My Reply to Richard Parry's Email on Tarmacking the Towpath, posted here yesterday

[CathyC]

Dear Richard,

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to me and for all the information.

 

I understand all the financial constraints CRT must be under and how helpful the Sustrans involvement must seem.

 

I am delighted to hear that there are no plans to spoil the fields around Tyle Mill, which are particularly special. However most of the towpaths are special to some degree.

 

Before going into my own views I must address the issue of consultation. CRT is usually very good at conducting surveys of boaters. However in this instance consultation has been notable by its absence. Despite the drastic difference this work makes to the appearance of the towpath and the implications for cyclists in relation to everyone else, I have not once been asked for my views on these initiatives and I have seen nothing on the boating forums from CRT on this.

 

I'm guessing that other users - namely walkers, runners, anglers and cyclists - can say the same. Interestingly, the people who have expressed the most upset about potential alterations are the cyclists I've talked to. Of course they are the types of cyclists who stop long enough to be communicated with.

 

Again I'm asking you to please put any further tarmacking on hold until the projects are properly discussed with interested parties, and you can't get much more 'interested' than the people who live and holiday here.

 

Regarding only using tarmac in towns and cities, Aldermaston is a small village with no shops, in a rural area, and Perivale is in outer, not central, London, with Horsenden Hill enjoying a distinctly rural feel.

 

The surface at Aldermaston was perfectly good. It was quite wide and covered in a pale, sandy material over stone. The tarmac that has replaced it looks, to my mind, ugly and has an urbanising affect.

 

The guys installing this told me that some sort of material had been laid on top to make it appear more 'natural', but this, which they assured me is the finished product, is in no way natural. It is a narrow road. And especially going through the picturesque Aldermaston Wharf, which they hadn't done yet when I was there, will look quite horrible. As a cyclist myself, I can assure you, this stretch  was absolutely fine before the work.

 

Likewise, the towpath around Perivale, which I often moored on during winter months, was fine. One February, during the 'Beast from the East', to avoid frostbite, I zoomed along it on my bike, with my dog alongside, during a blizzard, over a mile to Perivale Sainsbury's, with no trouble whatsoever. The tarmac totally changed the place, and they even concreted over the edges of the bank. 

 

As for people falling off bikes, in my 14 years on the cut I've witnessed this only about four times (excluding drunken boaters) and one of those had taken fright at my dog.

 

Then we come to the issue of speeding bikes. You say tarmacking can reduce accidents and upsets. I say it sends a message to cyclists:  "This is yours and you have right of way." And no number of well-meaning signs asking people to 'share the space' and 'slow down' will change that.

 

If people want to hurtle along seeing nothing around them or yelling to each other about share prices, there is a perfectly good road running along most of the length of many canals, and they can do what I usually do when I cycle to the supermarket, and use that.

 

This is to say nothing of the gangs of teenagers on scramblers who will see it as an open invitation to career along the towpath at top speed.

 

Of course this hugely upsets boaters and walkers, especially ones with dogs and cats, and will increase stress and conflict, not reduce it.

 

Once this tarmac has been laid it cannot be  removed, so please, please consult us, who live here properly before doing any more.

 

As boaters, walkers, anglers and, yes, many cyclists themselves, we mostly come here to escape 'civilization', not to get closer to tarmac and speeding cyclists. 

 

It would be good if someone could keep the paths we do have clear of overhanging nettles and thorns etc. But I would rather have the responsibility of doing that work myself with my garden shears than see another inch of towpath concreted over.

 

As you may have seen, I've introduced this topic on Canal World Forum, K&A Boaters and K&A East, and it is attracting a great deal of comment, which proves my point about consultation.

 

Anyway I'm glad we've been able at least to make some sort of start on this process.

 

All the best.

 

Cathy 

 

Top: The new tarmack bike lane, covering about a mile of towpath at Aldermaston. Bottom: The old surface at Aldermaston Wharf before tarmacking.

