Hudds Lad

We find a set of cheap PMR walkies quite useful, especially if my better half is walking between locks and I'm pootling along wondering if I should stop or prepare to go straight in once she opens the gates, also keeps the Tweenager engaged. Also better than hand signals between bow & stern we have Binatone Latitude 100's, bought 2 sets of two from eBay for less than £20 delivered (although one now resides at the bottom of the Llangollen opposite the pub near bridge 5, don't ask :D)

especially good when about a foot away from the nest you didn't notice and your hammering has now made them a tad angry, you then have two choices; 1) remove pin ASAP whilst windmilling free arm or dancing about like that Flatley chap hoping you dodge the jaspers. 2) skulk off to the other end of the boat for 10mins whilst they calm down and the particular end decides to make its way back to the centre of the cut. option two also spawns an extra dilemma, do you warn the rest of the crew or not

We had a great week and a bit, got to Llangollen basin and back with also a short trip up the Middlewich branch as well as we had time to kill. Ran the full gamut of weather from baking hot sun (forgot suncream on back of hands and suffered for it, silly boy) to torrential rain and back to baking sunshine, even had to light the stove one evening to stop the female crew members from starting a mutiny. Met some lovely boaters in the main, met a couple of idiots too, but generally a thoroughly enjoyable outing. Even managed to get the Tweenager involved in locks and lift bridges without complaint, which is a first! Even managed to come home with more fishing rods than we set off with due to rescuing a complete setup hung in a tree on the non-towpath side. Think we're doing it all again at the end of August with my inlaws aboard as well, although I imagine it will be quite a bit busier. We came back down Grindley Brook and Hurleston on the Saturday and it was just starting to get a bit daft with day boats (something a bit worrying about a pensioner poking everything in sight with a 10ft bargepole whilst entering a lock at a 45 degree angle). happy days

today's the day, will be underway this afternoon thanks for all the replies

Perhaps not for me, but absolutely too dangerous for my 11yr old daughter who has only been cycling sporadically for the past few years. Towpath cycling has taught her better bike control and respect for other users, its taught her to make others aware of her presence before its too late, to always slow down when approaching ANYTHING. She could not have achieved any of this in a road environment where a cyclist is unprotected from a high percentage of impatient idiots and where she is viewed as a 2nd or even 3rd class citizen.

From what I've Googled since, it was shut down and planning for demolition sought by the developer, then somehow burned down. Reports vary as to if this occurred before or during demolition. Locally we've had a few lovely old buildings mysteriously burn down that oddly were owned by developers who didn't seem to be getting their own way with planning, strange how that happens isn't it.

That's another one we can cross off in our Nicholsons then, along with The Jolly Tar at Wardle

as a 6ft chap, that last pic makes me think Duck or Grouse

Yup, the two on the Hudds Narrow are now permanently open, although their positioning wasn't that great anyway.

Thanks for all the replies so far, very useful info

I must admit to being guilty to riding under a couple of blind bridge holes, but only at walking pace or slower To be fair, the dubious mooring was over 15 years ago, so I doubt cyclists were his intended target, just seemed to be that sort of bloody-minded chap at war with the world in general I have seen deliberate traps laid for cyclists though, on dedicated cycle tracks, most would cause a tumble at worst but some were just short of attempted GBH (wire at head height across trails, planks with nails in buried under leaves on trails).

Its only couple of weeks until we plan to do the Llangollen, and i'm basically looking for some real-world advice. I ask for real-world as on our last cruise Nicholson's recommended a pub that is now no more than a weed-infested rubble pile with a pub sign the only evidence it was ever there. We'll be out for about 9 days in total, and hope to get from Overwater Marina to Llangollen basin winding hole and back. Are there any places en route that you would personally recommended to stop/visit/eat/drink? Only stipulation is it needs to be Tweenager & dog friendly

i'd avoid any paid apps until you're sure you'll get prolonged use from it. plus as has been stated, it will drain your battery like nobody's business due to needing a constant signal to plot and track your route. When I first started getting my daughter out cycling, walking & geocaching, I used the free version of Strava to track our progress as she liked to see where we'd been on a map, how far, elevation, speed etc. but it seemed to like being the only open app and switching to take pics or anything else could throw it out. We now use a dedicated handheld GPS unit (Garmin Etrex 30) which I bought refurbed for just over £100, this is great if you like to upload your track to various mapping programs, plus the software that comes with it can show you all the useful data. It also runs on AA batteries and will easily last a full day of constant use.

As a multi-pastime user of towpaths, I find it saddening that there's all this hate for cyclists in general nowadays, whatever activity you choose will attract its share of inconsiderate idiots. In the past I've come across anglers who refused to move their poles off the towpath, requiring them to be stepped over (easy to lift my then toddling daughter over, not so easy with the dog). People having a picnic spread out across the towpath blocking it for everyone. And my personal favourite, a lovely old gent with a Narrowboat who had moored up by putting his ropes across the towpath at chest height and tied to the nearby trees. And lets just not get started on the piles of excrement, mostly dog. Where's the hate for these minorities? Making separate lanes will not change a "Strava hunter" or speeding cyclists attitude (which is what I feel is at fault and needs addressing and changing). This would also require immense amounts of cash to implement, and as we're all painfully aware there just isn't enough to go around. From what I can see, CRT is not the one solely funding the improvements, its usually Government and a couple of trusts/organisations stumping up the cash. As an example, the Hudds Narrow Canal is getting 4.6km of towpath revamped by City Connect which is a large scheme attempting to improve cycle routes within the Leeds City Region's towns and cities, the lions share of this is from DfT (£22mill) with Local Authorities contributing (£8mill) and CRT only stumping up £150k over the three years. So its wrong to say they have a cyclist bias, IMHO they just see a way of having the towpaths upgraded at minimal cost to themselves and are accepting the funding with open arms. If this creates a year-round all-seasons-usable towpath for everyone I don't see the problem some have with it. If a bike can go on it, so can a wheelchair, so can a pram. Is it the improvement people are against, or the others an improved towpath will attract?

Set it up my friend, i'll buy into it, as long as its not so prohibitively expensive that kids can't enjoy cycling and that a goodly percentage of the cost is plowed back into infrastructure and not just another piggy bank for whatever government to raid when they see fit.

I kind of agree with that, but at what age does that start? And who polices/enforces it? Personally, as a British Cycling member, third party liability insurance is part and parcel of my membership

nothing like a sweeping generalisation to go with your cornflakes on a morning I suppose the comments about "road tax" will get trotted out next

I've been cycling on towpaths for 20 years or so, never had one accident (well, apart from the near miss when I was trying to avoid a puddle and nearly went in the cut which my wife delights in telling anyone who'll listen about) but that's because I have consideration for other towpath users. Sadly, I come into contact with lots of cyclists who do not. Mostly with bikes on towpaths, it's the Strava idiots on their thousand-pound-plus full-suspension bikes going at mach 3 with no bell or warnings chucking energy gel wrappers wherever they see fit. Perhaps CR&T could get Strava to remove any segments from towpaths so they have nothing to try and gain, but I doubt it. With any activity there'll always be a minority who spoil it for the majority, sadly I just can't see an easy solution.

exploring how? If you're hiring a boat all these things should be there as standard