Car-free cycling
Nicholas Albery
One of the least known aspects of cycling is that it is possible and exhilarating to bicycle, hardly meeting a motor vehicle all the way, from say Ladbroke Grove to Kew, Slough, Hemel Hempstead or Birmingham - simply by buying a L3 permit from British Waterways (7th Floor, Gresham House, 53 Clarendon Road, Watford, Herts) which gives access to the canal towpaths. The route requires an adventurous spirit - occasionally cyclists fall off the narrow paths into the canal, there are motorbike barriers where the bike has to be carried, punctures are frequent, buckled wheels a possibility, fishermen with their rods across the path represent an occasional obstacle, and teenage gangs have been known to use cyclists for airgun target practice.
'It is possible and exhilarating to bicycle along canal towpaths, hardly meeting a motor vehicle all the way, from Ladbroke Grove to Kew, or Birmingham'
But given the dangers of cycling along main roads, and the very high costs of regular cycle paths (L32,000 was spent recently on one short stretch circumventing the Shepherds Bush roundabout), it would seem that a relatively small investment - perhaps financed by a more substantial cycle permit fee - could widen the towpaths and improve their surfaces, along the 2,000 miles of British Waterways; and the constant passing of cyclists would provide greater surveillance for the barge owners who at present suffer from frequent vandalism.
These paths could then form a link with the disused railway lines now being converted into cycle tracks. Many stretches of the canal, such as that from Peachey Common to Slough, are very derelict on both banks, and would be further improved by canalside housing - or by homeless people being allowed to rent barge accommodation, with regular canal taxis offering transport to city centres. Our canals are still a very underused resource. How many tourists, for instance, appreciate that Birmingham has more canals than Venice?
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