To many people for horse drawn boat

What they should do is recreate the past accurately and have a man hauled boat.

Get a group of convicted scrotes and oblige them to haul the boat. They'd probably end up enjoying it.

Not sure how many there would have been probably 4 or 5 ?

Hufflers.

Yes they would need a decent steerer on the boat.

I just thought it sad, that increased use of the towpath has forced a horse drawn boat to stop running. Or didn’t you read the article?

It's definitely sad. In the other case I forget where it was but not the Godalming one the operator said it was cyclists refusing to pass considerately and causing the horse problems.




Something needs to be done about the cyclist problem but I don't know what.

It is a sad reflection of British people’s behaviour, which I perceive as generally getting worse and more selfish in the past couple of years. But equally, we are only hearing one side of the story. There was a horse boating woman on film somewhere being quite obnoxious to moored boaters and passers-by, and another or same who left their horse boat on the waterpoint at Wheelock for weeks. There was a business email visible on the boat and when we contacted her to complain, she was rude and entitled. There can be a danger that people doing that sort of thing consider themselves to be a special case, more important than everyone else.

Many years ago I recall the horse drawn boats at Llangollen, before the basin was built. A fair stretch was banned mooring until 5:30pm, when there was a scramble. One day, when the trip boat was late, it was amusing to watch as the tow rope was guided , not very successfully, past the flower pots, boat poles and various other items of roof furniture.
I find the sense of entitlement to which Nick refers is most evident these days amongst the play at working boat individuals. A few weeks ago, Unspoilt by (no) Progress caused havoc at Hawkesbury by occupying the lock with the motor whilst taking photos of the butty in the narrows, then bow hauling into the lock and then trying to long-line it through the moorings past double moored waiting boats, and the fuel boat Callisto.