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Canal towpath closures

Posted: 6 Jan 2015, 9:44pm
by Slowroad
In the past I've grumbled because I didn't know where to find out if towpaths are closed - well here is the webpage! Includes an option for towpath issues as well as navigation etc.
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 7 Jan 2015, 3:44pm
by Mistik-ka
Thanks! This is very helpful. :)

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 10 Jan 2015, 3:26pm
by theDaveB
I can't find my local canals on the site and one of them has a footpath diversion in place for the next 18 months.

Dave

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 10 Jan 2015, 3:40pm
by RickH
theDaveB wrote:I can't find my local canals on the site and one of them has a footpath diversion in place for the next 18 months.

Dave

There are a few canals that aren't part of the Canal & River Trust network.

Alternatively, check carefully that they aren't officially a branch of another canal even if not generally known by that name. You can check what the canal is, if it is part of the network, on the map here.

Rick.

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 10 Jan 2015, 3:42pm
by thirdcrank
This looks like one for "Too good to lose."

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 10 Jan 2015, 4:49pm
by Richard Fairhurst
DaveB - given that your location is Cheshire, I'm guessing the canal you can't find is the Bridgewater. That's an independent canal run by the Manchester Ship Canal Co (who, in turn, are part of Peel Holdings) so you won't find it on the CRT website. They do have their own website at http://www.bridgewatercanal.co.uk/ but there doesn't appear to be any information on towpath closures.

I'm currently doing some work with CRT on getting new, better maps onto their website so hopefully finding towpath information will be easier still in the future!

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 11 Jan 2015, 3:44pm
by Si
thirdcrank wrote:This looks like one for "Too good to lose."


Consider it done.

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 11 Jan 2015, 6:25pm
by Mistik-ka
Si wrote:
thirdcrank wrote:This looks like one for "Too good to lose."


Consider it done.

:D

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 11 Jan 2015, 11:17pm
by theDaveB
Richard Fairhurst wrote:DaveB - given that your location is Cheshire, I'm guessing the canal you can't find is the Bridgewater. That's an independent canal run by the Manchester Ship Canal Co (who, in turn, are part of Peel Holdings) so you won't find it on the CRT website. They do have their own website at http://www.bridgewatercanal.co.uk/ but there doesn't appear to be any information on towpath closures.

I'm currently doing some work with CRT on getting new, better maps onto their website so hopefully finding towpath information will be easier still in the future!


Sorry,I should have said which one. It is the St Helens Canal and part of it is the Trans Penine and it is closed due to the Mersey Gateway Bridge being built.

Also I couldn't find the Manchester Ship Canal.

Dave

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 12 Jan 2015, 12:24am
by Bicycler
The Manchester Ship canal is the responsibility of the Manchester Ship Canal Company not the C&RT.
The St. Helen's Canal is officially known as the Sankey Canal and is officially closed to navigation, so again it does not fall under the C&RT.

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 12 Jan 2015, 5:41pm
by pete75
As craft using canals these days have an engine is there still any requirement for a towpath? For the same reason they no longer have people to leg boats through tunnels.

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 12 Jan 2015, 6:23pm
by Bicycler
Most users of the canals these days use the towpath rather than the water. Indeed, as Dave shows, there are canals which have been closed to navigation for decades but where the towpaths are still well used. Lots of the river navigations have lost their old towpaths. Where towpaths were provided as part of a canal and the canal itself has been maintained the towpath has almost always been maintained as well.

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 12 Jan 2015, 8:28pm
by Postboxer
Still tempting to drain and pave them all though.

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 13 Jul 2016, 12:00pm
by pwa
Postboxer wrote:Still tempting to drain and pave them all though.


I'm holidaying on them in a couple of weeks, so keep your hands off that plug!

Re: Canal towpath closures

Posted: 13 Jul 2016, 1:24pm
by Postboxer
If you were designing a city from scratch these days, you could have a cycle network much like a canal network, completely separate from the roads going directly to useful places.