Horse drawn narrow boat Iona

Hopefully she will prove a great asset in Devon after an unhappy time in Surrey.
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/historic-horse-drawn-barge-finds-4475558

 

Unfortunately, a victim of the loutish behaviour that is all too common on the towpaths.

I read another report that the owner had been harassed by cyclists claiming the towpath is for their sole use and she shouldn't be using it to tow the boat. That just shows the cyclists' total ignorance of the original purpose of the towpath and C&RT's own guidance on the use of shared spaces which states that cyclists are placed behind boaters, walkers and anglers in precedence of use of towpaths.

That lady is being far too polite by calling them 'snowflakes'....'onanists*' would be a more appropriate word.

* the ban hammer would be wielded if I used the more common phraseology.

 

Just to wade into this as someone who used to be at the coal face regarding such matters and was directly involved in 100's of miles of towpath works/improvements (depending on your point of view).

Towpaths just weren't designed for what they have been shoehorned into these days, Dog Walkers/Cyclists/Horse Boaters in their own ways are as bad as one another in falling out with CRT and each other and all deciding the space is solely their domain, in my role incident/accident reports used to come across my desk and for every negative cyclist incident there would normally be a cyclist being flatted by a dog or forced into the cut by the actions of others.

Things are also not helped by the fact that a lot of (the majority I suspect) of towpath works over the last 15+ years have been funded by external funding streams whose aims are to improve cycling networks and thus without the cyclists (And ensuring numbers are achieved) the works just don't happen, things are not helped by surfaces being used that allow speeds to creep up (Lancaster City centre which is finished only in black top is like a bloody race track!), but with careful design it can be sorted (at a cost) however, the overarching problem is that the bank is only so wide and that is a matter that cannot be solved and only encourages conflict.

I would also query the suggestion in the article that she is the only horse boat left, unless its changed there is at least one still operating up north, the problem was always integrating the unique needs of horse boating on a canal that had to meet modern standards insofar as it could. After getting somewhat caught in the cross fire for many years I finally managed to arrange with the regional manager that we would take an engineer horse boating for a few days to understand what the issues were (signage/snag issues/online moorings to name but a few) which at least seemed to slightly defrost relations, but then I left!

 

As an ex-native of Godalming, I'd point put that the Daily Mail is spinning this hard. Can we not make this a tedious anti-cyclist rant, as it's not the whole picture.

 

Good luck with that

 

Our canal society has to work with C&RT and generally it's a very positive working relationship. Horses are currently banned from the canal's towpath but walkers, anglers and social cyclists (mum, dad and kids out for a leisurely ride) accept the shared use concept. Sustrans has contributed to improving the surface along part of the towpath and again we have a good relationship with the local organiser. The problem along the canal is a recent, more dangerous development of motorcyclists on trials bikes who have "discovered" they can rip up and down the towpath with a total disregard for anyone else - pedestrian, angler or cyclist - who is in their way. Some of our workparty volunteers have been physically threatened when they have tried to point out that the towpath is no place for these motor bikes. Hopefully, this problem will diminish when the group responsible move on.

 

Another ex near-Godalming resident here.. I went to school and grew up there. So sad to see Iona leave.

 

It'd be interesting to understand what else is in the picture.

 

Taking note of personal experience and exacerbated by the shenanigans at the WSR, never under estimate the ability for those in the heritage sector to be incredibly single minded, antagonistic and have a remarkable habit of managing to fall out with anyone and everyone.

 

Fair comment!

 

other boaters, paddleboarders, pedestrians, accusers of animal cruelty...

...pretty much every other kind of user of the tow-path. At which point one wonders

 

Quite agree. The cyclists in question are just another example of the selfish, "entitled", ignorant attitude all too prevalent nowadays. Although thankfully still a minority it is nevertheless worrying for the future. The worst thing in my opinion is the lack of any consequence for this kind of behaviour. Perhaps training the horse to administer a good kick in the "sprockets" of the cyclists would give them food for thought? (Just being silly really, a) I don't advocate violence, b) it might hurt the horse more, and c) it would no doubt prompt police action by the snowflakes and a compensation claim.)

 

What's it got to do with the future bar implying that such traits only relate to the young, to use your words there are plenty of "entitled", ignorant people out there from 6-80 age has sweet fanny adams to do with it.

Likewise with the horse boater one could suggest they were acting entitled expecting the canal network and users to bend to their own niche specific needs the whole article seems to be written to be deliberately provocative whilst those interviewed seem to have made a desperate effort to show horn just about every modern right wing insult into their interview (snowflakes, woke etc), at best it could be considered to be a rather pathetic attempt to make the story topical alternatively a cynic could think its just tired dog whistling for clicks.

 

I am well aware that selfishness etc is not exclusive to the young, I, for one, seem to come across it more and more every day, from all ages. This is not about who has more right to be, in this case, on a towpath. Wherever there is conflict of interest, reasonable discussion and compromise generally used to work, sadly nowadays the first line of approach from others seems to be antagonistic/entitled/selfish/ignorant, call it what you will. That in turn can eventually lead to a similar response if all else fails. If that becomes the "norm", as sometimes it seems to be, then that has to be a concern for the future, and not the kind of world I care to be in. I will continue to promote the approach of reason wherever possible, it just seems to be more and more a lost cause?

 

Canal towpaths are similar to coastal footpaths in many ways. Many people use them for leisure, however, runners expect to pass unhindered most of the time -expecting everyone else to give way. Those walking dogs have to keep a firm grip of the lead as dogs often perceive a runner as an attacker due to the inability of the runner to slow down.
Cyclists are a most a hazardous feature of the paths; often risking their lives and those of others especially where sheer of big drops in the contours exist.
I suspect this is much the same for towpath users.

 

Spot on, don't disagree with any of that!

 

The amount of generalisation in this thread is amazing. People whinging about runners, boaters, dog walkers, cyclists etc etc as if each group is some sort of cloned army who act and think the same.

Yes there are some ----- in all of those groups, but having a pop at a entire group of people based on their activity is totally unhelpful and just leads to entrenched viewpoints. It also alienates the vast majority of people in those groups who are perfectly courteous, understanding, thoughtful, helpful and - if you just - law-abiding.

Having just spent many days on the canals and towpaths as a boater, walker and cyclist, I am speaking from experience.

 

Most of us posting here also speak from our experiences. You haven't walked, run or cycled the more busier parts of the SW Coastal Path I guess.

 

I suspect a key part of this is the sustained campaign by much of the media (Aided at times by the government and various LA's) to basically dehumanise cyclists, casting them as a vermin/nuisance to be hated upon rather overlooking that they are actually human beings.

 

... which unfortunately some people pick up as fact and regurgitate on other forums. When they spot an individual which backs up their jaundiced view, it also proves their point completely.

After all, we all know the world isn't like it was when I were a lad and we're all going to hell in a handcart etc etc.