From but we are today traveling by bike so let’s carry on along the canal and it’s not far from chir Marina where we come across the White House tunnel this tunnel is 175 M long and takes us under the main A5 Road it was designed by Thomas tord and William

Jessup and finished in 1802 there is a sign that tells us to Dismount before going through this tunnel and I definitely agree with that advice the head room in here is not particularly great and so cycling through this would be extremely difficult and these railings are very

Old and not particularly high so I definitely would not advise cycling through here I also found it much easier by putting the bike on my right up against the wall where the Headroom is the lowest and walk in on the barrier side as you can see it gets quite dark

In the middle of the tunnel I have a little light on the front of my bike which I put on specifically for this tunnel just so people coming into the tunnel from the other side could see that I was coming through I think if you had two people pushing bikes it would be

Extremely difficult to get past each other on this very narrow toe path after a 175 M walk we do eventually make it to the other side of this tunnel and back out into the daylight were able to get back on the bike and start making some progress again down the

Canal from here we head under a couple of bridges the first carries a private road that heads towards a farm and the second that goes under the B 5605 was hedged towards Newbridge since we left cherk the railway is run pretty much alongside this canal up until this point

But after coming out from under this bridge the railway continues straight on across the D Valley and we go towards the left and head down the valley a little bit further before making our Crossing if you look to your right through the trees at this point you’d be

Able to see the railway crossing the D Valley on the kaffen viaduct the viaduct is 466 M long and stands at its highest point 45 m above the river D and carries the railway from Shrewsbury to Chester the canal seems to get a bit busier here

As we pass the town of Front culi and pass the lime kilms here these kils were last used in 1899 and the canal was an important part of the usage bringing in the raw materials and taking away the finished product from these KS if you’re enjoying this video please do

Me a massive favor and subscribe to the channel it’s completely free and will help me to continue making these videos in the future the toe path here is very wide and tarmacked that’s because it’s actually used as an access road for a couple of properties so you may on

Occasion see the odd car on this route and that the way the cars that get here from the town on the other side is over this ingenious little lift bridge that we’re going to have a look at now when no boats are needing to come through this spliff Bridge allows access

For people and cars across the canal when an narrow boo approaches it can stop and use a special winding tool this uses the counter w at the top of the bridge to lift the road section up and allow the narrow boat to pass through this is where you attach the

Tool I’m told it’s the same tool that you would use for a lockgate which all narrow boers will have and here’s a picture I found of one that’s open right we’re not far from the main event now the crossing of the river D on the Ponto Su

Aqueduct the canal as we bear to the right here starts to carry on along an embankment you can see we’re sort of lifted up from the surrounding scenary as it makes its way out onto the D Valley soon the aqueduct itself comes into view stretching out across the

Valley in front of us this Aqueduct designed by Thomas tord and William Jessup like the tunnel that we previously passed through was finished in 1805 it’s 307 M long but only 3.7 M wide its tallest point it stands 38 m above the river D below due to the narrowness of the toe

Path we’re not allowed to cycle over this so we’re going to get off and walk across the 307 M of this Aqueduct but to be honest with no railings between myself and the water and the height of this Aqueduct I wouldn’t want to cycle across this anyway even if I was

Allowed the reward for getting off your bike and making the walk across this Aqueduct are these spectacular views of the D Valley looking North up the valley you can see the Cen Viaduct which takes the railway across the D Valley the narrowness of this toe path and the fact that no railings between

You and the water becomes particularly apparent when you need to pass another cyclist a bit squeeze is it thank you not as bad as I thought actually that cheers thank but again it’s worth the effort of squeezing by to get these fantastic views of the river

D I’m sorry about the finger over the lens there slightly I was holding on to my phone for dear life as it was very very windy up here when I filmed but I hope you can still see the Fantastic views that you get from the top of this Aqueduct 38 m above the

River the original plan for the aqueduct here was to have a series of locks on each side of the valley to bring the canal down and then cross over the river on a smaller Stone Aqueduct when Thomas tord was hired to work on the canal he changed the plan

For this Aqueduct he decided by using an iron tub to hold the water on the aqueduct he would not need locks either side and he could build the aqueduct much higher than the original plan despite considerable public skepticism about the method of construction the bridge was obviously a

Success and it was one of the first major engineering Feats for Thomas tford due to the decline in Canal traffic the aqueduct was officially closed in 1944 however despite the closure of the canal to traffic the aqueduct was still maintained as it supplied water from the

River D to the remaining part of the Shropshire Union canal in more recent times this section of canal has become popular with holiday makers and tourists with people enjoying the beautiful scenery and crossing the aqueduct in canoes and Canal boats thank you and we’ve now reached the end of

This ride and the end of this section of Route 84 of the national cycle Network this is the Trevor Basin where we can get back on the bike and carry on along Route 85 towards clangin and the Horseshoe Falls and to carry on on Route

85 you need to take a right here and head down under the aqueduct or like me you can follow the path down to the bottom of the valley for some beautiful views of the aqueduct thank you very much for watching I hope you’ve enjoyed the video and if you have

Please do press that subscribe button I really would appreciate it it keeps the wheels of the channel rolling if you’ve not watched my Route 85 video that’s probably a great one to watch after this keep safe and happy Cycling