A new nature trail alongside the Grand Western Canal in Tiverton has been officially launched.
Follow the route using the Nature Trail Guide (available to download and print, or from the Visitor Information Centre in the Canal Basin). Inside, you’ll find a map showing the location of all the posts, plus a table where you can record the plant and animal images you discover along the way.
To celebrate the wide variety of native wildlife that make the canal their home, the trail consists of 26 oak posts along the towpath featuring images of plants or animals that can often be spotted nearby. These images on the top of the posts are rubbing plaques, so that visitors can take rubbings along the way. The posts were installed by the Canal Rangers and volunteers over the past couple months.
The Inland Waterways Association, whose West Country Branch has a Waterway Regeneration Fund, has funded the majority of the project, with The Friends of the Grand Western Canal also contributing.
Ray Alexander, of the West Country Branch of the Inland Waterways Association, said: “The Association is delighted to have been able to support the creation of the new nature trail along the towpath of the Grand Western Canal by providing funding towards it. This is one of a number of successful community projects on the canal undertaken by the canal management team in the past few years which the Association has been pleased to support through its South West Inland Waterways Regeneration Fund.”
The Nature Trail is being supported by the Canal Basin businesses – the Tiverton Canal Co, the Duck’s Ditty floating café and the Canal Tea Rooms and Garden. Paper pads and crayons are available to buy for a small fee.
Councillor Jacqi Hodgson, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Biodiversity, said: “The Grand Western Canal Country Park is the perfect place for families to explore more than 11 miles of the Mid Devon countryside together, and this new nature trail is a great addition. Hopefully this trail will help encourage visitors to venture to parts of the canal they may not have visited before. It’s also a great way for families to look out for the diverse range of wildlife found within the Country Park, and studies show that when people can identify a species, they often develop a more respectful and appreciative relationship with it.”
A leaflet showing the locations of the posts is available for free in the Canal Visitor Centre or download from the Grand Western Canal webpage.