World-heritage listed ‘Stream in the Sky’ will take your breath away
Not just a tongue twister, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct takes the breath away. Part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site straddling the border of Wales and England, this 18-arched stone and cast-iron wonder carries a canal 38 metres above the fast-flowing River Dee. Horses used to trudge the aqueduct’s narrow, lofty towpath, pulling boats loaded with industrial goods. Now this “Stream in the Sky” is a magnet for leisure seekers and daredevils.
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is an 18-arched stone and cast-iron wonder that carries a canal 38 metres above the fast-flowing River Dee.Credit: Wrexham County Borough Council Tourism
As I walk the aqueduct’s path, clutching the railings, trying but failing to fully savour the wooded, mountainous beauty of my surroundings (the sheer drop causes butterflies and trembling knees), a motorised narrowboat with a dozen chilled-out-looking passengers floats past me. Further behind, eight canoeists are waiting to paddle across.
I could imagine Tom Cruise swinging off this aqueduct in a future Mission: Impossible. Yet while Cruise’s great-great-grandfather hailed from North Wales, you’re more likely to encounter another Hollywood action man in this region. Just a 15-minute drive away is Wrexham, which has been propelled into the global spotlight by Ryan Reynolds, of Marvel’s Deadpool fame, and fellow actor Rob McElhenney, from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
You can travel between Pontcysyllte and Llangollen via the canal, either on a cruise or by walking or cycling the tree-shaded path.Credit: Ginger Pixie Photography
The duo’s takeover and revival of Wrexham AFC, the world’s third-oldest professional football club, has fuelled the Emmy-nominated Disney+ docuseries, Welcome to Wrexham. Founded in 1864, when the area thrummed with coal mines, iron and steel works, the cash-strapped club was being kept afloat by its loyal supporters, and languishing in the fifth tier of English football’s pyramid, when Reynolds and McElhenney assumed control in 2020. Now boosted by sponsors like United Airlines, the resurgent Red Dragons have ambitions of reaching the Premier League, and competing against Manchester City and Liverpool, within a decade.
“The new owners have been a real shot in the arm for the club and the city in general,” says Joe Bickerton, Wrexham tourism manager, as we soak up the atmosphere in The Turf, a pub familiar to Welcome to Wrexham viewers. Hugging the club’s creaking yet rapidly redeveloping Racecourse Ground, this lively watering hole will feature again in the show’s second series.
The bucolic countryside.
Set for release on September 12, 2023, it will follow (spoiler alert!) last season’s dramatic promotions of Wrexham AFC men’s and women’s teams from their respective leagues, plus the joyous celebrations, when Reynolds and McElhenney cemented their growing bond with the local community, joining a bus parade with players and staff (including Wollongong-born back-up goalkeeper Kai Calderbank-Park).
Granted city status for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Wrexham still has the size and feel of a market town, albeit an increasingly international one. Signatures from Americans, Canadians, Australians and Spanish etch the walls of The Turf, and the guest book of the city’s new visitor centre.
“We had loads of Aussies in the other day,” says Sarah Baker, who runs Lot 11, a popular brunch-style cafe inspired by her time living Down Under (expect flat whites, smashed avo toast and specials like pastrami eggs benedict). Wrexham needs more hotels – a few are in the pipeline to meet the growing tourist demand – but The Lemon Tree is a smart base, with 18 neat rooms and an excellent restaurant, where I enjoy char siu pork cheek, roasted Welsh lamb rump and a chocolate ganache infused with Welsh Penderyn whisky (three courses for £35/$67).
Staying here, you’re well-placed for Wrexham’s compact walkable centre, whose highlights include St Giles Church, a medieval landmark with a viewing tower, Ty Pawb (Everybody’s House), a covered food court, market, performance and gallery space, and the soon-to-be-expanded Wrexham Museum, which traces the city’s past and footballing heritage and runs guided walking tours.
On Wrexham’s doorstep are two National Trust properties: Erddig’s handsome landscaped gardens and eclectically furnished country house, and the 13th-century Chirk Castle, which is within the same UNESCO-protected site as the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. So, too, is Llangollen, a postcard-pretty town with a heritage railway that weaves through the bucolic Dee Valley.
The region boasts a wealth of food producers.
You can travel between Pontcysyllte and Llangollen via the canal, either on a cruise or by walking or cycling the tree-shaded path. More relaxing than hair-raising, this seven-kilometre journey is possibly too tranquil for your Tom Cruises or Marvel superheroes, but lovely and scenic all the same. And whichever direction you’re headed, you’ll find pubs and tearooms for refreshments on arrival.
THE DETAILS
Fly
Emirates has flights from Sydney and Melbourne via Dubai to various UK airports, including Birmingham and Manchester - both two hours from Wrexham by rail. Trains also connect Wrexham with London, Cardiff, Chester and Liverpool. See tfw.wales
Stay
Bed and breakfast at The Lemon Tree is priced from around £98 ($187). See thelemontree.org.uk
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