Ellesmere Canal from Hurleston to Llangollen was retained as a water feeder for the Shropshire Union Canal main line and for drinking water. In 1955 an agreement with the Mid & South East Cheshire Water Board secured the canal's future. Despite the formal closure, increasing popularity of the canal with pleasure boats led to its acceptance as an important amenity, and the rebranding as the Llangollen Canal. As the canal was never intended to go to Llangollen, this renaming is an ironic twist symbolic of the canal's convoluted development. The Ellesmere Canal south of Frankton Junction (the Llanymynech Branch) nowadays forms part
Llangollen Canal is now operated by United Utilities, and was given a £6 million upgrade in 2003. Just beyond the A534 Wrexham Road bridge is the entrance to Swanley Bridge Marina, on the west bank of the canal. It has moorings for over 300 boats, and is situated in of farmland, which includes a wood with nature trails. It opened in September 2006, and was built in response to a document published by British Waterways in the spring of that year, which outlined development opportunities for farmers and landowners adjacent to the canal. The two Swanley locks raise the level of the