ian-paddler

hello, i wasn`t too clear before, access to navigations is licensed by british waterways, which is covered by joing the BCU. so as peter rightly pointed out so long as there is a public right of way (foot path or bridal way or road, what ever) then access is possible. i admit i`m not too sure about where the boundry lies, i beleive that britsih waterways do in fact own part of the bank (pleasure craft have right to moor up) so as far as portaging goes i`m not sure whether a specific arrangement should be made for portaging a rapid or weir or whether it is covered as being the river bank and therefore part of the waterway. The point of canoeists considering themselves 'above paying for what they want.' is totally not true, i know of several locations, such as River Tees (high force hotel and whorlton brdige) and Slenningford Mill on the Ure where canoeists pay money for access and ammenities but what most canoeists, myself included object to is land owners of the land the river passes through claiming that they should have a right to demand money. ian

sorry hadn`t read the previous post.

I just wanted to point out that the waterways in hte UK can not be privately owned. a person can own the river bank and therefore access / egress points but they can not own the river therefore as far as i see it there is no difference from the walker, hiker, rock climber, surfer, horse rider and cyclist; becuase the waterways are public.