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Is this really a towpath improvement ?


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Loughborough canal towpath reopens after £885K cash boost (msn.com)

 

 

Improvement works to the River Soar towpath, between Moor Lane Bridge and Belton Lane in Loughborough

 

Asection of canal towpath closed for improvement work has reopened. The project, spearheaded by The Canal and River Trust, has seen the path along the River Soar in Loughborough, between Moor Lane Bridge and Belton Lane, widened and resurfaced.

Most of the route has now re-opened, though a few short sections are still being completed. A final stone chip top surface will be laid later this summer as it requires warmer temperatures to bond with the base layer, the Trust has said.

As well as widening and resurfacing the towpath, the project has installed 24 additional moorings for visiting boats and strengthened a 100-metre stretch of canal bank between Moor Lane and Little Moor Lane.

The work was funded through a £885,000 grant from Loughborough Town Deal. It is part of an ongoing effort to protect and preserve the canal for boats and wildlife, and to make it easier for people to use all year round, the Trust added.

 

 

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It is NOT an improvement, it is now a speed cycle way for Loughborough students and commuters. There was one section needed work which could flood an old folks home and flats when the canal overflows, other than that, it was a reasonable although plenty of puddles after rain path of mainly hardcore type finish.

The area near to the flats and home was home to many birds, swans, geese, ducks of several varieties, which could access the bank and grassy areas with no problem. That WAS the wildlife.

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I think the point is, if you can get some high profile sections of towpath humming with traffic, the guvvermint is more likely to notice the public benefit and keep the funding going. 

 

I doubt it will work though.

 

 

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30 minutes ago, M_JG said:

Looking at the before and after pics. that is clearly a shocking waste of money. Where ever the money came from.

 

You'd have thought that in the 'enlightened' age that the steps wouldn't be allowed - when we built the house it was a requirement to have the main door wheel-chair accessible (no step) and all the plug sockets had to be 'half way' up the wall to be accessible to wheelchair users.

 

 

Improvement works to the River Soar towpath, between Moor Lane Bridge and Belton Lane in Loughborough

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

You'd have thought that in the 'enlightened' age that the steps wouldn't be allowed - when we built the house it was a requirement to have the main door wheel-chair accessible (no step) and all the plug sockets had to be 'half way' up the wall to be accessible to wheelchair users.

 

 

Improvement works to the River Soar towpath, between Moor Lane Bridge and Belton Lane in Loughborough

The steps are a surprise as otherwise it would tick a lot of boxes, green travel for bikes, disable for wheelchairs and disability scooters, walking, people (nearly said mothers) with prams and toddlers . Maybe there is a ramp just out of shot

 

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

You'd have thought that in the 'enlightened' age that the steps wouldn't be allowed - when we built the house it was a requirement to have the main door wheel-chair accessible (no step) and all the plug sockets had to be 'half way' up the wall to be accessible to wheelchair users.

 

 

Improvement works to the River Soar towpath, between Moor Lane Bridge and Belton Lane in Loughborough

 

Good point.  And for buggies too.

 

Any designer with any talent could have ramped it at that point with no need for any steps at all.

 

Hopefully its been made accessible nearby.

 

Cross posted with DC.

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3 hours ago, David Mack said:

Difficult to see how that canal-to-fence tarmac does much for wildlife. Or where boaters beyond the 24 visitor moorings are going to hammer in their pins.

No problem just need a bigger hammer.....

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2 hours ago, booke23 said:

Here's a before pic from google. Looked perfectly good to me. At least you could bang pins in if you needed to.

 

 

image.png.e8c9a78e22f6ca96f081ee76eb1e3b47.png

Yes, just after the white van is where the birdlife congregated in the pre highway past. It doesn't look like they have raised the bankside at all so the flats will still flood when CRT dont shut the dilapidated gates at Moor Lane Bridge quick enough.

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On 26/05/2023 at 16:56, booke23 said:

Here's a before pic from google. Looked perfectly good to me. At least you could bang pins in if you needed to.

 

 

image.png.e8c9a78e22f6ca96f081ee76eb1e3b47.png

 

Provided you have a sledge hammer you can still bang pins into it.

 

Perhaps we should hold a CWDF banter there and all moor on pins... :)

 

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16 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

Provided you have a sledge hammer you can still bang pins into it.

 

Perhaps we should hold a CWDF banter there and all moor on pins... :)

 

Reminiscent of the renovation of the canal basin at Stratford-on-Avon in the 1970's, which originally was not provided with mooring rings. They also embedded  the arc of raised bricks at the lock beams that used to provide grip for canal users in cement, presumably to make it more pedestrian-friendly. 

Edited by Ronaldo47
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16 minutes ago, Ronaldo47 said:

Reminiscent of the renovation of the canal basin at Stratford-on-Avon in the 1970's, which originally was not provided with mooring rings. They also embedded  the arc of raised bricks at the lock beams that used to provide grip for canal users in cement, presumably to make it more pedestrian-friendly. 

 

The embedded bricks were still there when I visited in 2021.

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