Cefn Mawr seeks recognition and economic benefit from its proximity to the popular Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
About 500,000 people visit the aqueduct each year. They may not know Cefn Mawr helped build it. Cefn Mawr’s quarries gave stone, and foundries made the iron.
UNESCO recognized the aqueduct in 2009. Since then, visitor numbers soared. Nearby Froncysyllte sees traffic and crowds, and locals are often frustrated.
Cefn Mawr struggles and was the county’s second poorest place in 2023. The village has another viaduct but no tourism boom, as few visitors wander up to the village.
Cefn Mawr used to be thriving. Its economy declined after the UNESCO status for the aqueduct, and some wonder if it is really helping local communities.
Llangollen and Chirk benefit from the aqueduct, as people connect them to the site, not Cefn Mawr. Llangollen is packed, but Cefn Mawr is quiet. Cefn Mawr faces problems, like parking, with few gains.
David Metcalfe wants to change this and opened a visitor center in Cefn Mawr. It’s in a renovated old chapel: the Ebenezer Gallery.
The Ebenezer Gallery has a visitor center that focuses on the aqueduct site. It also has an art gallery and hosts a climate crisis center. The Plas Kynaston Canal Group manages it all.
The center shows how Cefn Mawr feels forgotten. Maps leave out the village’s name, and plans for visitors hardly mention Cefn Mawr either.
Metcalfe tried to build a car park in 2012 near the aqueduct, on a factory site. Flexsys, a rubber factory, closed in 2010, and another factory also closed, as manufacturing vanished.
A supermarket was planned, and Metcalfe wanted a car park to help Cefn Mawr. It would be near the aqueduct and village center, so visitors could choose where to go.
Metcalfe says the car park makes sense now. Buses could bring 10% of visitors to Cefn Mawr, which is 50,000 people each year. This could boost the town’s economy.
The council rejected his car park plan because of flooding concerns. They are now proposing their car park twelve years later, which would have parking spaces and water basins. However, it will take existing aqueduct overflow parking.
The council can approve the car park, with a deadline to secure funds by March 2025. The project is not approved yet.
The Canal & River Trust has concerns, as a new path to the canal could damage a very important bridge. Ponds nearby have protected newts.
Some question a car park plan and prefer public transport and walking. The Council says the parking avoids street parking.
The Health & Safety Executive also objects, as the site still has hazardous substances consent. The Council says the risk is low, but they seek more study.
Construction might stop if anything is found, and the government could review the car park plan.
The council says they are still on track, and the car park work will proceed if conditions are met. They say work should begin as soon as possible, so the funding can still be used in 2025/26.
Metcalfe supports the council’s plan, but he wants a park-and-ride system for Cefn Mawr. He says a bus company and charities agree, and the charities would benefit.
Bus passengers to Cefn Mawr would pay 50p, with charities getting 25p and the bus company getting 25p. This would give the bus company £12,500, as buses will be already running.
The car park needs a bus stop so people can visit Cefn Mawr. They can also look around Metcalfe’s visitor center, as he owns a pub in the village.
Cefn Mawr is called the industrial heartland. Six iron bridges used iron from its foundry. Shropshire calls itself the start of the Industrial Revolution, but Cefn Mawr is better.