I won't be happy until they include Britain's cave systems on Google street view

Boat owners had better hide their Wi-Fi passwords...

Good news for cylists, but boffins need to remember when calculating route times on the water to add an extra 20 minutes per lock, and number them. OK

Coming next, an annoying satnav with voice for walkers - here's hoping you always remember to charge the battery and don't forget your OS map as back-up.

If it takes you 20 minutes to get through a lock, perhaps boating isn't for you.

Excellent project!

Where's Sid Perou when you need him?

Response to BoycottWales, 19 June 2012 7:54AM
If it takes you 20 minutes to get through a lock, perhaps boating isn't for you.

20 minutes is a well-accepted average for getting through a lock.

Or do you always find all the locks are in your favour with no queues?

How the fook does a "geospatial technologist" find work when out of a job.
It's not something I've ever seen pop up on seek

I hope they will be doing this from the water.

Perhaps then we will see the beauty and the neglect that is our nautical and marine heritage. It would also be good to see some joined up thinking when it comes to utilising and promoting Britain's waterways. I wonder if Tony Hale (or anyone else) knows of the Blue Ribbon Network policies, designed to highlight the needs of waterways in the planning process?

20 minutes for a lock is pretty normal, at least on the Thames at this time of year.

I hope they will be doing this from the water

Well, I hope not because I want to virtually walk up the Cromford Canal and other old waterways that are no longer navigable but have viable towpaths.

Perhaps then we will see the beauty and the neglect that is our nautical and marine heritage. It would also be good to see some joined up thinking when it comes to utilising and promoting Britain's waterways.

Will indeed be interesting to see this played out. As a Brummie I wonder if it will tell us once and for sure if Birmingham is home to more canals than Venice...

Canal boats and canals, with their lack of 'profit' and slow pace, with an ambience which can only be taken in by contemplative reflection, are a complete anathema to everything this Coalition - and their 'here's a red light I think I'll jump it' testosterone-brained supporters - stands for.

It's a shame this technology wasn't available a few years ago because the police might have been able to identify who shot Dennis Watts.

Does Google Maps include the National Cycle Network yet? All footpaths? Climbing routes? There must be an end to this somewhere but I just can't see where...

Perhaps then we will see the beauty and the neglect that is our nautical and marine heritage.

The beauty of the inland waterways is due to the neglect since the decline in canal transport, they were definitely not things of beauty when they were operating commercially, they were stinking, polluted and used as a watery grave for unwanted pets and the occasional dead sheep.

Oh and the towpaths were private property and you would be arrested for trespass if you got caught walking on them.

Is their an app that shows the way for the rich to pay their share....

Come on guardian, you are slacking no mention of apple in a Google article or is it the fact that this is another set of data that Apple will not have in its maps for years. And given the fact that much of the UK cave system are out of bounds for the British public I would not mind Google taking pictures of them for street view .

"Lock-miles" are a standard estimating unit of time for good reason, and since you aren't allowed to do more than 4mph, that makes 15 minutes normal for a lock. If you're on a busy waterway and you have to wait around, 20 is more than reasonable.

How the fook does a "geospatial technologist" find work

Ah, the irony.

Will indeed be interesting to see this played out. As a Brummie I wonder if it will tell us once and for sure if Birmingham is home to more canals than Venice...

No, but Amsterdam (Venice of the North) does.

I have seen somebody using a satnav on a narrowboat! Let's face it, on a canal you are either going towards your destination or away from it. Junctions tend to have signposts.

Google's time and money would be far better spent on updating their Streetview images.

I'm moving into a new flat on Saturday, but don't look for it on Streetview, as it's not even buit yet.

Birmingham may have more canals (or bridges) than Venice, but I'd rather find myself in the latter. Venice has profited massively from it's watery heritage. Design in Venice has always been viewed from the water upwards, so buildings were built using vessels and local transport was and remains primarily by boat.

The future of waterways clearly lies in how we value them. As major arteries through and between cities they offer great potential on many fronts, including transport, recreation, as well as a great setting for the development of floating communities.

