Blow to the trust's towpath visitor attraction claims

THE Canal & River Trust tends to overdo its claims for visiting its canal towpaths.

But it has received a blow with Responsible Travel not having a single canal towpath in its Top 12 Walks.

Best places to go walking

Responsible Travel compiled a list of the 12 best places to go walking in England, with the Cotswolds taking the top spot it 'having so many areas of natural beauty'.

The purpose of Responsible Travel is to 'inspire travellers to discover our beautiful and fragile planet and act urgently to restore nature and reduce carbon'.

Here is its list of its 12 best places to go walking in England, that is indeed a blow to the trust's 'Better by Water' claims:

The top 12

Cotswolds
Dorset
Lake District
Peak District
Pilgrim's Way
Shakespeare's Way
South West Coast Path
Suffolk Coast
Sussex & the South Downs
Thames Path
White Cliffs of Dover & Kent coast
Yorkshire

It obviously makes an exception with the Thames towpath, with its meandering river, even if the Environment Agency does allow cyclists.

Not so safe

This possibly is the problem with canal towpaths, as, unlike footpaths where cycling is forbidden, Canal & River Trust  allow cyclists on its towpaths and consequently they are not so safe, as the many accidents we have reported clearly shows.