I find people over 60 react better to a “ting ting” on my bell & move over & usually smile with comments like “oh a bell, takes me back that does” whereas younger folk take no notice as
A)they don’t know what it means
B)they can’t hear it because they are listening to something on their head phones

in my experience:
50% of walkers tell me off for not having a bell if I politely ask to overtake
50% of walkers look at me as if I’ve just wee’d in their shoes if I do use a bell

I suspect strongly it’s mostly the same people being dickheads and the rest are happy so long as I slow down and give plenty of warning.

Whilst not written about towpaths, this letter was in last week’s Malvern Gazette 29/8/14 and nicely sums up use on shared space I thought ( although almost certainly there will be people writing in with the opposite view next week)

“ON behalf of the many considerate off-road cyclists who enjoy the hills I would like to apologise to a previous letter writer who had a bad experience when walking recently.

I know that many walkers dislike not having the hills to themselves, but it’s a fact that they are there to be enjoyed by many people for many reasons.

There are inconsiderate riders, walkers, dog walkers and litter louts but that’s what they are… inconsiderate!

I ride the hills often and I always slow down when approaching people. To be honest, if they have a dog I don’t always trust that they will control it (not a uncommon occurrence) or that people won’t just stand directly in the way even though they have seen you approaching from a distance (sometimes they like an argument).

I appeal to fellow riders to slow down when needed and be polite.

I appeal to walkers to accept that the hills are not just for them alone.

I appeal to dog walkers to control their dogs and not think that putting dog mess in a little bag and then leaving them everywhere while they pretend that they are going to pick them up on the way back is ‘leaving no mess’.

The hills are lovely and their for all of us… just be considerate please!”

I’ve got a bell on my BSO.

Because on ringing your bell they will either

a. Jump out of their skin and otherwise act as if you’ve just tried to frighten them to death.

b. Completely ignore you and then, after your polite “excuse me” grumpily mumble “shouldn’t you have a bell?”

… this. Invariably, one of two things will happen when I ting the bell on a towpath. People either massively overreact, grabbing their children / hounds and clutching them fearfully to their bodies with the expression of a teenager in the cellar in a horror movie, as their harbinger of doom trundles gently past with barely enough forward momentum to prevent me falling sideways into the cut; or, they’ll adopt the stance of the professionally bewildered, going “did you hear something?” and looking skyward or accusingly at the canal or something.

The best is when two walkers walking side by side hear the bell and decide the both need to be on the opposite side to where they are & walk into each other. Often tempted to give a round of applause when this happens

If you try and ride a bike on canal paths in London during Monday-Friday its a total nightmare due to the huge volume of bikers, runner, walkers, dogs, people on scooters, etc.

Many cyclists going WAY too fast, not acting sensibly, not giving any warning either with a bell (polite) or voice (less polite).

Even with a “permit” 😉 and a bell its very unpleasant and not an efficient way to get around…

I gave up a long time ago, and only use the canal paths slowly if I want to spend 1 hour going to work (its a 25 minute ride by road) or its Saturday/Sunday and I have had enough of motorists trying to run me over on the roads

bells bells bells
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgBLXFMpV6Y
get one here…£4.20!!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-7-Sounds-Ultra-loud-Electronic-Bicycle-Bell-Bike-Horn-Siren-/360717496799?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item53fc7031df
go wild with the ramblers 8)

hope hubs and a “morning” or whatever usually enough,
most peeps seem to have headphones on so not that effective anyway- air raid siren a bit heavy for the bars- but may work