Ironbridge, Blists Hill, and Llangolen canals - Sept 10th

Ironbridge, the site of the first cast iron bridge ever, in 1781.We went to the Blists Hill Victorian Village . They had many period-dressed actors and such roaming the town. We learned a lot about children working the clay mines, brick firing, and early development of metal forging.

We were fascinated with the vast canal system covering Great Britain, and visited two canal aqueducts near Chirk. Here's a link to a map of the system, with hundreds of miles of canals and hundreds of self-operated locks and tunnels. The canal is generally only 8-ft wide, with some 16-ft wide places for passing, and occasionally a triangle for turning around. Before motors, horses pulled the boats from alongside the canal. The canals were built 200 years ago for the purpose of transport of materials and goods. Many people now own or rent up to 70-ft canal boats for pleasure.
This boat is on the highest aqueduct in the system, the Pontcysyllte aqueduct.