Berwyn station and the Chain Bridge
About
Berwyn is the first stop up the line from Llangollen, a small station in the gorge between the Dee and the A5. Across the river the Chain Bridge, a footbridge, links the station to the Chainbridge Hotel. The bridge has been rebuilt more than once: a flood took the Victorian bridge in 1928 and the present one dates from 1929, by Wikipedia's account, and it reopened after restoration in 2015, which the Horse Drawn Boat Company confirms. The railway's Berwyn page sends walkers left along the towpath to the Horseshoe Falls and on to Llantysilio church, which it dates to the 15th century and says has a plaque to the poet Robert Browning; turn right instead for what it calls a gentle 45-minute stroll back to Llangollen.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓The Chain Bridge, rebuilt in 1929 after the 1928 flood
- ✓Restored and reopened in 2015
- ✓Llantysilio church and its Robert Browning plaque, per the railway
- ✓Horseshoe Falls a short walk west
Tips
- →Come by train from Llangollen and walk back along the towpath.
- →The railway notes there are no shops at Berwyn beyond the Chainbridge Hotel and, over Velvet Hill, the Britannia Inn.
- →Sources disagree on the 19th-century dates of the earlier bridges, so treat any single year you read for them with care.
Best Season
Accessibility
Not assessed for this record.
More Heritage Activities
Llangollen and Corwen Railway
Heritage trains about 10 miles up the Dee valley from Abbey Road to Corwen, mostly steam-hauled.
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Trevor Basin
Telford's World Heritage aqueduct, 38 metres above the Dee, in Wrexham county 5.5km east of town.
Plas Newydd, home of the Ladies of Llangollen
The Ladies of Llangollen's Gothic house on Hill Street, with free gardens.