CHAP. VI. 



THE ELLESMERE CANAL. 



349 



executed after the ordinary manner. The aqueduct was 

 formally opened for traffic in 1805. "And thus," says. 

 Telford, "has been added a striking feature to the beau- 

 tiful vale of Llangollen, where formerly was the fastness 

 of Owen Glendower, but which, now cleared of its 

 entangled woods, contains a useful line of intercourse 

 between England and Ireland ; and the water drawn 

 from the once sacred Devon furnishes the means of 

 distributing prosperity over the adjacent land of the 

 Saxons." l 



It is scarcely necessary to refer to the other works 

 upon this canal, some of which were of considerable 

 magnitude, though they may now appear dwarfed by 

 comparison with the works of subsequent engineers. 

 Thus, there "were two difficult tunnels cut through hard 

 rock, under the rugged ground which separates the 

 valleys of the Dee and the Ceriog. One of these is 500 

 and the other 200 yards in length. To ensure a supply 

 of water for the summit of the canal, the lake called Bala 

 Pool was dammed up by a regulating weir, and by its 

 means the water was drawn off at Llandisilio when re- 

 quired for the purposes of the navigation ; the navigable 

 feeder being six miles long, carried along the bank of 

 the Llangollen valley. All these works were skilfully 

 executed ; and when the undertaking was finished, Mr. 

 Telford may be said to have fairly established his repu- 

 tation as an engineer of first-rate ability. 



We now return to Telford' s personal history during 

 this important period of his career. He had long pro- 



the design, as well as the suggestion 

 of the use of iron (as admitted by Mr. 

 Hughes himself), and the execution of 

 the entire works, rested with the 

 acting engineer. This is borne out 

 by the report published by the Com- 

 pany immediately after the formal 

 opening of the Canal in 1805, in 

 which they state : " Having now de- 

 tailed the particulars relative to the 



Canal, and the circumstances of the 

 concern, the committee, in concluding 

 their report, think it but justice due 

 to Mr. Telford to state that the works 

 have been planned with great skill 

 and science, and executed with much 

 economy and stability, doing him, as 

 well as those employed by him, infi- 

 nite credit. (Signed) BRIDGEWATER." 

 1 Life, p. 45. 



