Towpath Users

[Alan de Enfield]

Well - thats all right then !!

 

We're working in partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to complete this project. We'll end up with a high quality shared space route for cyclists, walkers, joggers and anglers, which will link local communities and the city centre.

 

Why should boaters be allowed to share the 'high quality space' anyway ?

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and-views/news/work-begins-on-ashton-canal-as-part-of-20-million-cycle-city-scheme

 

 

[cotswoldsman]

Any improvements to this canal and towpath should be welcomed

[johnmck]

I think it goes hand in hand with this.

http://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-lifestyle/sport-and-leisure/cycling/bridgewater-way.aspx

 

Work was ongoing when we passed through last summer. What is not to like?

[Higgs]

I suppose it would have been a better PR job to have mentioned boating .

[Tony Dunkley]

I wonder if the only people who actually pay to use the towpath, ie. boat owners, will regard this as an 'improvement' when they've just been run over, or into, and injured by some loony on a bike ?

Edited February 11, 2015 by Tony Dunkley

[b0atman]

What about plonkies and druggies do not they get a look in before those Itinerant boaters.

I wonder if the only people who actually pay to use the towpath, ie. boat owners, will regard this as an 'improvement' when they've just been run over by some loony on a bike ?

Hang on what about the Angling society that has the fishing rights to the Rochdale 9 do they not pay ?

[Tony Dunkley]

What about plonkies and druggies do not they get a look in before those Itinerant boaters.

Hang on what about the Angling society that has the fishing rights to the Rochdale 9 do they not pay ?

I've no idea how much maggot drowning clubs pay to use the towpaths on any canal, but I do welcome their presence as effective obstacles to cyclists.

[1st ade]

I've no idea how much maggot drowning clubs pay to use the towpaths on any canal, but I do welcome their presence as effective obstacles to cyclists.

 

Not convinced - I've just walked our dog from Wolverton to Cosgrove and back (OK; I admit the "non paying" part of Tony's post) and had to negotiate around forty fishermen. There must be a match on or something. Around 10% (4) had rod's across the towpath and Ollie was hard put to decide whether to squeeze under, jump over or divert via the fisherman's sandwiches...

[Jim Batty]

Tricky one this. They just paved a previously very muddy stretch of towpath above Newbury town centre ... that makes it a LOT easier to walk into town that way ... as well as tie up a boat and manoeuver it at the lock. But, at the same time, I'm also loathe to encourage the few unthinking/idiot cyclists out there to travel even faster down the towpaths. Some of these people are seriously dangerous. But if we took the same attitude with roads -- leave them rough to discourage dangerous drivers -- we'd be back to a medieval network of tracks criss-crossing the country.

 

I like to see cyclists, ramblers, dog walkers, etc. on the towpaths. I DO think, though, that boaters should have priority using them -- given that this is what they were primarily built for, and that at present it is the boater who subsidises their use by others (through licence fees).

 

Before I moved on board I used to have a BW towpath cycling licence. (I still have it.) It was free and downloadable from the BW website and you filled it in yourself. Because it was 'official' it made me think about the sort of 'priviledge' I had cycling on the towpaths -- and how they were different from ordinary roads and public footpaths. It made me think about the original purpose of towpaths. And, being so inclined, a bit about the history of the canals.

 

CRT is missing a trick here. At present they don't require cyclists or anyone else, except those with boats, to have a licence: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/contact-us/faqs/cycling Why not re-introduce the cycle licences -- at first for the price of a donation? (Why not have them for walkers as well?) This seems a good method to begin to involve non-boaters in understanding towpaths as special places. Long, thin zones of nature and wildlife, with a curious interesting history, that we're lucky to have. Involved people are more likely to be caring people. A licence would remind people that along with the special priviledges they have being a 'towpath member' they also have a few responsibilities. A happy byproduct of this would be to raise a bit more income to keep the canals going.

