Canal towpath closures

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yostumpy
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by yostumpy »

its probably been mentioned, but can you legally cycle on towpaths now,I seem to remember a few back you need a permit from british waterways or somesuch. Is this still the case.
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Si
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by Si »

The permits were free - just needed to down load and print, but now I believe they have discontinued the practise and you can just ride as long as you follow the C&RT rules for sharing the tow paths with care.
mercalia
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by mercalia »

some one said that more people use the canal paths than the waterways and suggested drain the canals; but make them into a nice cycle way? what do you think? they did it for the old railways why not this useless bits of water?
having had a "holiday" on a smelly noisey barge I think the soooner they are sent to the scrap yards the better. maybe time for an epetition to parliament for the mps to discuss pulling the plug?
Ruadh495
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by Ruadh495 »

More expensive than converting a railway, I think. Might be cheaper to ask users to get amphibious bikes. I'm guessing that these would still require an unpowered craft licence, which could be why more people use the towpath than the canal itself. How about dropping licencing for unpowered craft?
pwa
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by pwa »

Having spent about 9 days on a narrowboat doing the Warwickshire Ring this summer I'm a real convert to canal boats, so keep your grubby mitts off! And the only thing "smelly" about it was the chemical toilet. I'll spare you the details.
Richard Fairhurst
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

Ah, boat toilets. Cassette vs pump-out toilets is the narrowboating equivalent of the h*lm*t debate...

@Ruadh495: for many people it's already dropped, in that membership of British Canoeing includes a licence: https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/memb ... s-license/
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pwa
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by pwa »

Richard Fairhurst wrote:Ah, boat toilets. Cassette vs pump-out toilets is the narrowboating equivalent of the h*lm*t debate...

@Ruadh495: for many people it's already dropped, in that membership of British Canoeing includes a licence: https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/memb ... s-license/


Yes, for a year we had British Canoeing membership so that the kids could use an inflatable canoe on the canal when we went to Brecon. We asked about doing the same in Ireland but the Irish authorities, in true Irish fashion, said not to worry but just take care not to have any mishaps.
Slowroad
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by Slowroad »

I'd miss the canal boats with their punning names and the holiday boaters who are having a domestic over how to do a lock if we filled in the canals!
“My two favourite things in life are libraries and bicycles. They both move people forward without wasting anything. The perfect day: riding a bike to the library.”
― Peter Golkin
mercalia
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by mercalia »

pwa wrote:Having spent about 9 days on a narrowboat doing the Warwickshire Ring this summer I'm a real convert to canal boats, so keep your grubby mitts off! And the only thing "smelly" about it was the chemical toilet. I'll spare you the details.


smelly fuel. noisey engines, loos that dont really work and overflow. beds too short, I dont intend to get my mitts grubby on any of it.
MikeF
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by MikeF »

theDaveB wrote:I can't find my local canals on the site .......

Dave
Neither can I. :lol:
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
pwa
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by pwa »

mercalia wrote:
pwa wrote:Having spent about 9 days on a narrowboat doing the Warwickshire Ring this summer I'm a real convert to canal boats, so keep your grubby mitts off! And the only thing "smelly" about it was the chemical toilet. I'll spare you the details.


smelly fuel. noisey engines, loos that dont really work and overflow. beds too short, I dont intend to get my mitts grubby on any of it.


Some truth in all of that.You do "rough it" a bit. It's like living in a floating caravan. But wherever you go the caravan goes with you. And your accommodation is wherever you decide to stop at the end of the day. The engine on ours did not smell. At all. And it was surprisingly quiet. I did notice that boats with Isuzu engines were noisier. No smell of fumes, except from the loo. And that produced some humour. Compared to the previous year's cycle camping tour in France it was comfy, clean and relaxed. Not too relaxed though. We did ninety-odd locks, which we enjoyed, and spent a lot of the time walking on the towpath with my daughter driving. Had a great time.
Ruadh495
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by Ruadh495 »

Richard Fairhurst wrote:Ah, boat toilets. Cassette vs pump-out toilets is the narrowboating equivalent of the h*lm*t debate...

@Ruadh495: for many people it's already dropped, in that membership of British Canoeing includes a licence: https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/memb ... s-license/


The BCU is probably the cheapest route to a canal license; I'd still be a member if Hampshire had more than 200yrd of accessible inland waterway. It's a bit like requiring British Cycling membership to cycle on the road, though. How would we respond to that?
pwa
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by pwa »

Ruadh495 wrote:
Richard Fairhurst wrote:Ah, boat toilets. Cassette vs pump-out toilets is the narrowboating equivalent of the h*lm*t debate...

@Ruadh495: for many people it's already dropped, in that membership of British Canoeing includes a licence: https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/memb ... s-license/


The BCU is probably the cheapest route to a canal license; I'd still be a member if Hampshire had more than 200yrd of accessible inland waterway. It's a bit like requiring British Cycling membership to cycle on the road, though. How would we respond to that?


The difference is, I suppose, that the waterways are generally maintained by money raised from the users, through licences. That's what pays for dredging, bank repairs, upkeep of locks and so on. And our canals have been rescued largely by volunteers in what seems to me to be a heroic effort over decades.

But of course, whether or not it is worth getting a licence does depend on how often you will put a boat in the water.
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Si
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by Si »

some one said that more people use the canal paths than the waterways and suggested drain the canals; but make them into a nice cycle way? what do you think? they did it for the old railways why not this useless bits of water?


No they didn't. In the vast majority of cases the railways were closed for other reasons then someone had the idea of converting to cycle paths later. Big difference!
Richard Fairhurst
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Re: Canal towpath closures

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

Anyone who thinks the answer to improving cycling in the UK is to pave over 2500 miles of canal, rather than make the 214,000 miles of public road safe and welcoming for bikes... has a very strange set of priorities.

Robert Aickman, co-founder of the Inland Waterways Association and (with Tom Rolt) one of the two people most responsible for saving the canal system, was astonishingly prescient in seeing how unlimited motor traffic would ruin our country. In the '40s and '50s, he wrote splenetic pieces for the IWA Bulletin called 'Motor Moloch', imploring that something be done. Cyclists - and especially cycle tourers - should be fellow-travellers with canallers, not enemies.
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