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news
Basingstoke Canal (picture credit Faeden 1)Cyclists on Basingstoke Canal told that pedestrians have priority after physical and verbal "clashes"
Cyclists using the Basingstoke Canal in Surrey and Hampshire are being reminded that pedestrians have priority on the towpath, with a code of conduct being drawn up for users to reinforce the point.
The move follows reports of both verbal and physical “clashes” between towpath users on the 32-mile waterway with the area around Woking said to be “particularly problematic,” reports Get Surrey.
Completed in 1794 the canal, which nowadays runs from the Wey Navigation which connects it to the Thames to Greywell some five miles short of the original destination from which it takes its name, has been jointly owned by Surrey County Council and Hampshire County Council.
The volunteer-run Basingstoke Canal Society acts as its “guardians” and since being established half a century ago has led efforts to restore the canal, enabling boats to navigate it, and to restore it to public ownership.
The Basingstoke Canal Joint Management Committee is now working on a code of conduct which will include cyclists being requested to slow down, to give right of way to pedestrians and to dismount at narrow points on the towpath and in particular near bridges.
One of the committee members, Councillor Kevin Davies, said that Woking – the town whose council he sits on – “is the area where we have considerable issues. I think the policy is a good thing and welcome it.”
He acknowledged the value of the towpath to cyclists in enabling them to void busy roads, but added: “Since the route became officially known as cycle paths on maps, cyclists think they are the number one. We need signs that simply say ‘cyclists you do not have priority’.”
Signage telling them that will be erected under the policy, which has been drafted by the canal’s strategic manager James Taylor, who in a report submitted to the committee wrote: “Cycling is a very popular way to commute and these towns all have good access from the canal to local train stations at Woking, West Byfleet, Fleet and Ash Vale.
“The towpath is now at times crowded with many different types of user, and there is inevitably some clashes, physically and verbally. This issue is not unusual to the Basingstoke Canal, and similar issues are seen on many canals throughout Great Britain.”
In 2015 The Canal & River Trust, which is responsible for 2,000 miles of waterways throughout England and Wales, introduced its Better Towpaths For Everyone policy which asks cyclists to “Drop Your Pace” and to give priority to pedestrians.
That same year, we took a detailed look at the problem of cyclists riding at excessive speeds on canal towpaths as they sought to set Strava KOMs.
> Strava users told to cut speed on canal towpaths – "They're hardly the Alpe d’Huez"
Earlier this month, the Basingstoke Canal Society said it was “extremely disappointed” that Surrey and Hampshire County Councils had decided against a proposed transfer of the waterway to the Canal & River Trust.
The society added that it believed “the transfer would offer the most attractive option to secure the long-term future of the canal by integrating it more fully into the national waterways network.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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47 comments
Well, that's probably the reason cyclists are on shared paths, true. But it doesn't absolve us of our responsibility to be respectful to others. But the issue is really bullying, in that everyone bullies everyone who's further down the 'food chain' (in terms of mass and velocity) than himself or herself. For an example of how cyclists can be c*nts to pedestrians, try crossing Bread Street in the City of London during the early evening rush hour. Car drivers, van drivers, taxi drivers and yes, cyclists who come along Cheapside intending to turn in, will bully you out of the way. In the case of cyclists, it's 'ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring!!!!' from fifty yards away and a bellowed 'MOVE!!!' as they turn in to Bread.
On the last two or three miles of my commute, there's a park near to home, with big signs saying 'CONSIDERATE CYCLING PERMITTED'. It's quite depressing that such a sign is even necessary. I cycle at walking pace for that part of the park. I actually quite like slow, 5-8 mph cycling anyway, as it's the whole 'effortless flying carpet' thing, and a welcome change from the insane exertion that I impose upon myself for the rest of the journey. And if I come up behind pedestrians, I'll ask in a normal tone, 'Any chance I can squeeze past you, there?'. I never get abuse from them, and I always thank them. If there's a dog, I'll come to a complete stop if needs be. It's not the animal's fault that his human isn't controlling him, and he certainly doesn't deserve to go under the wheels of a bike just because of that. The dog walkers invariably apologise, and I respond that it's not a problem, adding something like, 'I can use the excuse to stop and get a breather, anyway!'. I don't ring my bell, because none of my bikes has a bell for the very reason that in a cyclist-pedestrian interaction, I find them as aggressive as car horns, and if it's a car driver, he won't hear it anyway.
