Llangollen route 418, offering journeys to Wrexham and to London via Shrewsbury, Telford and Birmingham. The Ellesmere Canal was intended to connect the coal mines and ironworks at Ruabon and Wrexham to the canal network and thence to the sea via the River Mersey and the River Severn. The plans were altered, and instead of connecting Trevor northwards to the sea via the River Dee and southwards to the Severn, the canal ran eastwards to join the national network at Hurleston Junction on the Shropshire Union Canal near Nantwich. A feeder canal, navigable to Llangollen, was constructed from Trevor to tap
Llangollen Canal appeal against closure, and gave the first hints that such canals could be retained because of their social value for recreation. Hugh McKnight, the editor of the Inland Waterways Association's "Bulletin", wrote an optimistic report in 1966, pointing to the achievements of the first 20 years of the organisation's existence, mentioning the changes in public opinion concerning the canals, and pointing particularly to the growth in leisure use on the Llangollen Canal and the Oxford Canal. Official attitudes changed, and the provisions of the Transport Act 1968 placed the canals under the control of the British Waterways Board, who were