I am currently working in Maastricht, where a local architect has designed what he claims is the world's first carbon neutral floating home. The key here is to offer the vision of living, mobility and working in a water environment that planning authorities can adopt. New moorings will need to be created off-channel where self-sustaining communities can develop and thrive.

I'm keen to put an article together about my vision of floating island communities if you're interested.

The thing that we should be worried about is this will give property developers a birds eye view of where to build 'select housing accommodation for the extremely wealthy', planning permission will quickly be granted and opposition over ruled by the Greediest government ever.

The key here is to offer the vision of living, mobility and working in a water environment that planning authorities can adopt. New moorings will need to be created off-channel where self-sustaining communities can develop and thrive.

Very valid point - noticed more and more people I know (or hear of) living in moored narrow boats in London because they don't have to pay the council tax. The canalside life always looks so blissful! And I also know a number of people taking holidays travelling up and down Midlands' canals.

I'm keen to put an article together about my vision of floating island communities if you're interested.

Will pass this on to our environment editor Adam Vaughan to see if they are interested thanks!

The beauty of the inland waterways is due to the neglect since the decline in canal transport

No, it's due to the ability of nature to return to anything we build. The filth you talk about was a general problem of industrialisation, which was dealt with a industry faded away and people started to demand a cleaner environment.

And of course there is beauty and fascination in discovering wild nature returning to our waterways and even helping it re-establish. I build small islands out of willow in the spring for birds to nest on. It's wonderful. This year the grebes have really come back and are now gobbling up tones of small fish. In one place I used a sledge hammer to smash away an old conrete wall in order to provide a beach for swans to rest with their signets. Here we have a slipway where our resident swans have just produced eight signets. The male swan, a huge bird with no fear of dogs managed to bite my big toe this morning as my feet dangled over the edge of the pontoon.

Where else can you get this close to nature than lving on the water?

"How the fook does a "geospatial technologist" find work when out of a job."

they stack shelves like everyone else

Yep, the problem of finding a place to live in Britain. I lived on a boat in London. When they introduced council taxes on our boatyard they classified my boat as being equivalted to a detached house! I thought about starting the engine and detaching it from the moorings.

My dealings with the planning authorities led me to start campainging for residential moorings on the Thames. Unfortunately even the most progressive of authorities treat us as pirates, just waiting to go on the rampage. The reality is that people, when immersed in the water environment, tend to fall in love with it and start to protect the wild nature that surrounds them.

The challenge lies in providing an infrastructure that actively supports this low-impact lifestyle. That's where a clear vision and an image campaign is needed to promote the potential of living on the water. The Dutch are keen to provide floating homes to passivhaus standards and there is a lot of interest from the affluent, green-thinking Dutch, but so much more can be achieved if the authorites were prepared to provide moorings and start thinking from a waterways perspective.

Everything from biomass fuel provision to rubbish collection can be achieved using waterways instead of roads. When I saw the floating home in Maastricht last weekend I was amazed that they weren't thinking about offering electric boat charging stations for providing zero carbon transport. The potential here is enormous.

Mapping rivers should be fun given there is legal access to less than 4% of these natural navigations. Wonder if the Google team will be threatened with trespass, have to dodge "riparian owners" stones and pellets whilst avoiding the barbed wire and cattle fences strung across at head height, the recirculating weirs etcetera.....(disgruntled canoist)

HemingfieldTwit

19 June 2012 9:00AM

Does Google Maps include the National Cycle Network yet? All footpaths? Climbing routes? There must be an end to this somewhere but I just can't see where...

I think somewhere round about here.

Luxury flats have been popping up like mushrooms alongside Britain's waterway for decades. Practically none of them have anything to do with the water and some were even built over boatyards, and in one case a lock. Unfortunately British Waterways have been involved in promoting this destruction as their portfolio included selling up land adjacent to the canals in order to maxime their income.

The challenge comes in providing low-cost housing and I see great potential for floating island communities here. Living on boats has made it clear to me how many advantages this lifestyle offers and it should not be the exclusive it the price is right. I can think of no better way to offer flexibility in housing than to be able to move my home to where the work, recreation, or learning is. And that as part of a wider community that benefits from living together.

