Cycling UK Forum

I think they can be suitable for urban utility cycling and commuting as long as people adjust their riding style to suit the conditions but I agree that the expectation of speed is a big problem. Towpaths are not a road substitute for those in a hurry who have been bullied off the roads, nor are they a cut price alternative to providing proper cycling infrastructure for our towns and cities.

The rules have obviously changed now, but there must still be some mechanism to prevent tow paths becoming rights of way or practical maintenence would be impossible.

I always thought that canals tended to be covered by bylaws preventing the dedication of a right of way. However, a quick look hasn't turned up anything explicit. I haven't looked too closely though.

A permit system for bicycles wouldn't prevent dedication of a footpath so it seems unlikely that the permits existed to prevent highway dedication.

As I said on a recent thread, there is a general exemption for statutory bodies from dedicating land as a highway where that is incompatible with them performing a statutory function. This might apply if highway status actually did prevent effective maintenance of the navigation.

I don't think it would be quite as bad as that though. There is some old case law where the view was taken that a right of way dedicated along a navigation would be supplementary to the needs of the navigation (that public foot passage on a towpath footpath was secondary to the passage of men and horses towing barges). I'm speculating here but it could also be viewed that any public right of way was also subject to the occasional maintenance requirements of the navigation.

In any case, local authorities are generally very amenable to allowing temporary and emergency closures of public rights of way on request (I would say often too amenable for the public good). I have absolutely no doubt that C&RT would have no problem obtaining any closures they needed.

There are many reasons why the C&RT might want access to remain on a permissive basis but I don't think that a public right of way on foot, horse or cycle would be a huge impediment to the functioning of the navigation.

Indeed. A significant number of towpaths are rights of way on foot, generally along waterways that were derelict but have since been restored: the Rochdale, the Huddersfield Narrow, the Kennet & Avon and the Droitwich Barge Canal.

Bicycler wrote:A permit system for bicycles wouldn't prevent dedication of a footpath so it seems unlikely that the permits existed to prevent highway dedication.

To obtain a permit you used to have to sign agreeing to the code of conduct, I thought this was probably the point of them.

PH wrote:

Bicycler wrote:A permit system for bicycles wouldn't prevent dedication of a footpath so it seems unlikely that the permits existed to prevent highway dedication.

To obtain a permit you used to have to sign agreeing to the code of conduct, I thought this was probably the point of them.

Me too. However, someone upthread suggested it was to prevent dedication of a right of way.

It was a pointless system anyway; a bureaucratic anachronism of no practical use. Virtually nobody bothered getting one, virtually nobody ever asked to see one and BW had no real way of restricting access to permit holders or revoking permits. I'm glad it's gone.

Given that a lot of traffic doesn't give you a metre of space then a metre next to water isn't as dangerous as the road where a fall can mean death by being run over.

If it is a daily commute and it worries you so much how about a lifejacket? Lighter than the padding you'd need to withstand a lorry hitting you/running you over.

Last year I was cycling into the centre of Sheffield from Rotherham via the canal path.
It's the quickest most direct route and a nice bimble.
A family of four came towards me on their bikes , standard nuclear family.
Both children wearing self inflating life jackets !
"They keep riding into the canal " said mum, with a smile.
What a fantastic attitude I thought.
Lets keep riding and sod the occasional off into the canal.
Top parents.

Could lead to surprises. I had one go off when I was changing a sail on a boat!

nez dans le guidon wrote:Could lead to surprises. I had one go off when I was changing a sail on a boat!

Tuck yer toggle!

No it was a real auto and I was getting a bit of spray. Not that much. Then kerpow! One surprised sailor. I don't usually wear one on the foredeck. I am a fan of the safety line, rather.