Llangollen

Coordinates: 52°58′12″N 3°10′12″W / 52.970°N 3.170°W / 52.970; -3.170

Llangollen (Welsh pronunciation: [ɬaŋˈɡɔɬɛn]) is a small town and community in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, situated on the River Dee and on the edge of the Berwyn mountains. It had a population of 3,658 at the 2011 census.

History

Llangollen takes its name from the Welsh llan meaning "a religious settlement" and Saint Collen, a 6th-century monk who founded a church beside the river. St Collen is said to have arrived in Llangollen by coracle. There are no other churches in Wales dedicated to St Collen, and he may have had connections with Colan in Cornwall and with Langolen in Brittany.

Situated above the town to the north is Castell Dinas Brân, a stronghold of the Princes of Powys. Beyond the castle is the limestone escarpment known as the Eglwyseg Rocks. The outcrop continues north to World's End in Wrexham. The area nearest the castle is the Panorama Walk, and a monument to poet I.D. Hooson from the village of Rhosllannerchrugog can be found there.

Llangollen Railway

The Llangollen Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Llangollen) is a volunteer-run heritage railway in Denbighshire, Wales, which operates between Llangollen and Corwen.

At 10 miles (16 km) long, it is currently the longest preserved standard gauge steam railway in Wales. It operates daily in summer as well as weekends throughout the winter months, using a variety of mainly ex-GWR steam locomotives. A minority of timetabled trains are diesel-hauled.

Work had been in the later stages of being carried out on 2 ¹⁄₂ miles (4.0 km) of extension from Carrog to a new station (and western terminus) on the outskirts of Corwen, which has now brought the railway's total operating length to 10 miles (16 km).

History

Commercial Service: 1865–1962

Llangollen was already a popular place for tourists by the 1840s. Travel up to this point had been by horse-drawn carriage, but by the 1840s the Shrewsbury to Chester line had been completed, allowing passengers to alight at Llangollen Road (later known as Whitehurst Halt), and then take a coach towards Holyhead.

North Wales

North Wales (Welsh: Gogledd Cymru) is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. Retail, transport and educational infrastructure are centred on Wrexham, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno and Bangor. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales, and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England.

North Wales was traditionally divided into three regions: Upper Gwynedd (or Gwynedd above the Conwy), defined as the area north of the River Dyfi and west of the River Conwy); Lower Gwynedd (or Gwynedd below the Conwy, also known as the Perfeddwlad and defined as the region east of the River Conwy and west of the River Dee); and Ynys Môn (or Anglesey), a large island off the north coast..

The southern boundary is arbitrary and its definition may depend on the use being made of the term. For example, the boundary of North Wales Police differs from the boundary of the North Wales area of the Natural Resources Wales and the North Wales Regional Transport Consortium (Taith). The historic boundary follows the pre 1996 county boundaries of Merionethshire and Denbighshire which in turn closely follows the geographic features of the river Dovey to Aran Fawddwy, then crossing the high moorlands following the watershed until reaching Cadair Berwyn, and then following the river Rhaeadr and river Tanat to the Shropshire border. Montgomeryshire is sometimes referred to as being in northern (but not North) Wales.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (Welsh pronunciation: [ˌpɔntkəˈsəɬtɛ], full name in Welsh: Traphont Ddŵr Pontcysyllte) is a navigable aqueduct that 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 Great Britain, a Grade I Listed Building and a World Heritage Site.

When the bridge was built, it linked the villages of Froncysyllte, at the southern end of the bridge in the Cysyllte township of Llangollen parish (from where it takes its name), and Trevor (Trefor in Welsh), at the northern end of the bridge in the Trefor Isaf township, also of Llangollen parish. Both townships were later transferred to Wrexham County Borough following local government reorganisation.

The name Pontcysyllte is in the Welsh language and means "Cysyllte Bridge". The township of Cysyllte existed for centuries before the bridge was built. For most of its history, the aqueduct was known as Pont y Cysyllte ("Bridge of Cysyllte"). Other translations such as "Bridge of the Junction" or "The Bridge that links" are modern, and incorrect, derived from the literal English translation of cysyllte as "junctions" or "links."