British Waterways permit

[compo]

I never knew one needed a British Waterways permit to cycle along the towpaths controlled by the waterways. Read here if you didn't know either:

http://www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/cycling/permit

Does anyone actually have one of these permits or ever been checked and asked for it? It is no problem, the permit is free and downloadable, I just found it strange I had never heard of it.

 

[ushills]

Was asked once at Bratch Locks Wombourne, didn't know I needed one guy took name and address and gave me one there and then. Now have one printed off and kept in my saddle bag on the MTB.

 

[ohnovino]

Do the T&Cs still state that you must wear a helmet?

 

[Theseus]

Do the T&Cs still state that you must wear a helmet?

Is that in case you fall in your head will be supported in the water?

 

[ohnovino]

Is that in case you fall in your head will be supported in the water?

Extra buoyancy from all that polystyrene.

 

[ColinJ]

Do the T&Cs still state that you must wear a helmet?

Is that in case you fall in your head will be supported in the water?

Extra buoyancy from all that polystyrene.

Probably for those bridge-headbutting moments!

Once, a mate of mine was rather the worse for wear after a party and was riding home along the Rochdale canal towpath. He wasn't paying much attention to where he was going, smacked his head on a low-flying bridge and ended up in the canal. Apparently, with the help of adrenaline, it is possible to go from pissed stupid to stone cold sober in a few hundred milliseconds ...!

I found out about the permits 20 years ago and carried one for 5 or 6 years until it fell to pieces. I have never been asked for one.

 

[fimm]

I believe it is to stop canal towpaths becoming rights of way or something like that. I've never been asked for one.

 

[Theseus]

I believe it is to stop canal towpaths becoming rights of way or something like that. I've never been asked for one.

They are not needed here in the Salmon Republic

 

[fimm]

They are not needed here in the Salmon Republic

Probably because the rights of way laws (or whatever it is that I am actually thinking of) are different...

(Not heard "Salmon Republic" before... I have to confess that it took me a moment to realise that you weren't talking about fish...)

 

[ufkacbln]

I have one, and an inland Waterways Helmsman's qualification, never been asked for either

 

[Theseus]

(Not heard "Salmon Republic" before... I have to confess that it took me a moment to realise that you weren't talking about fish...)

That's because I made it up just for you.

 

[Candaules]

There is a slight disadvantage to having a permit. To get one, you must visit the BWB website, which also lists the sections of canal where cycling on the towpath is either permitted or forbidden. Some of the forbidden bits are perfectly good for cycling, and some permitted sections are very badly maintained. Either way, showing your permit on a forbidden section would be an admission that you knew you shouldn't be cycling there.
Or am I being too scrupulous?

I've never been asked to produce my permit, so it probably doesn't matter.

 

[HLaB]

I've heard of the permit but I've never seen anybody official on the canals up here and tbh the tow paths are usually OK in town but there very poor at other points and I always have this image of me falling in, so I avoid them.

 

[HLaB]

They are not needed here in the Salmon Republic

It used to be shown on the Sustrans maps ?

 

[172traindriver]

Some of the lads at work do a bit of riding on the towpaths and one of them had printed and left a few copies in the messroom at work.
The subject cropped up when someone was asking about it at work, apart from the forms at work I had never encountered it because I only go on the roads. The guy that was asking was the sort of person that would ride down the towpath in the summer with the family for a leisurely afternoon out.
It is ironic that not long after that I heard a quite heated debate on Radio 5 one afternoon about anglers and cyclists and the right of way on the towpath etc.
The permit issue came up here, but there also seemed to be a belief that the anglers owned the towpath because they paid for permits to fish there. They were moaning about the behaviour of cyclists.
Cyclists were moaning that anglers showed no respect to any other towpath user because they dumped their fishing gear all over the towpath and had their rods sticking across the towpath.
There were reports of each group pushing each other into the canal, and whilst you may chuckle to yourself, I am sure there was a story of someone being pushed in and dying. I think it was an elderly fisherman, but I am not totally sure about that.