Yesterday must have been the hottest day we have experienced so far. It was humid, so we decided to walk to Horseshoe Falls as it was shaded all the way. We packed a picnic and a flagon of water and set off. The area here is part of a World Heritage site along with the aqueduct, and it is easy to see why. It has outstanding beauty which is enhanced by the lovely weather.

Horseshoe Falls area which is the start of the water that feeds the canal.

The falls

a closer view of the falls. The water is fed down by a valve house that meters the flow of water into the canal

A horsedrawn boat ferries tourists along the way to the falls

The horses were changed with each trip due to the hot weather

We walked along a bit further to Llantisilio church where many gravestones were written in Welsh.

Llantisilio church

We stopped on the way back for our picnic in a shady part of the wood. We returned to the boat and then tried to chill out after a shower as by this time the heat was unbearable. Don’t like to moan as I love the heat usually, but I think the humidity drains you.

I’m now going to show some pictures of Llangollen town as we went there on Monday after we had moored in the wharf. The cost of mooring in the wharf is £6 a night and allows a hook up to water and electric. Needless to say I made good use of this and did 4 loads of washing, that didn’t take long to dry.

Llangollen station that runs a steam train through the valley

Llangollen bridge that spans the River Dee. Used to be a toll bridge many years ago.

River Dee from the bridge

We walked through the town up to a house called Plas Newydd, which was occupied by 2 eccentric friends, who originated from Ireland, but decided to escape together to avoid loveless marriages. They lived there from 1779-1831, and the house is preserved as it would have been in their time, with lots of oak wood carved decorations throughout the house. They became known as “the ladies of Llangollen”, and were visited by many famous people over the years including Browning,Tennyson and Wordsworth.

Plas Newydd house

We stopped for lunch in a local cafe in the town, and continued our look around. From the town can be seen a ruin called Castell Dinas Bran. It is thought to have had links with the Holy Grail, and it was built by a prince called Bran. The visible remains date from the late 13th century.

Castell Dinas Bran

There was only one thing left to sample and we had them for tea that evening…..

A Welsh Oggy!

Today being Wednesday we were up early again after a restless, sticky night (despite all the doors and windows being open), and travelled down to Trevor basin. Managed to squeeze into a space opposite the Anglo Welsh hire boat base and had lunch out in the pub opposite. Not something we do very often but thoroughly enjoyable. Tomorrow we go back over the aqueduct and maybe 2 tunnels and Chirk aqueduct to get back to Chirk; as we want to visit Chirk castle (a NT property) that is within walking distance of the canal.