 

 

 

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[IanD]

2 minutes ago, CathyC said:

Dear Richard,

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to me and for all the information.

 

I understand all the financial constraints CRT must be under and how helpful the Sustrans involvement must seem.

 

I am delighted to hear that there are no plans to spoil the fields around Tyle Mill, which are particularly special. However most of the towpaths are special to some degree.

 

Before going into my own views I must address the issue of consultation. CRT is usually very good at conducting surveys of boaters. However in this instance consultation has been notable by its absence. Despite the drastic difference this work makes to the appearance of the towpath and the implications for cyclists in relation to everyone else, I have not once been asked for my views on these initiatives and I have seen nothing on the boating forums from CRT on this.

 

I'm guessing that other users - namely walkers, runners, anglers and cyclists - can say the same. Interestingly, the people who have expressed the most upset about potential alterations are the cyclists I've talked to. Of course they are the types of cyclists who stop long enough to be communicated with.

 

Again I'm asking you to please put any further tarmacking on hold until the projects are properly discussed with interested parties, and you can't get much more 'interested' than the people who live and holiday here.

 

Regarding only using tarmac in towns and cities, Aldermaston is a small village with no shops, in a rural area, and Perivale is in outer, not central, London, with Horsenden Hill enjoying a distinctly rural feel.

 

The surface at Aldermaston was perfectly good. It was quite wide and covered in a pale, sandy material over stone. The tarmac that has replaced it looks, to my mind, ugly and has an urbanising affect.

 

The guys installing this told me that some sort of material had been laid on top to make it appear more 'natural', but this, which they assured me is the finished product, is in no way natural. It is a narrow road. And especially going through the picturesque Aldermaston Wharf, which they hadn't done yet when I was there, will look quite horrible. As a cyclist myself, I can assure you, this stretch  was absolutely fine before the work.

 

Likewise, the towpath around Perivale, which I often moored on during winter months, was fine. One February, during the 'Beast from the East', to avoid frostbite, I zoomed along it on my bike, with my dog alongside, during a blizzard, over a mile to Perivale Sainsbury's, with no trouble whatsoever. The tarmac totally changed the place, and they even concreted over the edges of the bank. 

 

As for people falling off bikes, in my 14 years on the cut I've witnessed this only about four times (excluding drunken boaters) and one of those had taken fright at my dog.

 

Then we come to the issue of speeding bikes. You say tarmacking can reduce accidents and upsets. I say it sends a message to cyclists:  "This is yours and you have right of way." And no number of well-meaning signs asking people to 'share the space' and 'slow down' will change that.

 

If people want to hurtle along seeing nothing around them or yelling to each other about share prices, there is a perfectly good road running along most of the length of many canals, and they can do what I usually do when I cycle to the supermarket, and use that.

 

This is to say nothing of the gangs of teenagers on scramblers who will see it as an open invitation to career along the towpath at top speed.

 

Of course this hugely upsets boaters and walkers, especially ones with dogs and cats, and will increase stress and conflict, not reduce it.

 

Once this tarmac has been laid it cannot be  removed, so please, please consult us, who live here properly before doing any more.

 

As boaters, walkers, anglers and, yes, many cyclists themselves, we mostly come here to escape 'civilization', not to get closer to tarmac and speeding cyclists. 

 

It would be good if someone could keep the paths we do have clear of overhanging nettles and thorns etc. But I would rather have the responsibility of doing that work myself with my garden shears than see another inch of towpath concreted over.

 

As you may have seen, I've introduced this topic on Canal World Forum, K&A Boaters and K&A East, and it is attracting a great deal of comment, which proves my point about consultation.

 

Anyway I'm glad we've been able at least to make some sort of start on this process.

 

All the best.

 

Cathy 

 

Top: The new tarmack bike lane, covering about a mile of towpath at Aldermaston. Bottom: The old surface at Aldermaston Wharf before tarmacking.

 

 

 

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I cycle regularly along the towpath at Perivale, and the surface is not tarmac (the black stuff), it's crushed stone.