Canal map

[Doo]

Hi forum folk,

I'd really like to find a decent map/site showing cycleable towpath around as much English canal as possible - any ideas?

Cheers, Doo

[Tewdric]

Have a look at Sustrans NCN maps as these do towpaths reasonably well, most of the time! 

Open Street Map is getting good at UK cycle paths too in a lot of areas.

[Kim]

The problem, of course, is how you define "cycleable".  The NCN standard seems to be that you can get an unladen mountain bike down it if you don't mind getting covered in mud and the occasional bit of walking or lifting.  Sustrans maps are pretty good, but the routes don't always follow the towpath, and they have a habit of omitting barriers.  OpenStreetmap can be inconsistent, but is probably the most comprehensively useful.

Towpaths near urban areas may be covered in good detail by a local cycling map.  It's worth seeking these out where applicable.  For example: http://www.bhamcyclerevolution.org.uk/page/24/cycling-on-canal-towpaths or the excellent http://www.birminghamcyclinggreenways.co.uk/

[Torslanda]

Ordnance Survey used to do a canal specific map but a quick search revealed this:

IWA Canals & Navigable Rivers

If you're looking for a paper map I understand why it's in the 'Folders' section . . .

[HeltorChasca]

I have a Collins one for the K&A. Thames all the way to Brizzle. It uses OS maps around the waterway. Routes to pubs etc. Local notes of interest in the write up. It's great.

[tom_e]

Ordnance Survey used to do a canal specific map but a quick search revealed this:

IWA Canals & Navigable Rivers

Unfortunately, that doesn't tell you which ones are cycleable.  The purpose-built canals might well be, but the rivers not in many parts.  I've tried following some of the East Anglian bits where there is a legal bridleway and still had quite varied results.

I use a mixture of OSM and OS to make an educated guess.  Labour intensive, but I quite like perusing maps.

[Kim]

Cycling on towpaths is usually quite labour intensive anyway.

[MikeFromLFE]

Cycling on towpaths is usually quite labour intensive anyway.

I'm a volunteer lock keeper / towpath ranger for The Canal & River Trust and use the towpaths around Leicester quite a bit, both on foot and by bicycle, and I'd say that its generous to say they are labour intensive.
Where the surface is good (eg Leicester city centre) you've got bridge overhangs and pedestrians (and bl##dy dogs); where the surface is indifferent (Suburbs) you've got uneven surfaces, bridge holes, vegetation, pedestrians (and dogs); where the surface is poor you've got mud, often deep mud, bridge holes, overhanging vegetation, fishermen, and dog shit.
Towpaths- possibly outside the London commuting highway - are generally almost good enough for a very gentle pootle, but very little else.


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[MikeFromLFE]

I'd also add, almost as an aside, that the government settlement in the transfer of British Waterways to the charity was an annual grant from DEFRA, one of the conditions attached was that that the waterways would be 'open for all'. The upshot for cyclists is a programme of towpath improvements (apparently around Bath is a good example, although the Leicester city centre improvement comes under this banner) which aid cyclists and disabled users alike. (The boating community claims that CRT are creating high speed cycle routes - if only). Another effect was the removal of the cycling permit that was required under BW. Most towpaths are not public rights of way, but are technically permissive paths, and can be closed at the drop of a waterways managers hat.


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[Kim]

Cycling on towpaths is usually quite labour intensive anyway.

I'm a volunteer lock keeper / towpath ranger for The Canal & River Trust and use the towpaths around Leicester quite a bit, both on foot and by bicycle, and I'd say that its generous to say they are labour intensive.
Where the surface is good (eg Leicester city centre) you've got bridge overhangs and pedestrians (and bl##dy dogs); where the surface is indifferent (Suburbs) you've got uneven surfaces, bridge holes, vegetation, pedestrians (and dogs); where the surface is poor you've got mud, often deep mud, bridge holes, overhanging vegetation, fishermen, and dog shit.
Towpaths- possibly outside the London commuting highway - are generally almost good enough for a very gentle pootle, but very little else.

