David: How do you close towpaths?

IT'S ALL very well Victor saying that CaRT 'should close the towpaths' but how does he suggest they do this?

There are thousands of access points to the towpaths (one at almost every bridge, for a start) and few of them have gates; the most they could do would be to post notices, which would quickly disappear or be ignored.

The government has not closed the public footpath network and has told local authorities that they must keep parks open.  We are allowed to go out for local exercise, but I have seen no definition of 'local'—my nearest towpath is only a mile away, which I think is pretty local.

Ban on boat use

I can see no good reason for the complete ban on boat use; I could perfectly well cruise ten miles from our mooring without going within six feet of anyone and without passing through any locks.  As it is, I cannot even check that the boat is still there, hasn't sprung a leak and that the batteries still work.

I hear that English Heritage, another charity similar in many ways to CaRT, has offered its members 15 months membership on renewal instead of the usual 12, in view of the fact that they cannot use their membership at present. Perhaps CaRT should consider doing the same for its licences, as they are currently unusable.

David Hymers