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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.

Cannot remember the name of the village - its after the next bridge after Woodhall Spa. It is a village petrol station with a very very long hose that reaches down to the river - he has a pontoon there. I'll try and find it - I'll have a look thru my logs.

Huawei B535 router on O2 switched on today and already a strong wifi signal inside the boat and I haven't yet connected the Poynting aerial. All looking good for this year's cruise.

That was my way of thinking until you realise that CaRT would need to put in thousands of them, at millions in kerching, and the full tilt cyclists would still think that they were little jumps to enjoy. CaRT have been 'gifted' a few thousand miles of shared footpath, cycleway, fisherbank from which they get nowt in revenue. It's not possible to make it into a perfect shared environment. Bottom line. We should all try to be considerate.

Cyclists travelling at a sedate pace are not a problem and most welcome as far as I'm concerned. It's the brainless twerps who think the towpath is a race track who are the only problem. So it all boils down to speed. Notices, signs, advice etc are totally useless on the brain dead. They are never going to slow down voluntarily for anybody. They must be forcibly slowed down - its the only way. My solution is speed bumps - cheap and effective! These will not affect pedestrians, dog walkers, pram pushers, boaters or the sensible cyclists. But will definitely impede the the lunatic stick insects clad in lycra. For maximum impact these speed bumps should be angled towards the canal. Cheap, effective, and highly entertaining. Think I might patent that idea ......?

Andrew would want it filled in and turned into cycle ways.

The government says this

So sir, you uploaded a Cycleapp route to Facebook, showing you covered 30 miles of towpath in less than ninety minutes and you claim to have been cycling at walking speed all that morning when you ploughed into the orphans' Christmas outing?

Not a good idea to alter the A45 bridge leaving Braunston - being a blind bridge you need to be able to pass an oncoming boat there - which I've done many times.

As a boater/pedestrian, why should I constantly have to step aside? Especially as CRT say I have priority over you?

Yep, poor phrasing. Not exclusive to marine environment, just that they can often be found in offshore boats needing to communicate over longer distances. I've only had experience of VHF which is obviously limited to distances of line of sight.

You'll always get entitled idiots who think that the world revolves around them and rules don't apply. About five years ago I was pushing my old mountain bike through Woodley tunnel (lower peak forest) with the front light on. Coming in the opposite direction is another cyclist yelling to get out of the way. Yep with a tunnel wall one side and a steel barrier on the canal side of towpath. I just stopped walking and a MAMIL (Middle aged man in lycra) ploughs into me in the darkness. Just behind him is his ladyfriend/wife/other who then proceeds to verbally tear him a new one for being an inconsiderate idiot and not getting off his bike. Think he did a bit of damage to his shiny new expensive two wheeler, just for good measure. All a bit surreal in the middle of a dark tunnel.

That's true, and obvious -- and it also says that all towpath users should have consideration for each other, and that seems to be what is lacking in many cases -- keeping an eye open to what is going on around you. I've nearly been hit by stupid cyclists when walking along the towpath, and nearly collided with them like in the video above. I've also almost ended up in the cut in the hedge when cycling when -- in spite of having rung and slowed down -- a completely unaware pedestrian has stepped in front of me with no warning, or walked onto the towpath from a footpath without looking. If they walked out in front of a car without looking or warning and the car ran into them, would it be the car driver's fault? Idiotic cyclists are to be condemned, but damning all cyclists as idiots -- including the considerate ones -- makes no more sense than damning all CCers because of the CMers who abuse the system, or all wideboats becuase of the selfish ones who moor and travel where the canal isn't suitable. Blame the guilty people -- the selfish ones who actually do the wrong, and screw it up for the rest -- not everyone... 😉

Not sure that you know what definition of value you intend should be used. I assume you mean (since you appear to make the comparison with house selling) the estimated price someone will pay for it. This, of course, means that the licence will rise each year (usually) and, that in recent times anyway, at a rate much faster than the licences have risen. Also, were there to be a decrease in typical prices, CaRT income would fall and maintenance would be even less. Is that what you want?

Well the hire boats/boaters in question were from the land of warm beer and cold women IE down south ... After a night in the boat pub drinking real beer they was all ill next morning just right for me to run me engine , hammer a new edge on a coal scuttle open hatches and cook bacon and eggs ahhh so satisfying.....

3 points to be aware of- 1. The first two river locks have limited open hours 2. The canal is closed every Tuesday 3. If there is a high spring tide (from memory, more than 8m at Sharpness) it goes over the weir at Gloucester. You do not want to be outside Gloucester when it does. See the stoppages section for lock opening hours. Consult Mr Google for Sharpness tides or Call Gloucester lock for tide information, they always seem happy to help. That way you can make a good plan. Finally if there is lots of rain above Stourport the river gets too full, and they may close the locks. Not usually a Summer problem. If the river is flowing fast you will need lots of diesel when going upriver as you will need high engine revs but achieve a low ground speed. That said it’s a nice trip and with a bit of flexibility in your plan it should be enjoyable

I think the greater the are you can travel the more you should pay that's fair by al your rules you propose

You could swap it for one of these (pic) and fit it out for living rather than passengers, best of both worlds? On second thoughts, i suppose you’d have two licences to pay so may not be that economic

Except of course the OP said the hole is 4mm, changing it later to 40mm. Not the outside diameter.

It's also in my Dropbox and on the harddrive of my laptop. This is really just a convenient way to pass all the info on to a new owner when the boat is sold rather than for my benefit. I use Dropbox and Google Drive, multiple copies of everything. And access from anywhere and any device