Towpath access edits

[Simply Messing]

Can you clarify the use of classifications of towpath access 'unofficial access' and 'suitable for wheels' please.

Non-step access is often narrow and/or steep - OK for a bike, but not a trolley or disabled access.  What are we aiming to inform?

There are lots of good access points from farm tracks or footpaths - OK for walkers or cyclists but no good for boaters wanting vehicle access to a boat. How should they be classified?

[Stephen Atty]

There doesn't seem to be anything obvious in the Help pages - hopefully Nick will be a long in a bit to explain what he meant when he put that functionality in.

[Administrator]

Here's what I meant:

Unofficial access is, say, a gap in a hedge where you scrabble up a bank.  Possible but not engineered.  Official access might be a flight of steps.  Suitable for wheels means you can easily get a wheelchair, or a pushchair, or a sack trolley with a gas cylinder on it from the towpath to the road etc.

Wheels isn't a car, but it is not steep steps or a muddy bank.

[Shultzy]

I've updated the [Editing] help page.

[Administrator]

Thanks Shultz!  

To \"Simply Messing\" - does this make sense? - it would be great to have some better data in there.

Nick

[Simply Messing]

That's helpful, thank you for access from a road.  It doesn't quite answer my last paragraph about a wide slope approach from a public footpath (which will likely have stiles). Sorry to be picky, but there are quite a lot of these.

[Shultzy]

Would it be helpful if there was a text box to add more info in addition to the drop down list.

[Simply Messing]

It seems that the main aim is to clarify ease of access to boats from the road, and whether it's wheel friendly or not. I think having got the 'Yes/No' option to access, the need for the follow-on drop-down is 'Road-accessible with wheel access', 'Road-accessible but steps', 'Other, wheel access', 'Other, steps' or 'Informal'. If that were feasible, I don't think we'd need text box input.

[Administrator]

The idea was just to have a simple way of classifying how easy it was to get on or off the towpath - to a road, or a track or footpath.

You start off with \"no access\", so don't bother trying.  If there is then that's good.  But suppose I'm not that athletic or mobile, then \"unofficial\" is likely to be hard work for me.  Or I may have a child in a pushchair, in which case I'd like it to be \"wheel\" friendly.

For anything particularly odd (and there are always exceptions) there is always the \"comments about the place\" to add notes on it (\"large gate that opens with BW key to give vehicle access\", say).  

I think whether there is a road there or not should be obvious from the other maps.  I could extend the options in the drop-down easily if persuaded (and map the existing ones to some of those) - at the moment I'm not really.

The aim is to have something that is quick and easy for people.  This only really becomes of value when lots of places have it.

[Simply Messing]

I take your point about the map context and, on that basis, would not want to further persuade you against your better judgement. Case closed then - and use as is.
Thanks.