Those ridiculous 'statistics'

THOSE ridiculous statistics from Canal & River Trust, obviously to help it get funding, have generated many responses.

The following are from those who included their names.

I see there are lots of people on the web making a mockery of those new statistics from CaRT, writes Alex Simmons.

I am referring of course to the 6.1 billions pounds social value including 1.1 billion of benefits to the NHS created by the waterways. One thing for sure is that no one seems to believe them.

They leave me in sheer anticipation of what we are going to be told next and how further into the reams of fantasy.

Reflecting on peoples' intelligence

I am not one who writes to journals and the like, writes Steve Foreman.

But those figures given in the Boaters Update have really incensed me, they reflecting on peoples' intelligence. How can anyone really take in such rubbish as being told that the waterways save the NHS over a billion pounds. Just how, that is I am sure others besides me would like to know.

All I can get from it is that people being by the water somehow save people getting ill or hurt. Just the same walking through say a wood—and without the racket from the boats and the mess they scatter.

And how about the cost to the NHS of those injured by the flying cyclists on the towpaths or those people drowned in the waterways. Pull the other one.

At Dead Dog Bridge

After reading on your site about Canal [and River] Trust's claim I took walk down to Dead Dog Bridge, writes Bill Archer.

This is the one at Camden where they stated a million people walked over it that works out st 2,739 a day!

Well I got there at noon and stayed 30 minutes in the rain as I thought a good test multiplying it by the number of daylight hours and doubled as only half an hour and in the half an hour saw just two woman with umbrellas, so Including myself this came to a total of 16 for the day!

Okay, it was the first cold day of this winter my phone showing 8 degrees, and though I was well wrapped up for the occasion I could still feel the cold from the river that I expected kept people away.

As it will now get colder (apologies to the climate nuts) there will most likely be less people using the bridge.

But perhaps those at Canal Trust only count and (obviously) exaggerate on a warm summer day!

And it is not 3,000 miles to Bermuda it is 3,500, and not including the North Sea that those eels have to negotiate.