There are some things everyone should try and do at least once
in their lives. Fly in a hot air balloon, for example. Gallop a
horse along a beach. And cross the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct at Trevor
by boat.
It really is that special. And if you think we're exaggerating,
have a word with the good people at UNESCO. In 2009 they made the
aqueduct - and 11 miles of the Llangollen Canal - a World Heritage
Site.
They think it's of "outstanding universal value to all
humanity". Which puts this masterpiece of Georgian engineering on a
par with places such as the Pyramids, Machu Picchu or the Taj
Mahal.
Although you do need a head for heights. When Thomas Telford and
William Jessop opened the aqueduct a month after the Battle of
Trafalgar in 1805, it was the tallest canal boat crossing in the
world.
We still call it "the stream in the sky". It's 1,007 feet long
and 126 feet high. And on one side there's nothing between you and
the River Dee far below except a great deal of fresh Welsh air.
www.pontcysyllte-worldheritage.co.uk
Situated in Hawarden is the National Memorial to Victorian prime
Minister, William Ewart Gladstone. It contains 32,000 of his own
books. And best of all, it looks like Hogwarts.
Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, aka the Ladies of
Llangollen, set Regency tongues wagging when they eloped together.
Even straight-laced William Wordsworth visited the Gothic fantasy
at Plas
Newydd.
At the National Trust's Erddig, they like you to go
through the back door. Not because they don't like the look of you.
But because this is the ultimate "upstairs downstairs" stately
home.
Shakespeare wrote about it. Turner painted it, And 2,300
men took seven years to build it. Edward I started Flint Castle in
1277 and didn't stop until he'd created an "iron ring" of castles
all along the North Wales coast.
Pilgrims have been coming to St Winefride's Well at Holywell for
the last 1,300 years. Including Henry V, who wanted to say thanks
for Agincourt. You can still take a dip in the healing
waters.