Llangollen Eisteddfod, Day 1

On Thursday, June 7, we headed up the last few miles of the Llangollen Canal, which narrows to single boat width in three places.  We became the last in a convoy of six canal boats heading upstream toward Llangollen, so we had power in numbers over the few boats heading downstream.  After we passed into northeast Wales at Chirk, the meadows, fields and rolling hills of the West Midlands were left behind, and steeper and more dramatic terrain surrounded us.  The rivers cut deep ravines and flowed in rapids far below the level of the canal.  The geology and geography of Wales posed more of a challenge to the canal building workers, called “navvies,” as well as the designers and engineers, and each mile took longer and required more heavy labor than a mile in England.  The walls of the cuts were higher and more vertical, and at places we seemed to be enveloped in darkness as the sunshine failed to penetrate down the walls and through the foliage. 

Llangollen Canal cut

We moored up just above the town of Llangollen by mid-morning and disembarked with great anticipation.  When we started out for Llangollen, we were not aware that a world famous music competition and festival, the Llangollen Eisteddfod, would be going on while we were there.  The festival was first held in 1947 (so this was the 70^th anniversary) as an attempt to foster world peace after WWII; choirs, singing groups, instrumentalists, folk dancers and other groups attend from all over the world to share their national folk traditions and compete for recognition.  It was decided that Peter and I would explore separately from Paula and Andrew and meet up later in the day.  We were enchanted by the town as we crossed the River Dee.

River Dee running through Llangollen

The two of us headed into the heart of Llangollen and found the visitors’ information center on the main street.  There we obtained a map and brochure about the town, another brochure about the Eisteddfod and information on public transportation from Lllangollen back to Market Drayton and our rental car, since this was our final destination on the canal boat with Paula and Andrew.  While getting lots of helpful information, we decided to purchase tickets for the gala concert that evening in the pavilion on the festival grounds and also to stay for a day more than we had originally planned to enjoy more of the Eisteddfod. 

Armed with lots of information, we went back outside and purchased pasties and drinks at a café on that block and ate at the tables in front, enjoying the ambiance of this lovely little old market town and picking up snatches of singing from afar.  After we had finished eating, we followed the intermittent sounds of singing voices down Church Street and arrived at St. Collen’s Parish Church and realized the voices we had heard were warm-ups for a choral concert in the church at 1 p.m., which we were just in time to enjoy.  Somewhat ironically, we had travelled all the way from California to hear a choir from California!  The 20-person group of young adults were from Palmdale.  They sang a variety of music during their hour-long performance, and every one was astounding.  The acoustics in the lovely church were amazing.

It is from St. Collen, a 6^th century monk, that the name of the town derives.  He and other monks constructed the original church, of which nothing remains.  The current building dates back until at least the 15^th century.  The carved wooden ceiling is the most stunning feature of the structure.  It was built in 1450 by expert craftsmen under the guidance of the Abbot of nearby Valle Crucis Abbey.

St. Collen's Parish Church 

detail of wooden ceiling

After this great musical introduction, Peter and I wandered back through town and over the bridge crossing the whitewater of the River Dee to walk along the towpath from Llangollen to Horseshoe Falls.  This highest section of the canal is still navigable but is reserved for traditional, quiet, horse-drawn canal boats transporting tourists.

Horse drawn canal boat

We passed lovely cottage gardens and looked down at the River Dee flowing over blocks of slate, creating Class II and Class III rapids.  The towpath ends after less than two miles, where we discovered not a waterfall but a man-made weir in the shape of a horseshoe.  The misleadingly named Horseshoe Falls was built to divert water for the Llangollen Canal.  It was not what we were expecting, but it was picturesque. 

On the way back to town, we stopped to look at the Chain Bridge, a span first constructed in the early 1800’s by local coal merchant Exuperius Pickering to open up a cheap transport route across the River Dee, enabling him to transport coal and lime to the canal and to the road from Holyhead to London (now the A5).  (This old Roman road was improved for commerce by the same Thomas Telford who built the canals we traveled on.)  The roadbed hung from a network of handmade chains and was unique for its time. The same chain was used when the bridge was rebuilt in the 1870’s and again as the suspension cables when the span was rebuilt in 1928.  It is now a pedestrian bridge across the rapids of the River Dee by a historic hotel.

Back in Llangollen, Peter and I entered the festival grounds, bought some local ice cream and looked at some local crafts before making it to the performance area.  We entered the enormous pavilion, which seats 4500, but announcements of results of earlier competitions were all to be found there.  It was interesting but not what we wanted to see and hear so we went outside and found an outdoor stage (and Paula and Andrew!) where we watched groups from Albania, Scotland, the Isle of Mann, and, yes, California, as well as others perform for a while.  It didn’t seem to make sense to rush back to the boat or into town for dinner before the evening’s performance, so we purchased Indian food from one of the festival vendors and ate outdoors. 

Albanian dancers

Dancers from the Isle of Mann

The highlight of the day was the 70^th Annual Classical Gala Concert.  We had seats close to the front, and we were surprised at the quality of the acoustics in this large temporary pavilion.  The attention to visual details was also amazing.  At the back and along the front of the stage, at a height of about six feet from the base of the seating area to the foot of the stage, were thick, continuous arrangements of greenery and a vast variety of flowers in whites, yellows, oranges, reds, pinks and purples.  We had never seen such a beautiful floral presentation for a symphony concert.  The woman sitting beside us was a local who has been involved in the flower arrangements for decades, and she described for us the various layers of wire, supports, greenery and cut flowers used to create this feast for the eyes. 

flowers in front of the stage in the pavilion

The Sinfonia Cymru Orchestra was exceptional in its instrumental pieces and in its accompaniment of the three vocal performers:  the world-renowned Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel (a local favorite, of course), the tenor Joseph Calleja and mezzo soprano Eirlys Myfanwy Davies.  They performed a wide variety of operatic pieces as well as a few songs from musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof and Annie Get Your Gun.  When the two men sang duets, the blending of their voices and their bantering style was thrilling.  They returned to the stage for three encores.

The night was balmy as we walked back to Pegotty after a full and delightful day.