It shouldn't take too long, given only a couple of percent of our waterways have public access...

No, it's due to the ability of nature to return to anything we build

You just rewrote what I actually stated.

The filth you talk about was a general problem of industrialisation

Much of it because the people who worked and lived on the boats (also those who lived nearby) used it as a waste disposal unit.

Birmingham may have more canals

No Birmingham's canals are longer, but Birmingham is much bigger than Venice obviously.

Only 6 years behind walkit.com then

""How the fook does a "geospatial technologist" find work when out of a job.""

Good question for me too, especially when I've been a stay at home Dad for yonks.

Does noone out there know what a GIS is?

Response to BoycottWales, 19 June 2012 7:54AM
If it takes you 20 minutes to get through a lock, perhaps boating isn't for you.

20 minutes is a well-accepted average for getting through a lock.

Or do you always find all the locks are in your favour with no queues?

I wouldn't touch this argument with a barge pole.

(shameless advertising) Hannah et al - want to live on a narrowboat in easy cycling distance of Guardian offices?

oh why can't they just leave it be,all the name of progress,what's wrong with not being able to view a small part of the countryside on your computer monitor...
Christ is nothing sacred?? ,it's possibly the last place in the country where you can live in peace and quiet and keep your head below the radar away from Corporate/Money makers/Government snoops and the junk mail that is modern life! - There!

I adore canals: I've walked the Oxford canal, from Oxford to Coventry, and the Kennet and Avon canal, from Reading to beyond Bristol, and have started the Grand Union canal. They are glorious: though a few small stretches can be filthy (e.g. the Grand Union canal near London). I suppose I shouldn't be selfish and say I like having the towpaths to myself (apart from narrow-boat owners), but most people are incapable of walking. Hopefully it's a good thing and will make people more aware of them: and get more canals back to being navigable.

Luxury flats have been popping up like mushrooms alongside Britain's waterway for decades

Yes I know, so have yuppyfied boat 'communities'. When I lived on a boat back in the early 80's it was a cheap alternative way of living now it's way beyond my meagre income.

The trust that now looks after the waterways is already short of cash and it won't be long before they do deals with property developers in return for them maintaining stretches of the canals. 'Visit Tesco and have a quiet relaxing drink by Ye Olde Canal'.

Strandhogg

19 June 2012 10:27AM

Mapping rivers should be fun given there is legal access to less than 4% of these natural navigations. Wonder if the Google team will be threatened with trespass, have to dodge "riparian owners" stones and pellets whilst avoiding the barbed wire and cattle fences strung across at head height, the recirculating weirs etcetera.....(disgruntled canoist)

Apparently there are some new-fangled machines that can fly and these have cameras aboard and that there are even some machines in orbit, I hear they call these remote sensing satellites!

Just seen these links posted by a friend on Twitter which might be of interest to you/Google:

Looks like OpenStreetMap are ahead of Google in mapping the canals:

http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=52.47902&lon=-1.91412&zoom=17&layers=M

And WalkIt already use a handy tool for you to opt 'canals' when planning your route:

http://walkit.com/walk/?city=birmingham&from=birmingham+new+street&fuid=3096909_3518375&to=university&tuid=3258435_3750829&rta=new&direct=0

but most people are incapable of walking

Grossly sweeping generalisation and an insult to anyone in a wheelchair.

FrankLittle

19 June 2012 10:51AM
Response to Bluecloud, 19 June 2012 10:30AM

The trust that now looks after the waterways is already short of cash and it won't be long before they do deals with property developers in return for them maintaining stretches of the canals. 'Visit Tesco and have a quiet relaxing drink by Ye Olde Canal'.

...and you will be able to take in the view of the Ye Olde Shopping Trolley too!

Very shameless plug Alan! Nice boat though :)

There are a few independent tools out there which do this already, Canalplan.org.uk shows pretty much every length of canal with photos and has a route planner/ timing tool.