Trouble on the towpath

Published: 13 October, 2011

• THE problem of speeding cyclists on the towpath took up nearly half of the September meeting of the Friends of Regent’s Canal.

Cyclists who travel on the towpath at a modest speed, who follow the British Waterways code and ring the cycle’s bell, are not the problem. 

Cyclists who use the towpath as a speedway, yellow jersey in mind and too busy or mindless to ring a bell, are the problem, especially those who treat pedestrians as being the nuisance!

For much of daylight, but especially at “rush hour” both morning and evening, the towpath is no longer a safe place.

May I ask Tony Hales, the chairman of British Waterways, how he intends to take back our “place of refuge” from speeding cyclists?

Pedestrians’ fury at their towpath having been commandeered by cyclists will surely come back to haunt him and his new canal and river trust. 

LESTER MAY
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