Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

This famous aqueduct crosses the valley of the Dee near Llangollen, carrying the canal 127 feet above the river on 18 stone pillars. It has been a feature of the landscape since 1805, when it was completed by Thomas Telford and William Jessop. The canal is carried in an iron trough 11'10" wide, 5'3" deep and 1007 feet in length.

Somehow, I'd never actually visited the aqueduct until today, when Carol took a side road off the A5 so that I could photograph a rainbow. The clouds had shifted by the time I took the shot, so I didn't get the effect I was after but, having stopped, we decided to walk across the aqueduct. The sun had come out and it was quite mild so quite a number of visitors were walking along the footway across the aqueduct.

Telford's novel approach to canal building showed what was possible and his methods were later used by the railways where cuttings, embankments, bridges and viaducts were similarly required. In fact, looking down the valley from the aqueduct, you get a good view of the viaduct built to carry the Shrewsbury - Wrexham line of the Great Western Railway.

I was also intrigued by a hydraulically-operated lifting bridge across the canal. This bridge is rather younger, built by British Waterways in 1990.

My pictures

I took a number of other pictures which are currently missing, as explained here. I'm sorry.

Harvesting at Ty Gwyn

Harvesting in progress (Photo: R. MacCurrach)

I've written about the small commercial woodland at Ty Gwyn in an earlier post. This year, Ty Gwyn became a 'Certified Woodland' as the management has been certified to the Sustainability Criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council.

The commercial spruce from about half of the woodland at Ty Gwyn is being harvested in late 2009. The timber has been sold as "standing trees" and so the purchaser is responsible for felling and carrying away.

Harvesting in modern woodlands is largely automated and the 'Harvester' is central to the operation. This tracked or partially-tracked vehicle can work in difficult terrain. The jib is a little like that on a 'JCB' but instead of a bucket, there is a complex harvester head which splits so as to pass around the trunk of the tree to be felled. The head then firmly grasps the trunk and a built-in chain-saw cuts through the trunk. The felled tree is then lowered to a horizontal position so that minor branches can be automatically stripped as the trunk is passed through the harvester head. Finally, the trunk is chain-sawed into preset lengths which are laid on the ground to await collection by the Forwarder.

The Forwarder is another vehicle adapted for harsh conditions, usually with some sort of 'Hiab' crane for lifting logs into the load space. Forwarders are often articulated with large tractor-type wheels. Their job is to transfer logs to a suitable loading point with road access where conventional timber lorries can take away the logs.

More pictures.

Brewood Scouts visit Brewood Hall

Brewood Scouts made an evening visit to Brewood Hall on Friday, 6th November 2009. Jan Ford talked briefly about the history of the Hall before taking the group on a conducted tour of the principal rooms. There were plenty of questions from the young people about the Hall itself and the artefacts on display.

The visit concluded with orange juice and biscuits in the dining room. The Scouts impressed both with their keen interest in everything they saw and their excellent discipline. This was certainly the first visit by the Scouts to the Hall in over 40 years.

More pictures.