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Dee Valley and LlangollenChirk Aqueduct and Tunnel
Over the Ceiriog on Telford’s aqueduct with the railway viaduct alongside, then straight into a quarter-mile canal tunnel with a towpath through it.
- Distance
- 3.1 mi / 5 km
- Time
- 1 hr 40
- Ascent
- 40 m
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Shape
- There and back
Where it is
The circle shows the general area, not the exact start. Use the directions link below to get to the car park itself. Contours and paths shown are OpenTopoMap, drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
The route
Cross the aqueduct from Chirk Bank and continue through the tunnel, back the same way. Flat, and dark in the middle.
Worth knowing
- Take a torch. The tunnel is 421 metres long and genuinely dark in the centre.
- The aqueduct and the railway viaduct beside it make an unusual pairing, seventy years apart.
- Part of the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site.
What you’ll see
The aqueduct and viaduct together, the Ceiriog below, and the tunnel.
Background
Telford completed the aqueduct in 1801, four years before Pontcysyllte, and the tunnel was driven at the same time.