I have walked the Pontcysyllte aqueduct on many occasions without fully recognising its importance socially and historically as a major feat of engineering and stonework construction.
It has been a tremendous learning experience to read this outstanding book by Paul A Lynn and it has broadened my insight regarding the outstanding engineering feats of Thomas Telford. The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct has been described as one of the most stupendous works of engineering and art ever accomplished by man. It is unique in that it has 18 piers and 19 arches which support a cast-iron trough carrying the canal water 126 feet above the river.
The book focuses on the author’s experiences when travelling on the canal and viaduct and the construction of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct which carries the Llangollen canal across the river Dee in the beautifully picturesque Vale of Llangollen.
Paul Lynn has an enthralling style of writing which stimulates and maintains the focus of the reader. Key features of the text are the vivid descriptions of the canal journeys undertaken by the author and his wife, supported by the use of excellent photographs, artist impressions, maps and interesting anecdotes and historical analysis which ‘bring the journeys alive’ for the reader. I particularly enjoyed the author’s reflections as he launched his boat along the aqueduct with the fantastic view over the valley 126 feet below.
The author notes the great skill of the engineers and the stone masons in erecting the pillars. He points out that if you have walked across the aqueduct and felt slightly queasy in spite of the generous handrail or travelled in a narrow boat along the trough and gazed over the 6 inch rim with no rail of any sort, consider the challenge faced by masons and labourers in the construction process: they manipulated stones weighing up to half a ton into place to form the pillars while working from a platform measuring 10 feet by 12 feet, suspended 120 feet above the river!
The text clearly shows that Thomas Telford is probably the greatest civil engineer that Britain has ever produced. The author links the work of Telford historically and socially with ‘Canal Mania’ at its height in the early 1790s. He highlights how engineers and industrialist entrepreneurs worked together to develop a transport infrastructure based on canals as Britain’s great industrial revolution blossomed from 1760.
For example, Telford worked closely with William Hazeldine of Shrewsbury, a master of his trade who developed a skill for manufacturing iron castings. Hazeldine set up a furnace at Plas Kynaston, Cefn-mawr to supply the iron plates for the aqueducts at Chirk and Pontcysyllte.
The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was completed in 1805 as a key part of the Ellesmere canal. Prior to constructing the revolutionary aqueduct at Pontcysyllte, Telford showed ‘great preparatory work’ at Longdon-on-Tern and Chirk to establish that cast-iron troughs to hold water on top of stonework could work as navigable cast-iron aqueducts. Competition from a growing railway network meeting the needs of industry more effectively, resulted in the planned extension of the Ellesmere Canal never reaching completion.
As a tribute to Telford’s engineering skills, revolutionary ideas and as a leader of a workforce, Unesco granted World Heritage status to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in 2009 as a remarkable example of the construction of a human-engineered waterway. Following this recognition that Pontcysyllte is an outstanding feat of engineering, the aqueduct and the Vale of Llangollen have become popular tourist attractions.
This book by Paul A Lynn is a stimulating source of information, excellent photographs and maps for visitors to the area. I am sure that the book will provide a great opportunity for readers of ‘Love Wrexham’ magazine to learn all about the outstanding work of civil engineering which resulted in the ‘aqueduct in the sky’ at Pontcysyllte.
This book review was kindly provided by John Morris
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