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It's true. I tend to go for the "excuse me" and reserve the bell for blind corners and tunnels, but sometimes people would give you a lot of lip "get a bell, why don't you use a bell" etc etc. My standard reply became "I'm a sucker for human interaction..."
The worst canal users in my experience in Camden were the joggers, they don't give way to anyone and one time actually shoved my friend aside so he could squeeze past.
My experience with canal/river towpaths is that pedestrians get pissed off when you use the bell, and pissed off when you say excuse me, and pissed off when you just wait for a gap and go round them. My method is to ring early, ride past slowly and then say thanks. Don't know if it helps though!