What kinds of wildlife can be found by the waterside as we head from winter to spring?
Find out in the New Year by joining Martin Wright, Cotswold Canals Trust (CCT) and RSPB member, on nine wildlife watch events on Wednesdays from 10am with the theme of 'waterways and wildlife habitat creation'.
Four of his sessions will feature the Cotswold canals whilst the remaining five will highlight watery environments elsewhere in Gloucestershire.
Martin has chosen his theme to recognise the aims of the Heritage Lottery Funded ‘Stroudwater Connected Project’ currently in its development phase.
The project to reconnect Saul and Stonehouse by water will include plans to create or restore eighty acres of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat.
It is hoped that the Waterside Wildlife Watch group’s findings might identify techniques and practices to assist in establishing and maintaining a wildlife-rich habitat along the Stroudwater Navigation.
Nine Dates & Starting Places
January 16 — Wallbridge, Stroud — Junction formed between Stroudwater Navigation and Thames & Severn Canal in 1789
January 30 — Alney Island, Gloucester — where the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal once linked with Gloucester Docks
February 13 — Saul, Nr Frampton on Severn — The forgotten leg of the Stroudwater Navigation and its junction with the River Severn at Framilode
February 27 — Coombe Hill, Cheltenham — the canal once intended to link Cheltenham with the River Severn
March 13 — Sharpness Docks — the terminus of the sixteen miles long canal opened in 1827 to avoid the shallow and winding River Severn
March 27 — Lydney, Forest of Dean — a canal linking the Forest of Dean tram-road system to a harbour on the River Severn
April 10 — Fromebridge — includes the Stroudwater Navigation and part of the ill-fated canal scheme conceived by John Kemmett in the 1760s
April 24 — Cotswold Water Park, Cirencester — on the line of the Thames & Severn canal towards Lechlade
May 8 — ‘The Ocean’ at Stonehouse — where the first stage of The Cotswold Canals Restoration meets the second
All meetings start at 10am cost £2 for CCT Members and £4 for guests.
Car sharing can be arranged for longer journeys.
Call Martin on 01453 889608.
Most meetings have coffee and snack facilities nearby.
Experience has shown that these sessions are not suitable for dogs.
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