Froncysyllte

Froncysyllte, commonly colloquially known as "Fron", is a village in Wrexham, Wales and stands on the banks of the River Dee and the Llangollen Canal. It is situated on the main A5 road which runs from London to Holyhead.

Aqueduct

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was built by Thomas Telford in 1795 to span the River Dee and reach the industrial centres at Ruabon and Wrexham.

Choir

Froncysyllte is famous for the Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir, which began in 1947, when plans were announced to hold the first Llangollen Eisteddfod. A local man, Gomer Powell, formed a choir, with JR Jones as first chairman. A local piano teacher, Lloyd Edwards, became the conductor and one of his students, Menna Hughes, became the accompanist.

Young men were persuaded to join, as 60 voices were needed to compete in the Eisteddfod. One of the first to join was Dennis Williams. He was 16 at the time and is now 75, making him the oldest and longest serving member. They signed a record deal in 2006 with Universal Classics. Their first commercial recording, Voices of the Valley, made it to the charts in November of that year. The choir came to fame when they were heard by Daniel Glatman, manager of the band Blue.

External links

* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=3480920 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Froncysyllte and surrounding area]