[Graham Davis]

I wonder if the only people who actually pay to use the towpath, ie. boat owners, will regard this as an 'improvement' when they've just been run over, or into, and injured by some loony on a bike ?

 

We all pay towards the towpath, not just boat users.

[Hawkmoth]

While I agree that a great majority of the public do contribute to the funding of the canal system that we all enjoy, I don't think it should be a licence for idiot cyclists to career along in a dangerous manner.

Any suggestions as how the non biking folk could put a crimp in these idiots would be gratefully received.

Bob

[Murflynn]

what the hell have boaters got to do with canal infrastructure?

 

any boater complaining about priority being given to cyclists, anglers and joggers should be sunk. how dare they!

 

 

 

 

and talking about cyclists:

 

today I pulled in from a dual carriageway into a service station. as I entered a cyclist (no hi-vis) screeched to a halt near my driver's window shouting abuse at me. where the hell did he come from? apparently he had been riding downhill at speed on a combined footpath and cycle track that crossed the service station entrance with no warning signage for the motorist or the cyclist and he had to stop to let me pull in.

 

the day before I was cruising in slow traffic across a zebra crossing. I had checked there were no pedestrians on it a few yards before reaching it, I then transferred my attention to the car in front, as you do. again a cyclist screeched to a halt next to my driver's window, he had been crossing on the zebra at speed.

 

this is the cycling city being developed by Red Trousers Ferguson.

 

the sooner Darwin's Law is applied the better.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Murflynn

[Tony Dunkley]

 

We all pay towards the towpath, not just boat users.

 

Spoken like a true non-boatowner, and you're not talking about the same thing anyway, . . . . I said 'pay to use', not pay 'towards', by virtue of a very tiny portion of any taxes you pay being given to C&RT to waste as they see fit.

[b0atman]

If Crt ever manage to become a successful business then no cash input from the government will be given.

So arguments that I give some of my tax for cycle racers to use the towpath will not be applicable .

At the moment I do not wish my tax to go towards these arrogant types who only put in through government taxation whilst I pay for a licence which should give me the right to safely use the towpath.

[Tony Dunkley]

Back in working boat days, the Summertime hedge cutting always resulted in plenty of punctured tyres on lockwheeling bikes, most towpath hedges being thorn (Hawthorn? )

Perhaps C&RT's vegitation contractors could collect and bag all the thorns and these could be spread on urban towpaths by Volunteers.

 

This could be supplemented by lifesize cardboard cutouts of Parry (indistinguishable from the real thing) placed at close intervals in the middle of the towpath and holding a placard displaying a speed limit. An added bonus of this would be that disenchanted cyclists could run over these effigies and then boaters who had been hit or injured by cyclists could chuck the mangled likeness of Mr P in the cut.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Tony Dunkley

[Martin Megson]

To be fair to Crt they do make it clear on their website that they wish to promote considerate cycling and that cyclist should give way to other towpath users. It is impossible to police and sadly, as in all walks of life, the inconsiderate minority will cause problems for the majority.

Much like the minority of boaters who insist on mooring on lock landings and water points.

[leeco]

what the hell have boaters got to do with canal infrastructure?

 

any boater complaining about priority being given to cyclists, anglers and joggers should be sunk. how dare they!

 

 

 

 

and talking about cyclists:

 

today I pulled in from a dual carriageway into a service station. as I entered a cyclist (no hi-vis) screeched to a halt near my driver's window shouting abuse at me. where the hell did he come from? apparently he had been riding downhill at speed on a combined footpath and cycle track that crossed the service station entrance with no warning signage for the motorist or the cyclist and he had to stop to let me pull in.

 

the day before I was cruising in slow traffic across a zebra crossing. I had checked there were no pedestrians on it a few yards before reaching it, I then transferred my attention to the car in front, as you do. again a cyclist screeched to a halt next to my driver's window, he had been crossing on the zebra at speed.

 

this is the cycling city being developed by Red Trousers Ferguson.

 

the sooner Darwin's Law is applied the better.

Cyclists should have to pay road tax like me.

