The Bristol Railway Archive

I unfortunately missed opening of tunnels but perhaps that wasnt such a bad thing looking at volume of visitors. I did see some footage on facebook and am keen to explore. Looked like one near colision between cyclist and walker, cyclist ~look out~ walker ~you look out~. pedestrians and cyclists never seem to use sense on cycleways or towpaths, using whichever side suits then veering either way because there is someone is in way then that person moves etc etc.I like walking and cycling but find that walkers
seem to want to take up whole path and get realy narky when you ding your bell, but, if you dont ring your bell that annoys them as well.
glad it went well anyway...

Thanks Robin for defending us cyclists. I'm a car driver, pedestrian, runner and a cyclist!!

As a cyclist I obey traffic lights (although there are times when it might of been safer not to of done!!) and also have 3rd party insurance. The worst thing I find when cycling on the Bristol and Bath Railway Path are dog owners who don't have their dogs on a lead (I've come off twice where a dog has run into my path) and pedestrians who walk 3 or 4 abreast taking up most of the track!!

carpetcone wrote: Cycle lanes that they don't use...they prefer pavements....

Have a scroll through this lot to find out why, and don't miss the captions at the bottom of each page

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/w ... ay2013.htm

Robin Summerhill wrote:

railwest wrote:I was there, as you know Robin

I just took the 'short walk' through Devonshire Tunnel. Main hazard - cyclists! Despite the lighting, still really quite dark and difficult to see anyone not using a torch or cycle light when coming towards you thru' the shadows.

In a way I'm glad you posted that - I thought it was my failing eyesight that caused me to almost walk straight in to a stationary cyclist!!

I went through again on Monday, this time on the bike and rode from Bath to Wellow and back.

I think that somebody might have to look again at the light levels in those tunnels. Although, once the eyes got used to it I found I could see reasonably well, it was still the case that I was hearing other cyclists coming a long time before I could actually see them coming, and they were virtually on top of me by the time I did see them coming.

The difficulty is that one's eyesight, in general, tends to deteriorate the older you get and, whilst whoever designed it may be able to see quite well in those light levels now, he or she may find that they aren't able to see as well as they thought they could when they get as old as me!

I have walked from Bath to Midford today. I passed anumber of walkers in the Moorfields area and towards Midford but they appeared to be "staying local". Cyclists were not out in great numbers and all were travelling at sensible speeds but few had any lights or had bright clothing.
A number passed the time of day.

Yes it is not too light in the tunnels but too much illumination might spoil the tunnels atmosphere. My eyesight is good for someone mid 60s but you do tend to hear cyclists before you see them.

The fencing at Tucking Mill is a bit over the top, not sure if they are keeping people in or out but chatting to a fellow walker he mentioned the NIMBY issue affecting the route there and at Lyncombe vale.

However there are far more positives than negatives about this walk.

Hoping to do this walk tomorrow (wed)...getting the bus to midford,then walking back...I think the low light levels in the tunnels are to keep the bats happy !

I heard yesterday about a walker who nearly walked into a stationary cyclists in one of the tunnels, as the latter had stopped in one of the 'dark zones'!

Cyclists and walkers trying to avoid each other on paths. towpaths etc is not usually too bad provided that you can see each other approaching. That is where the low lights levels in the tunnel will cause the problems.

Dogs ON leads can be problems too. I passed a woman + dog coming the opposite way on the towpath one day. We both kept left but, just as I passed her, the dog - which was on one of those extending leads that was not 'locked' - suddenly shot across the path in front of me, with the result that I tripped over the lead.

What I find particularly annoying are owners who can see you coming from quite some way away, yet still do not rein in their dog but allow it to wander about on yards of loose lead in front of you. In effect, not just a 'loose' dog, but one trailing a long 'trip hazard' as well. IMHO it's just plain simple lack of common sense and courtesy.

<grumpy mode OFF>