Car drivers are unmitigated c**ts, but pedestrians suffer from that c**tishness as much as cyclists do, if not more. I have all but given up walking around London or its suburbs, because it's all but impossible to get anywhere that involves crossing a side street unless there's no traffic, and if you stand up to them, you get threats and sometimes worse.
Let's be nice to pedestrians. They were on the roads/paths before any other mode of locomotion.
Pedestrians are supposed to have 'priority' in Royal Parks, too. Wait until Greenwich Park is closed to motor traffic and try walking up 'the Avenue'. The cyclists coming down the hill at around 40 mph will frantically sound their bells until you get out of the way.
Boils my fucking piss.
The Basinstoke Canal is part of my morning commute and is very clear, being permissive and signed, that pedestrians have priority. Though the bit from the Guildford Road brige to the Deepcut bridge is pretty well impassable to pedestrians mind, very few footprints in the mud, mostly tyre tracks. Still better than last year when the quagmire lasted from July to May, the filth has only really started. The hardpac is nice, but the material they have been using recently to resurface sets like concrete and stays very lumpy. The canal has only just refilled completely what with the recent wet weather.
A quick call to the Basingstoke Canal people gets fallen trees removed very quickly.
I saw a KingFisher twice within a couple of weeks earlier in the year, nothing natural should be so quite incredibly blue.
I too have had some problems with some dogs and their disappointing owners. Odd how little care they sometimes give to the ever so precious pets.
Im pretty sure pedestrians have priority on any path, lane, track or bridleway, even cycle specific paths as far as Ive been informed.
Where do dogs come in the order of things?
I wholeheartedly agree with the above reference Strava and wouldn't seek to use a towpath at any speed. You can bet a fair amount that many conflicts have involved precious dogs and shitty retractable leads though...
As a regular towpath cyclist, I fully agree that pedestrians have priority. But that doesn't mean that they don't have any responsibilities. I'm fed up at being shouted at, and on two occaisions physically attacked, for politely making pedestrians aware of my presence.
So, keep dogs on a short lead at all times, as specified in the highway code.
And don't complain if you didn't hear my bell, if you are wearing headphones.
This.
The only agro I've ever had when riding towpaths is with dog walkers. The same walker would scream 'slow down' every time any cyclist passed her. After the umpteenth time of this happening I stopped and explained that I could actually demonstrate that not only had I slowed down, but also show exactly much I had slowed down by thanks to it being GPS'd.
She'd embarressedly avert her gaze every time I slowly rolled past her after that.
am i allowed to complain, being deaf, if I don't hear your bell?
And why should hearing people have to remove headphones just for your benefit?
Just as you expect dogs to be kept on a short leash, so you should absolutely respect pedestrians and make sure you pass them slowly and at a safe distance, as we expect cars to do, and if you can't pass yet, just wait.
A ha! I have a natty bell connected to my lights which flash when the bell is
rung rang ringedrung. The rear light is connected too and that is over 800 lumens, so you've got no excuses!that must be really useful to all the deaf people who have eyes in the back of their head, or always walk backwards and can see the bike anyway...
They usually have working necks.
how do they know when to use them? Is it when they see the light that's behind them, or when they hear the bell they can't hear?
800 lumens for a rear light? Is that all you got? I have 5000 rear red lumens for my daytime canal ride little man! Best rear light in the world and no dog on an extended lead or canal boat owner is getting in my way!!! Now where did I leave my medication?
On low setting!!!!!!
I wouldn't have thought 'Strava segments' are appropriate for towpaths at all. Around this bit of Oxon, much of the Thames path should not be used for cycling (except in Oxford), but, for some reason, that doesn't stop some local MTB rides using it when they shouldn't.
Oh they're totally inappropriate, however … those paths used to be my commute and before Strava became so popular I held all the KOMs at one time or another. Not big or clever obviously.
Pedestrians always took priority mind you, 'cause dem da rulez.
the problem is killing them all... so often the same stretch is part of several Strav segments... unless you own route includes the entirity of a Strava segment, you cannot report it...
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