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Plas Kynaston Canal - A Lost Canal Byway With A Future

Stone was cut at quarries above Cefn Mawr. Much of the mineral wealth of the area was exported via the Plas Kynaston Canal, through Trevor Basin, over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and away on the Shropshire Union Canal, until the railway reached Ruabon in 1855.

The Inland Waterways Association will be looking at a lost canal byway with a future at its meeting on Monday 14 November (2011).

The meeting, at the Narrowboat Inn, Ellesmere Road, Whittington, will hear a talk from branch historian Peter Brown about the Plas Kynaston Canal, which was once an important part of the Llangollen Canal. After being lost in the Cefn Mawr industrial area, the Plas Kynaston Canal Group now hope to breathe new life into the canal, as a catalyst for the regeneration of the area (MAP).

Branch President Michael Limbrey said, "Today's Llangollen Canal brings visitors from all over, and is famous for the great aqueducts in the World Heritage Site.

The Plas Kynaston canal was built from the Llangollen Canal at Trevor as part of the transport network which was essential for the world's first industrial revolution. It provided an outlet for the industrial area south of Wrexham which was rich in coal and minerals.

"One of the earliest developments in the area was the establishment at Cefn Mawr of the Plas Kynaston foundry by Shrewsbury ironmaster William Hazeldine who cast there the ironwork for Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Telford structures on the Holyhead Road and Caledonian Canal.

"As the industries of the area developed, the canal was extended into Cefn Mawr, surviving to decay in the last century. With the closure of the last of the industrial works in the last few years, can the canal once again be an asset to the area?

"Peter Brown will tell us a fascinating story of entrepreneurs developing the industries of the area, of the canal and tramroads bringing traffic to the Llangollen Canal at Trevor, and of industrial decline and new opportunities in the twenty-first century."

The talk is at the Narrowboat Inn, Ellesmere Road, Whittington at 7.30pm Monday 14 November (2011)

Admission is free and all are welcome.

The meeting will also be an opportunity to purchase the 2012 calendar produced by the branch and the Association's Christmas Cards which are on sale at the Shrewsbury Charity Christmas Shop in St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury.