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As a cyclist, I do find comments like this to be quite embarrassing, there's just no need for it. Unfortunately in all walks of life there are those people who feel they are above the law and they can do whatever they want. I don't know what the answer is, but this Yorkshire cyclist and his mates are always courteous to others when we cycle the towpaths, or the cycle paths, or the roads.

Correct, the overtaker has to avoid the overtaken. I seem to remember having to dismount occasionally when a path is crowded, or there are obstructions, sometimes it's just not possible to continue to cycle, so you stand and wait til the group has passed then continue, but judging from the small sample of cyclists today, I would say that they each have different approaches from behind. Ringing the bell is a start, but some ring and keep going at exactly the same pace so that helps prevent alarm in the pedestrian but only if the cyclist is going slowly. I would approach a pedestrian while slowing down, ring the bell, but then, if you need to stop it is much easier. To ring the bell and overtake rapidly does not allow the pedestrian to process the event or allow the cyclist to determine whether he has been "recognised".

CRT Towpath Code, point 2, states that Pedestrians have priority on our towpaths so cyclists need to be ready to slow down. If you're in a hurry, consider using an alternative route for your journey.

I saw what I assumed to be a new liveaboard on the K&A who aspired to be part of the "community". It was quite a nice traditional type boat with smart paintwork. Boater was painting rough red oxide patches all over it to make it look more like a liveaboard boat. If boat licence is base on value maybe then many boaters will devalue there boats and we will have even more linear slums. There could be a new market in selling "unpolish" to take the shine of shiney boats 😀

Personally I think we should ban both pedestrians and cyclists from towpaths and leave them for horses as originally intended (In all seriousness, when I use a bike on a towpath I generally slow right down to walking pace when passing pedestrians whether they've clearly heard me or not. Towpaths are generally muddy, bumpy and not very wide, and lots of people on them are walking dogs...)

I think my boat is grand. Suits me anyway ...

Let's say bikes were banned on the towpath. Not going to happen but just say. Would it stop people? Nah It's illegal to cycle on the pavement or use a privately owned electric scooter on public roads, but does that stop people? It doesn't stop people who are otherwise law abiding in their life so I doubt whether even those people would be more wary of getting caught by CaRT bods than getting their collar felt by the local constabulary for cycling on the pavement. As for the sheer selfish idiots who cycle like it's the Tour de France or the criminals who ride nicked motorbikes down the towpath, they aren't going to give a merry fig about any 'ban' Don't penalise those who enjoy a safe and leisurely cycle on the towpath just because some people are complete ar****les.

No I don't. Fast moving wheeled vehicles on a narrow path shared with pedestrians with water on one side of it is not an appropriate use of the amenity. There are thousands and thousands of tarmacked roads all over the country where people can cycle and never have pedestrian interaction problems. The cyclists do a "reclaim the streets" thing so why don't walkers do a "reclaim our paths" thing and just disallow bikes or make it awkward for them? It is the wrong mentality for people out walking to be getting out of the way of people cycling. If anything it should be the other way around. Everyone has an objective and a destination. Someone on wheels is going to get there faster so it should be them who delay their journey by dismounting to pass walkers rather than walkers getting out the way of the people on wheels. Its just wrong and doesn't work. My advice for people walking is do NOT respond to aggression by jumping out the way. This is the wrong psychology to be using. Jousting and unseating the enemy using the long shaft could be rewarding. "Awfully sorry old boy I seem to have caught you with my boathook".

that is a scam. The name and address is blank

Personally I would stick on the T&M, heading for Fradley, Alrewas, then maybe as far as Willington.

In my experience so far the vast majority of cyclists behave with courtesy - I've had one incident where I didn't hear the bell (woolly hat over ears and not the best of hearing) - easily resolved with a friendly apology both sides. And had one incident where a cyclist came through a bridge quite quickly not realising I was there with the pooch. Again easily resolved with a friendly word on both sides. Hopefully it continues to be so.

I boat and cycle towpaths and I always slow down, ring bell, and take extra care when passing pedestrians. Just seems to be common courtesy as they have the right of way?

Yearly licence to be 10 percent of boat value. Lets encourage some starter boats. Boats valued yearly by a professional. £100 fee. Not the end of the world. So if your boat is a grand you pay £100. A hundred grand and you pay £10k. Seems quite sensible to me.

I did the equivalent with my neighbour's endlessly barking dog which started howling when he went to work and stoped when he came in from the pub. Mentioned it politely, got told to go forth and multiply. Rigged up the band's PA against the adjoining wall, recorded his dog howling one day, stuck it on a tape loop, turned it up full volume at midnight and went and stayed at a friend's house for the night. Dog vanished two days later. Mind you, he never spoke to me again, either, so double win.

And at 15mph a camera-controlled machine gun solves the problem once and for all... 😉 All of which makes complete sense, and is pretty much what has been said in some posts...

We sold the boat over 10 years ago. The then owner died. Steve Priest put a new bottom on it. It was tied for many years on the Staffs and Worcs near the A41 Bridge

But if there was a recognised maximum cycling speed, it would also allow prosecutions based on the cyclist's own data. Once again, there is no incentive to try anything a bit radical. It is cheaper and easier to allow, for instance, an old age pensioner to be knocked down and hospitalised with no cost to the cyclist. Furious riding I think is already an offence, but the police find it cheaper to ignore it.

Odd this. I have always found cyclists on the Calder & Hebble to be far and away the most polite and courteous on the network. Maybe being a six foot hairy bloke helps, but I think my usual practice of twirling the handspike like a quarterstaff is the main reason.

the number of tings and the rapididity of the repetitition is a good indicator of how much of an idiot a cyclist is likely to be. I was told that part of the problem is smartphone apps which upload stats from riders. Point being that the keen cyclists will be more likely to have a higher average speed and also be uploading their data. =problem because the app will then tell other users the towpath is a fast transit option.

As Ian will find out as he spends more towpath time, it's not a few inconsiderate cyclists spoiling it for the rest, it's the majority by a considerable margin. The careful ones are probably boaters. Electric bikes have made it ten times more dangerous. At least with the motor bikes you can hear them coming. It's a bit like dog owners - it's everybody else's dog that's out of control, ought to be on a lead or messes on the path. Only it isn't. We don't like them because almost all of them are a pain in the backside.

Some cyclists need reminding that just ringing their bell does not entitle them to unimpeded passage!

The worst one that happened to me was around Croxley on the GU. I was cycling along when I approached a dog walker with a small dog on a lead, but the woman had no control of it. I slowly cycled past on the wide grassy bit letting them have the towpath when suddenly the dog decided to shoot out right in front of my front wheel. It was a fairly new bike with sharpish brakes which I applied instantly. I of course flew over the handlebars and had a soft landing on the grass to be greeted by a small dog licking my face. 🤣

It could work. I’m not really bothered either. I already have a mooring off crt’s water. I’m just trying to get a bit of cruising in before the network collapse’s completely. Any massive increase is going to cause massive evasion. So they probably won’t end up collecting anymore money in the end.

But of course if the towpath was wide enough and you'd heard them coming, if you were being considerate you should have moved aside to let them pass, shouldn't you? At least, that's probably how it seemed to them...😉 I'm in no way excusing inconsiderate or aggressive behaviour by cyclists because I've seen it too, but on the other side I've certainly encountered inconsiderate or obstructive behaviour by pedestrians as well -- usually accidental (didn't hear you), sometimes their own fault (deaf with headphones), and occasionally just deliberately bloody-minded and obstructive -- and I suspect boaters are the usual culprits here, since many seem to have an inbuilt hatred of cyclists, including some posters on CWDF. In fact isn't that the real problem, people being tribal and divisive and assuming they're always in the right and the other guy -- in another "tribe" like cyclists -- is always in the wrong, ignoring the fact that there are people who behave like selfish gits in all tribes? 🙂 Such division certainly seems to be encouraged by the right-wing press and TV and online channels, and some of our government (e.g. Cruella), and some posters on CWDF... 😞

I didn't say the cyclist in your case was in the right, I said that both cyclists and pedestrians have equal rights to use the towpath, pedestrians don't have right of way -- and neither do cyclists. Aggressive or ignorant/stupid behaviour is wrong no matter which side it comes from. In your case it indeed sounds as if the blame was with the cyclist -- but if they were "ringing a bell for ages" and you took no notice (or didn't hear) and didn't move to let them past (assuming these was room...) then they could have good reason for getting annoyed with you -- but then cyclists need to allow for pedestrians who may be hard of hearing too. There are two sides to every story... 😉

It does have the Bolinders engine still in there.

Oilway blanking plug in there? I think the slot is unimportant. Same part used on a different engine or did BMC need a bit of steel that shape elsewhere?

I'll undercut you and do them for £99. Just send a photo of boat and I'll provide a valuation....

This is how we brought our barge in Belgium. It’s seems that following this thread and other on here that proof of boat ownership or of it being free of debt is a minefield and surely it is time for a registration scheme but not SSR as this is very loose with no checks. The monetary value of quite humble narrow boats certainly makes it open to scammers especially with the people desperate to find somewhere to live who have zero knowledge apart from watching some U tube channel. Over 60 years we brought 3 nbs and had one built, the one from British Waterways came with no paperwork except a receipt and likewise the one from Willow Wren but it was fair to assume they owned them the private one was well known and had been in the same ownership for years. The barge in Belgium was the only one we had a survey on as it was 80 years old and had obviously been a bit neglected as well as having little knowledge of these craft. The surveyor found some thin places and the need for a new shaft and bearings which the owner (as per the contract) has the option of putting right or we had the option of pulling out with our deposit returned. The owner had some of the work put right and a sum was deducted from the final payment for the other bits to be put right later.

As you know they 'fully identified' the money tree they would be using - however, their lack of horticultural skills in growing the identified money tree meant that they actually spent more money employing an ever growing group of aborculturalists, nurturing and maintaining said money, tree than the money tree ever produced. It appears that they may have chosen the wrong species of money tree, (there are other varieties available which may bear more fruit).

I was being towed in my Mini down Northallerton High street when a pedestrian tried to cross, he managed to jump over, but it must have been exciting for him, it certainly was for me!

Don't take it so hard, it's not a penis. As I stated, I have limited experience of working on smaller engines+drives used in small boats and canal boats. Doing research to do the job properly is a sign of a person sincerely wanting to do the job properly. The more you research, the more you learn. I was homeless when I first left the Royal Navy. So if someone asked me about working on a type 23 frigate gas turbine, you'd probably criticise them for asking a homeless person! Even though that homeless person won the Captain's Prize and achieved the highest grades ever in the history of the Royal Navy. You name "YouTube" as if it is something in itself. You can watch everything from cartoons drawn by kids to Quantum physics lectures from MIT professors, on YouTube. As for the O ring looking in "good condition", you saw all this from looking at one side of it from a pic I took? What you never saw is the damage on the other side from where I tried hooking it with a screwdriver to remove it as I was intending to replace it anyway - not that I was intentionally hiding that. Furthermore, do you know if that was the correct size o-ring for the control valve? - considering that gearbox is probably 50-odd years old and obviously the o-ring would not be the original one. I'm sure I can't compete with your genius level of engineering know-how. So you're "peeved". You know what, I googled a lot to find info on the drive I was working on and also, this is the only forum where no-one could give me detailed or clear advice but, could spend time to insult me or the boat - if it was a GRP, so what!? I'm working on the drive not the latest boating fashion. As for the advice I did receive here, most of it was just basic and useless to me but, I was grateful that people took the time, that I may pick up titbits that I didn't know and that others reading this might find it useful. But, I'm not peeved, because I'm not emotionally immature. If you read my last post and my first post carefully, I admit that I don't have relevant experience to these specific engines/drives but a fooking engine is an engine, so it doesn't take much to adapt one's knowledge but, I'm not shy to ask to get the relevant info or learn about possible quirks for each new engine/drive I encounter. Let's see if you could learn about, locate and diagnose a fault on 30,000hp gas turbine used on a type 23 frigate as quickly as I could learn about a Volvo penta tamd. Finally, you don't have to contact me if you need help, but funnily enough, I have no shortage of work offers from experienced boat owners whom are sick of paying extortionate fees to "marine engineers" around these parts for botched jobs. I'm not charging extortionate fees and nor am I claiming to know things I don't. My credentials are 1) I'll be as honest as possible with my client 2) I was a Royal Navy trained Marine Engineering apprentice, so I will be thorough and professional as I can be. Btw Tony, the breather is neither damaged nor locked open and only let water in because, despite being immersed in cool Thames water, the gearbox probably overheated, probably from the prop getting stuck in the mud as it sank and the boat owner frantically trying to rev the hell out the engine trying to get the boat to the riverbank so he wouldn't get his Gucci slip-ons wet. But, we'll never know unless the boat owner wants to make a full and frank confession. But, don't let me stop you making wild conclusions from less than enough info as you're clearly too peeved (or arrogant) to ask an idiot like me for more info. You just keep sniggering about GRP "cakes" because having an old, heavy, steel, poor heat insulative, 1960s rust bucket on the river is some how better than more modern and advanced tech. I bet you're still driving a Morris minor, because who'd want a GRP "Lamborghini cake hur-hur-hur-hur" 🤣

So this whole thread is just crying over spilt milk? 😁

The confusion arises because hire boats can't be used after dark, due to an insurance limitation. The hirers are told this in a basic way, which means they don't understand other boats can keep going after dark. So they think the 8-8 engine running while moored, is in fact 8-8 engine running for any reason.

Sprinkle bread crumbs all over their roof....and allow the dawn chorus birds to do the rest...

Quite honestly I don't see anything wrong with disliking widebeam boats. There is no reason why we should all like the same thing and life would be pretty boring if we did. Some folk like dogs and others don't. Some like BMW cars and others dont. Some like Dutch barges and others don't. What's so special about wide beams that we should all like them ? Personally, I have yet to see one which has nice lines but that's just my view and the fact that they tend to moor and navigate where conditions are more suitable for thin boats do nothing to make me like them. Each to his own.