Campaign launched for LEGO Pontcysyllte Aqueduct model

The model of the UNESCO World Heritage Site is the inspiration for a campaign that needs 10,000 online votes to see it included as the first Welsh landmark in the world famous LEGO collection, joining only four other locations in the UK in Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Old Trafford Stadium and Trafalgar Square.

Local residents and visitors are being encouraged to visit the LEGO website and to help the project reach 10,000 votes, the threshold required for LEGO to consider adding the model to their iconic set range, putting the awe-inspiring Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Wrexham’s industrial heritage further in the public eye. Between 1962 and 2000, LEGO was manufactured in Wrexham and became the distribution centre and base for LEGO UK’s model makers.

Ben Cottam, regional director for Wales at Glandŵr Cymru, said: “Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is one of the true icons of the waterways, and the possibility of it being added into LEGO's global collection with both the historic links it has to this part of Wales and the popularity LEGO has worldwide is incredibly fitting.

"The aqueduct draws in thousands of visitors every year who come to see this captivating landmark which carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee. We want people to get behind the campaign to see it incorporated into the LEGO collection.”

The model, which is set to go on display at the prestigious Institute of Civil Engineers in London, was commissioned as part of a year-long community art placemaking project for the World Heritage Site, The Bridge that Connects, which is being delivered by Glandŵr Cymru, the Canal & River Trust in Wales, and funded by UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund with Wrexham County Borough Council.