Cruise Details - Leaving Llangollen Basin we travel to Trevor following the River Dee to our right.  This section of canal has many tight sections where only one boat can pass at a time. On reaching Trevor this is where we approach the Pontcysyllte  Aqueduct ‘The stream in the sky’ and the longest aqueduct in the UK.  Having crossed this impressive UNESCO structure we continue to meander through the country side where we pass under our first tunnel and our shortest. Soon after we approach Chirk but before we will travel through Chirk tunnel and immediately cross Chirk Aqueduct, equally as impressive as the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The remaining journey of the Llangollen canal is without question one of the prettiest canals in the country. We do pass a few little town/villages including Ellesmere and Whitchurch before our decent of Grindley Brook staircase locks, some of the busiest locks on the whole canal network. We continue our journey until we reach the end of the Llangollen Canal at Hurleston Junction. We can also see the Hurleston Reservoir which is filled by water being passed from the River Dee at Llangollen into the canal and the canal being the vehicle to transport it the 40+ miles, this is why there is a flow on the Llangollen canal.  We join the Shropshire Union Canal (main line) and head North towards Chester, sadly we only experience a few miles on the main line, however, we turn right heading East and join the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. We stay on this section of canal for 10 miles till we reach Middlewich (Kings Junction). But before we turn onto the Trent and Mersey Canal we must first pass the shortest canal in the country, the Wardle Lock Branch. We will learn the reasoning of this section on board. At Kings Junction we turn right and our final canal till we reach Stoke on Trent. This is also where our climb begins as up to now we have only descended in the locks.  This section to Harecastle Tunnel is 13 miles with 31 locks, a stretch commonly referred to as ‘Heartbreak Hill’ – the reason being the locks are spread out evenly so most people, rather than getting back on the boat between locks, walk ahead to set the locks for the entire stretch. Reaching the summit we reach the Northern entrance of the Harecastle Tunnel. This is one of the longest tunnels on the canal network and the longest of our cruise to Stoke on Trent. The tunnel is one way traffic so we are given permission to enter when clear and should be underground for up to 40 minutes, if not longer.  On leaving the tunnel it’s just a short cruise to Stoke on Trent but before we finish our cruise we will moor at the Middleport Pottery where you are welcome to explore at your leisure.  We will most likely finish in Festival Park Marina.