Llangollen Canal not completed until 1805. To join the two halves up, a heavily engineered route from Trevor Basin via Ruabon and Brymbo to the River Dee at Chester was planned, but very little of it was built. Instead, the present route from Frankton to Hurleston Junction on the Chester Canal was constructed, and opened in 1805. To supply the system with water, a navigable feeder was built to Llantisilio, just beyond Llangollen, where the Horseshoe Falls weir was constructed on the River Dee to allow the water to be abstracted. As part of the Shropshire Union system, the canal from Hurleston
Llangollen use of canals for leisure took off in the 1970s and 1980s, the route, twisting through Welsh hills and across the Dee Valley on the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, has made it the most famous and busiest in Britain. The canal is an important part of Llangollen's attraction as a holiday destination. A marina, built at the end of the navigable section, allows summer visitors to moor overnight in Llangollen. The railway was extended from Ruabon, via Acrefair and Trevor, to reach Llangollen by 1865, operating passenger and goods services. The Ruabon to Barmouth Line became part of the Great Western Railway.