Tarmac towpaths

[Blake]

Tarmac seems to be the cheap tarmac surfacer - what do you think and what would you to choose if yoiu rules the world (or the cut)

[denboy]

grass

[carlt]

grass

Seconded (and not clipped to bowling green length, either)

[carl1963]

anything that would stop dogs fouling i.e. broken glass

[sueb]

Knee deep mud.

Sue

[Blake]

I'm glaspeople understand my ramblings and give suitable answer. I meant towpath surfaces. Am I fighting a losing battle against tarmac

[sueb]

I'm glaspeople understand my ramblings and give suitable answer. I meant towpath surfaces. Am I fighting a losing battle against tarmac

I believe at Hillmorton the towpaths are made of crushed glass

Sue

[CanalWalker]

It depends where it is, compact gravel seems pretty good in urban areas, grass in rural, tarmac where you have a cycle path. cobbles look nice but are a pain to walk on.

[carl1963]

I believe at Hillmorton the towpaths are made of crushed glass

Sue

has that stoped dogs fouling?

[furnessvale]

has that stoped dogs fouling?

 

No, but it certainly slows them down when they rub their backsides along the floor afterwards.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[bag 'o' bones]

A well maintained quarry waste surface gets my vote. Its not much good around constantly wet areas though. So in these areas I reckon for cost effectiveness a coloured and textured concrete perhaps?

Edited August 9, 2009 by bag 'o' bones

[Tiny]

Bumpy grass - like on the Oxford below that lift bridge a half mile below Aynho. Being in sort of corrigations its ideal to walk but cylists are reduced to a crawl or dismount to not go flying into the air. Unlike BWs flaked waste rubbish paths it does not go everywhere as dust or grit and it's well drained so as long as it is kept cut it is ideal for wild flowers and doesn't go to mud. Birds sit on the fences and dive for insects in it as do dragon flies. We love it!

 

No doubt next time we pass BW will have spent a million improving it - bah.

[MikeV]

I don't particularly care what the material is that is used for the towpath as I travel the canals by boat!

 

However, I would say that where there is a good towpath you get lots of people using it: hikers, dog walkers, bikers, joggers, families with pushchairs, etc. Personally I think that is a good thing that local communities get encouraged to enjoy the canal and its environment by a good towpath surface.

 

That said, I do notice that some of the bikers hurtle along the towpath. Not that their speed of itself is a problem, only that they should slow down when going under bridges or when they are meeting or passing pedestrians/joggers.

 

Regarding the dog walkers, towpath mess seems to be a localised problem. Some places its terrible, but other places, even though you see lots of dogs, it's perfectly clean. It's all down to the locals I guess.

 

We've passed two areas on this trip where the towpath was being upgraded to a good surface; one tarmac, the other crushed stone. In both cases the initiative seemed to be driven by the local council in partnership with BW.

 

Oop north, where boats seem to be a rarity even at this time of year, watching the towpath traffic makes life more interesting!

[sueb]

I don't particularly care what the material is that is used for the towpath as I travel the canals by boat!

 

However, I would say that where there is a good towpath you get lots of people using it: hikers, dog walkers, bikers, joggers, families with pushchairs, etc. Personally I think that is a good thing that local communities get encouraged to enjoy the canal and its environment by a good towpath surface.

 

That said, I do notice that some of the bikers hurtle along the towpath. Not that their speed of itself is a problem, only that they should slow down when going under bridges or when they are meeting or passing pedestrians/joggers.

 

Regarding the dog walkers, towpath mess seems to be a localised problem. Some places its terrible, but other places, even though you see lots of dogs, it's perfectly clean. It's all down to the locals I guess.

 

We've passed two areas on this trip where the towpath was being upgraded to a good surface; one tarmac, the other crushed stone. In both cases the initiative seemed to be driven by the local council in partnership with BW.

 

Oop north, where boats seem to be a rarity even at this time of year, watching the towpath traffic makes life more interesting!

Have you never trodden grit into your boat or had to close the windows to stop the dust flying in when cyclists go past? I travel by boat and care what the towpaths are made of. Some are definitely better than others.

Sue

[MikeV]

Have you never trodden grit into your boat...

Yes, but that is preferable to mud or dog/duck/goose mess as it's easily swept up. In any case it is is largely avoided by using the door mats we have at the front and rear of the boat or removing your shoes when necessary.

 

...or had to close the windows to stop the dust flying in when cyclists go past?

No!

 

I travel by boat and care what the towpaths are made of. Some are definitely better than others.

Better for what? Keeping your boat clean or allowing others to enjoy the canal who are not lucky enough to be able to cruise them by boat?

[Tiny]

Have you never trodden grit into your boat or had to close the windows to stop the dust flying in when cyclists go past? I travel by boat and care what the towpaths are made of. Some are definitely better than others.

Sue

 

Having seen a boater fall over and injure himself in the wet dust of a BW improved towpath we contacted BW. No less than a great white chief from London Stuart Sim rolled out to check this health and safety matter. He replied that BW used the cheapest safe option and in his opinion the path was safe for boating customers.

 

Note the cheapest bit. So the cost to you of grit and dust is not a consideration of BW when they chose to turn a perfectly good grass path into a cheapo hard one.

 

 

And as for grit being easy to sweep up - whoever said that lives on a different planet to us. The damned stuff gets everywhere and is bloody annoying - as are the clowns belting past on it in velcro.

Edited August 11, 2009 by Tiny

[carlt]

as are the clowns belting past on it in velcro.

Surely the grit would stick to clowns in velcro, so alleviating the problem?

Edited August 11, 2009 by carlt

[Matthew Knowles]

Surely the grit would stick to clowns in velcro, so alleviating the problem?

 

Are clowns well known for wearing velcro? Wouldn't they stick together a bit when they bump into each other?

[mayalld]

Have you never trodden grit into your boat or had to close the windows to stop the dust flying in when cyclists go past? I travel by boat and care what the towpaths are made of. Some are definitely better than others.

Sue

 

In the hard surface stakes, shale (grey or red) is infinitely preferable to crushed limestone, which really des make a mess when wet.

[Matthew Knowles]

In the hard surface stakes, shale (grey or red) is infinitely preferable to crushed limestone, which really des make a mess when wet.

 

Absolutely! Wet crushed limestone always results in white footprints everywhere!

[DHutch]

I bagsy anything that isnt slippy under foot, at lock moorings without bolards or rings.

- Nothing quite like trying to stop 22tonne unaidded, while standing on loose crushed limestone.

 

Also a fan of rought cut mud/grass combo's

 

 

Daniel

[Captain Cartoon]

gold

[john4647]

Quite a lot of the Bridgewater towpath has recently been resurfaced in tarmac.

 

Now the motor bikes can go really fast.