Agreed about all that.  My take on them is that they're occasionally useful routes that bypass particular bastard hills or annoyingly busy roads, and have some value for cyclists who would rather fall off their bike than ride with motor vehicles, but are mostly to be regarded as something to ride for leisure rather than to get anywhere.

In terms of leisure riding, I like exploring the canal network, and bike is a good way to do that.  Sudden-death low difficulty mountain biking interspersed with bouts of dog-dodging isn't particularly enjoyable as a form of cycling.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I'd also add, almost as an aside, that the government settlement in the transfer of British Waterways to the charity was an annual grant from DEFRA, one of the conditions attached was that that the waterways would be 'open for all'. The upshot for cyclists is a programme of towpath improvements (apparently around Bath is a good example, although the Leicester city centre improvement comes under this banner) which aid cyclists and disabled users alike. (The boating community claims that CRT are creating high speed cycle routes - if only). Another effect was the removal of the cycling permit that was required under BW. Most towpaths are not public rights of way, but are technically permissive paths, and can be closed at the drop of a waterways managers hat.

Yes. The K&A from Bath to Bradford-on-Avon is a route used by lots of cyclists, particularly in summer of course but it's decent all year round. After BoA it's still ok certainly as far as Devizes. But even at its best, it's definitely a path not a road; not only in terms of the lack of tarmac but perhaps even more in the presence, as noted, of obstacles animate and inanimate. A general problem with going more than a few miles on towpaths seems to be great and seemingly random variation in quality. The Sharpness canal is a good example. At each end, ie Sharpness and Gloucester, it's got a good, wide, smooth, "bound dust" surface but in the middle it varies from a narrow, muddy, bumpy tyre-width track to – even worse – a crazy pave of broken tarmac.

[Doo]

Thanking everyone for their comments. I cycled from Stratford on Avon to Stourbridge today following tow path (on a single speed cx bike) which was great esp the nether ton tunnel and then onto Kidderminster before joining roads.

[Kim]

Cor, that's a fair distance on a towpath.  Sounds like you've got the right bike for the job.

[Cudzoziemiec]

What is the right bike for long distance towpath riding? A question worthy of multiple answers, surely!

[Bledlow]

Cycling on towpaths is usually quite labour intensive anyway.

I'm a volunteer lock keeper / towpath ranger for The Canal & River Trust and use the towpaths around Leicester quite a bit, both on foot and by bicycle, and I'd say that its generous to say they are labour intensive.
Where the surface is good (eg Leicester city centre) you've got bridge overhangs and pedestrians (and bl##dy dogs); where the surface is indifferent (Suburbs) you've got uneven surfaces, bridge holes, vegetation, pedestrians (and dogs); where the surface is poor you've got mud, often deep mud, bridge holes, overhanging vegetation, fishermen, and dog shit.
Towpaths- possibly outside the London commuting highway - are generally almost good enough for a very gentle pootle, but very little else.

Agreed about all that.  My take on them is that they're occasionally useful routes that bypass particular bastard hills or annoyingly busy roads, and have some value for cyclists who would rather fall off their bike than ride with motor vehicles, but are mostly to be regarded as something to ride for leisure rather than to get anywhere.

In terms of leisure riding, I like exploring the canal network, and bike is a good way to do that.  Sudden-death low difficulty mountain biking interspersed with bouts of dog-dodging isn't particularly enjoyable as a form of cycling.

I used to commute along the Kennet from Reading to Theale quite often. It was nice on a fine day. The path was OK, traffic was light, & there was wildlife. Only in summer, though, & if I felt like getting up early enough to avoid the heaviest traffic I'd hammer down the A4.

But there are other stretches of towpath I wouldn't dream of using for commuting.

[Kim]

What is the right bike for long distance towpath riding? A question worthy of multiple answers, surely!

Something that's Not A Brompton, for a start...

Or a tricycle, for that matter.  Someone will be along with that photo again in a minute, I expect.

