My wife and I have just had a few days meandering down the Grand Union Canal towards Berkhamsted, and though I would like to confirm Canal & River Trust's calculation of its visitor numbers, I'm very much afraid that I cannot.
We have been doing around eight hour days cruising, and having no itinerary we moored for area breaks along the way, but have to report that alas there were nowhere near the 500 plus people on the towpath every mile that the Trust calculates—to be honest more like five a mile, and a few times counting the dogs!
However we are now in Berkhamsted, and I have warned the wife not to step off the boat without looking, as by then there should be 60 miles worth of canal visitors, which will be 6,500 of them, and she could well be trampled by such a multitude.
J. F. Deaken