Llangollen Canal an Act of Abandonment in 1944, allowing it to close of canals, including much of the Shropshire Union system. However, the line from Hurleston to Llangollen and onwards to Llantisilio was saved, as it was the main supply of water to the rest of the system. On 6 September 1945, due to inadequate maintenance, the canal breached its banks east of Llangollen near Sun Bank Halt. The flow of hundreds of tons of water washed away the embankment of the railway further down the hill, creating a crater which was long and deep. This caused the first traffic of the
Ladies of Llangollen and languages, and improving their estate. Over the years they added a circular stone dairy and created a sumptuous garden. Eleanor kept a diary of their activities. Llangollen people simply referred to them as "the ladies". After a couple of years, their life attracted the interest of the outside world. Their house became a haven for visitors travelling between Dublin and London, including writers such as Anna Seward, Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott, but also the military leader the Duke of Wellington and the industrialist Josiah Wedgwood; aristocratic novelist Caroline Lamb, who was