[mzjo]

What is the right bike for long distance towpath riding? A question worthy of multiple answers, surely!

Something that's Not A Brompton, for a start...

Or a tricycle, for that matter.  Someone will be along with that photo again in a minute, I expect.

A Brompton (in my very limited experience) has a considerable advantage when crossing narrow lock gates and sufficient disadvantage riding between the locks that you might be tempted to chuck it in said lock. I was very disappointed but I was on one of the muddier sections of the Oxford Canal. I might even have a photo somewhere.

[TrishnBonnie]

Pearson's canal books are meant for leisure use of canals such as walking so they show the state of the towpaths using different thicknesses of lines. They also show public transport, shops, pubs etc nearest towns and places of interest history etc near the canals and are quite entertaining to read. When boating I prefer the Nicholson guides as the actual maps are easier to follow page to page but they don't go into such detail as the Pearson guides

[mrcharly-YHT]

I imagine a Fat bike would be a suitable machine for such a journey. Comfy on the irregular bits, wouldn't chew up the muddy bits and if you did fall in the canal, it would float.

My sole canal-side trips have been limited to Skipton-Gargrave alongside the Leeds-liverpool. Considerable parts of that were just grass and a sheep-track with occasional muddy puddles. Even on a bike with 1.5" tyres it wasn't really fun.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I imagine a Fat bike would be a suitable machine for such a journey. Comfy on the irregular bits, wouldn't chew up the muddy bits and if you did fall in the canal, it would float.

My sole canal-side trips have been limited to Skipton-Gargrave alongside the Leeds-liverpool. Considerable parts of that were just grass and a sheep-track with occasional muddy puddles. Even on a bike with 1.5" tyres it wasn't really fun.

Are you reading this, Basil? 

[Butterfly]

I once cycled on the towpath from Brentford to Slough. It was doable but a couple of times I had to remove all my panniers to fit through barriers (that had failed in what to prevent the motorcycle users that I encountered from using the path  ), I fell off once (front pannier hit a large base stone protruding from a wall) and had one puncture (in a marathon plus tyre). I joined the path at the same time as a walker and passed him several times - he didn't have any punctures or fall off, and didn't stop for lunch - and we exited the path at the same time. So I would say it's ok for getting along at a steady walking pace, but prettier than the A4 and certainly more peaceful than any of the road routes there.

[cycleman]

yes the barriers along there are ghastly .

[MikeFromLFE]

yes the barriers along there are ghastly .

Complain, and complain again!

There's a barrier on 'my' bit of the Leicester Line near where I volunteer- it's horrid, people struggle with bikes with any luggage, and 'serious' luggage requires removal. It prevents disabled users from using that part of the towpath.
I persuaded my masters to unlock it a couple of summers ago - within hours there were a couple of mini-motos, and in the end the police requested it be re-locked.
I've asked for a (is it called) H barrier to replace the existing monstrosity, but ........ 'no money' , but I actually think it's 'no will' because there's no pressure apart from that from me.

Ring up Canal & River Trust 0303 040 4040 and insist the issue with the barriers (or anything else) is logged on "SAP" - that's the internal recording database!


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[mzjo]

What is the right bike for long distance towpath riding? A question worthy of multiple answers, surely!

Something that's Not A Brompton, for a start...

Or a tricycle, for that matter.  Someone will be along with that photo again in a minute, I expect.

A Brompton (in my very limited experience) has a considerable advantage when crossing narrow lock gates and sufficient disadvantage riding between the locks that you might be tempted to chuck it in said lock. I was very disappointed but I was on one of the muddier sections of the Oxford Canal. I might even have a photo somewhere.

There we are. Further towards Oxford this towpath is a Sustran route - but not here.

[Tigerrr]

When we got the narrowboat I bought a pair of brommies as they fit so neatly. I regret not thinking it through as the small wheels and clearances are entirely silly on the muddy rootstrewn ruttery that much of the towpath actually consists of. Halfords 29er with front suspension has replaced them, which works well.