Towpath surfaces

[Blake]

What do people think is the best all round towpath surface that will serve other towpath useres as walkers and cyclists

[DHutch]

Im sure theres just been a thread on this somewhere very recently? Anyone?

 

- Certainly for me however, the best finish is grassed earth. With some additional agrigate in select areas where required.

- Exceptions not streaching much further than occational use of paved or tarmaced surfaced in extreamly built up areas. No loose gravel please!

 

 

Daniel

[bridgit]

The ususal bit of grass, gravel, compacted mud. No tarmac thanks.

 

Bridgit

[Tiny]

I am all for grass. Unfortunately BW are not.

[alan_fincher]

Some years back the towpath on the lower Grand union was trashed by companies laying fibre optics.

 

BW did not appear to have made any proper reinstatement a pre-condition of the cable laying work.

 

Only many years later in some areas was an attempt made to improve the towpath condition so as a quagmire didn't happen after relatively light rain-fall.

 

Much of the towpath around Hemel and Berkhamsted and across Tring summit was relaid in a kind of "crushed aggregate" - sorry I don't know it's name. (This was a joint initiative with local councils - BW only met part of the costs, which seeing they had the cable revenues, seemed wrong to me).

 

Once it had been down a year or two, it didn't look to severe, and seemed to provide an excellent surface for cyclists and walkers.

 

Sadly, over time, much of it has broken up under the effects of frost and rain, and, once again, walking or cycling in poor conditions can be a fairly messy business.

 

Unlike many I am not a fan of purely grassed towpaths though - even kept cut they are poor for cycling, and, lets be honest, they are seldom kept cut.

 

I'm not sure there is a right answer......

[Max Sinclair]

The BCN and Droitwich towpaths were surfaced with black ash which was in plentiful supply and proved very servicable. Stones and gravel are an invitation to throw them in.

[NB Alnwick]

The BCN and Droitwich towpaths were surfaced with black ash which was in plentiful supply and proved very servicable. Stones and gravel are an invitation to throw them in.

 

When working at the Great Central Railway, I supplied BW with steam locomotive ash and smokebox cinders by the lorry load - I don't know what they did with it . . .

 

This stopped when new legislation classified it as industrial waste and it had to be sent to an expensive landfill site instead

[madcat]

Alnwick that stuff is apparently good for keeping slugs off the veggies. I also remember chimney soot being part of my grandads allotment slug deterring strategy.

I suspect cheap sausages are industrial waste but nobody "protects" us from them.Dead mens fingers Yuk

[alan_fincher]

When working at the Great Central Railway, I supplied BW with steam locomotive ash and smokebox cinders by the lorry load - I don't know what they did with it . . .

Tipped it in to the cut in large amounts at bridge-holes, in anticipation of you buying a deep draughted boat some years further on ?

[NB Alnwick]

Tipped it in to the cut in large amounts at bridge-holes, in anticipation of you buying a deep draughted boat some years further on ?

 

Nah! The only thing we get stuck on is all that new ballast they tipped through the holes in the brigdge decking they re-opened Snow Hill for through traffic - it makes Aston Bottom Lock a bit of a challenge.

 

Ask Cheshire Rose or Postcode to show you the video one of these days . . .

[Blake]

thank yoiu all for replying to this.If there is anyone in the area who could come to an open meeting on 6th September at Mythomroyd (Rochdale Canal) 3-5pm and support the comments against tarmac.

Victoria

[DHutch]

Depends where who are planning to tarmac and why.

- I dont like tarmac (grass rairly fails to work for me) and im several hours drive from even the closed part of the rochdale, but i would rather it to thick loose gravel.

 

 

Daniel

[Tiny]

Depends where who are planning to tarmac and why.

- I dont like tarmac (grass rairly fails to work for me) and im several hours drive from even the closed part of the rochdale, but i would rather it to thick loose gravel.

 

 

Daniel

 

Some years back we were moored near the BW offices at Red Bull when the then canal manager - Mr. Saines (?) approached, walking along the towpath with a reporter in tow. Right by our boat Mr. S stopped and started eulogising HIS towpath laid with loose small stones over god knows what.

 

Maybe he thought I was going to praise his patht. But as far as I was concerned he was talking the biggest... so I finally interupted by telling him he did not know what he was talking about and that his super surface was being hurled into the canal and thrown at boats in handfulls by kids. (Not far away in sight a demo of this was going on!)

 

Mr. S denied that his surface was chucked in the cut - it was rolled solid. (So solid that his feet were, at the time scraping up an neat pile of loose stuff!) I suggested that (horses for courses) tarmac would be better here than his perfect path. The reporter was having a good laugh behind his back as Mr. S (the toilet block King) led him away. I understand he later left BW and headed for Aussie.

 

[casper ghost]

I HATE the gravelly stuff they put on the towpath at Ellesmere. It turns to mud in the rain and walks all in the boat, a right mess. Also my daughter hurts herself if she falls on it whereas with the normal grass she just got green stains on her knees. A right waste of our money again...

[Tiny]

I HATE the gravelly stuff they put on the towpath at Ellesmere. It turns to mud in the rain and walks all in the boat, a right mess. Also my daughter hurts herself if she falls on it whereas with the normal grass she just got green stains on her knees. A right waste of our money again...

 

When it is dry for a bit this stuff turns to dust and blows over boats. Every so long it seems to be topped up. Like you we hate it but BW love it - it's cheap.

[carlt]

When it is dry for a bit this stuff turns to dust and blows over boats. Every so long it seems to be topped up. Like you we hate it but BW love it - it's cheap.

The BW supervisor told me I didn't know what I was talking about, when I suggested that the "Type 1 MOT" they were laying, opposite my mooring was actually used as a sub-base, everywhere else in the world.

 

She may have had a point because, when I crossed the bridge to have a closer look it appeared to me that they weren't even bothering with Type 1 but using scalpings.