E-MTB - Errosion damage ?

[I like Skol]

As said, its part of the cycle network here……it wont be downgraded to footpath

Is that why they don't downgrade some roads to restricted byways or bridleways when they don't like 4x4s using them? Happens all the time and can happen to bridleways and footpaths in the the same way with rights downgraded or extinguished completely.

 

[jowwy]

Currently going through the Welsh Parliament.

Welsh parliment have no juristriction over the bridleways in south wales. They are privatley owned by the canal and river trust……….

 

[classic33]

Welsh parliment have no juristriction over the bridleways in south wales. They are privatley owned by the canal and river trust……….

Which is based in England and has a ban on all motorised vehicles on it's properties.

 

[jowwy]

Which is based in England and has a ban on all motorised vehicles on it's properties.

An ebike isnt a motorised vehicle and in wales, due to its rural nature, motor vehicles are allwoed on the canal network…..i know, cause i worked for the canal and river trust here in wales, and we gave out permits for cyclists to use the network, both pedal bikes and E assist bikes.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Bridleways here in south wales are now part of the cycle network and have been long before i was born in 76’……

There was no right in law to ride a bike on a bridleway until the the Countryside Act 1968 was passed into law.
Section 30 states “Any member of the public shall have, as a right of way, the right to ride a bicycle, not being a mechanically propelled vehicle, on any bridleway, but in exercising that right cyclists shall give way to pedestrians and persons on horseback.”
My bold.
The above law applies equally in both England and Wales; bridleways are only 'a part of the cycle network' inasmuch as it is legal to ride a bike on one. The other legal users have absolute priority and there is no requirement whatsoever to make a bridleway 'suitable for bicycles'. South Wales is no different to any other part of Wales in respect of the Countryside Act 1968.

Of course people did ride bikes on bridleways before that; in many places it was common, in others it had to be done with discretion but as it was never many people and generally very low-impact, it was broadly considered acceptable.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Welsh parliment have no juristriction over the bridleways in south wales. They are privatley owned by the canal and river trust……….

I think you are mixing up towpaths and bridleways. Very few towpaths have bridleway status, anywhere in England and Wales. Bridleways are - like public footpaths, public rights of way, part of the public highways system of this land. Towpaths, except in very rare instances, are not.

 

[jowwy]

There was no right in law to ride a bike on a bridleway until the the Countryside Act 1968 was passed into law.
Section 30 states “Any member of the public shall have, as a right of way, the right to ride a bicycle, not being a mechanically propelled vehicle, on any bridleway, but in exercising that right cyclists shall give way to pedestrians and persons on horseback.”
My bold.
The above law applies equally in both England and Wales; bridleways are only 'a part of the cycle network' inasmuch as it is legal to ride a bike on one. The other legal users have absolute priority and there is no requirement whatsoever to make a bridleway 'suitable for bicycles'. South Wales is no different to any other part of Wales in respect of the Countryside Act 1968.

Of course people did ride bikes on bridleways before that; in many places it was common, in others it had to be done with discretion but as it was never many people and generally very low-impact, it was broadly considered acceptable.

Which was before i was born in 76’ as i stated……..

 

[jowwy]

I think you are mixing up towpaths and bridleways. Very few towpaths have bridleway status, anywhere in England and Wales. Bridleways are - like public footpaths, public rights of way, part of the public highways system of this land. Towpaths, except in very rare instances, are not.

 

[KnittyNorah]

View attachment 625283

I would dispute - on the clear visual evidence of both OS and definitive maps - that 'many' canal towpaths have bridleway status. I have already stated that a few do.

The fact that 'many' towpaths are, or could easily be made to be, perfectly adequate and pleasant for riding a horse is hardly news, given that most of them were constructed specifically with horses in mind. The clue - as with so many things! - is in the name. Most towpaths in England and Wales, though, do not have bridleway status, even though I, personally, consider that many should.

 

[classic33]

View attachment 625283

Some but not all.

And the Canal and River Trust have never issued permits to use a bicycle on a towpath.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Which was before i was born in 76’ as i stated……..

You said 'long before'. Seven or eight years is not 'long before' in the context of the passing of laws and people's lifetimes.
In this context I would consider 'long before' to be seventy or eighty years. The turn of the 19th/20th Cs perhaps ...

 

[jowwy]

Some but not all.

And the Canal and River Trust have never issued permits to use a bicycle on a towpath.

the canal and river trust may not have, but the previous iteration British Waterways did and as a staff member on the Mon and Brex canal in south wales, we did issue cycle permits on oir networks in swansea and in bridgewater and somerset networks.

 

[classic33]

From the Canal and River Trust.
Permissive at best, and a long way from being a bridleway.

There's at least one bridleway on the hillside near me, the nearest canal is in the valley five miles away. No canal on the hill.

 

[KnittyNorah]

I prefer to know what the law says, not what Joe Google might think.

 

[classic33]

@fossyant, anything like this in use up here?