[b0atman]

Cyclists could pay for a yearly metal registration plate which they fasten to their bikes this would need to be car plate size so that ANPR can pick it up.

Being off roaders then maybe £400 tax.

Would the electric cycles be £0 though

[The Toad in the Hole]

Cyclists should have to pay road tax like me.

eh? Where do you live? I haven't paid road tax for years. Of course I do pay VED.....

 

There are a some inconsiderate towpath users. Some of them have bikes, some of them have dogs, some of them have boats, some of them even have cars. There are a lot more people out enjoying a relatively benign period of settled weather. Some are on foot, some on boats, some on a bike. I like them better than the first lot and always say "Hi" whether I'm walking the dog, riding a bike or pootling along on the boat. Hell, I'll even chat to fishermen at a push.

[Tony Dunkley]

To be fair to Crt they do make it clear on their website that they wish to promote considerate cycling and that cyclist should give way to other towpath users. It is impossible to police and sadly, as in all walks of life, the inconsiderate minority will cause problems for the majority.

Much like the minority of boaters who insist on mooring on lock landings and water points.

I'm intrigued as to why you see inconsiderate cyclists as being in a minority . . . . . big majority would be nearer the mark.

[cotswoldsman]

I wonder if the only people who actually pay to use the towpath, ie. boat owners, will regard this as an 'improvement' when they've just been run over, or into, and injured by some loony on a bike ?

In all fairness this is a stretch of canal that boaters rarely do any more than get off their boat to open the locks certainly not to stop overnight. A few more cyclists and walkers might make boaters feel safer. It is very very neglected stretch of canal and can only help to improve the experience

Tricky one this. They just paved a previously very muddy stretch of towpath above Newbury town centre ... that makes it a LOT easier to walk into town that way ... as well as tie up a boat and manoeuver it at the lock. But, at the same time, I'm also loathe to encourage the few unthinking/idiot cyclists out there to travel even faster down the towpaths. Some of these people are seriously dangerous. But if we took the same attitude with roads -- leave them rough to discourage dangerous drivers -- we'd be back to a medieval network of tracks criss-crossing the country.

 

I like to see cyclists, ramblers, dog walkers, etc. on the towpaths. I DO think, though, that boaters should have priority using them -- given that this is what they were primarily built for, and that at present it is the boater who subsidises their use by others (through licence fees).

 

Before I moved on board I used to have a BW towpath cycling licence. (I still have it.) It was free and downloadable from the BW website and you filled it in yourself. Because it was 'official' it made me think about the sort of 'priviledge' I had cycling on the towpaths -- and how they were different from ordinary roads and public footpaths. It made me think about the original purpose of towpaths. And, being so inclined, a bit about the history of the canals.

 

CRT is missing a trick here. At present they don't require cyclists or anyone else, except those with boats, to have a licence: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/contact-us/faqs/cycling Why not re-introduce the cycle licences -- at first for the price of a donation? (Why not have them for walkers as well?) This seems a good method to begin to involve non-boaters in understanding towpaths as special places. Long, thin zones of nature and wildlife, with a curious interesting history, that we're lucky to have. Involved people are more likely to be caring people. A licence would remind people that along with the special priviledges they have being a 'towpath member' they also have a few responsibilities. A happy byproduct of this would be to raise a bit more income to keep the canals going.

Part of the agreement between CRT and government for funding is that they can not charge for use of the towpath

[Higgs]

Part of the agreement between CRT and government for funding is that they can not charge for use of the towpath

 

 

We get charged, don't we? Er..,um?

[cotswoldsman]

 

 

We get charged, don't we? Er..,um?

We pay a licence to use the water.

[b0atman]

Try not getting charged when going to Crick boat show and watch out for Paul Lilley trying to charge boaters at Loughborough boat festival.

[Higgs]

We pay a licence to use the water.

 

 

I won't go on, beyond saying; you can't boat without touching the sides at some point, and when you do, if for too long, it can cost.