Local school children discover the wildside of the Grand Union Canal

Local primary school pupils will discover hidden habitats and creepy crawlies in the green spaces around our local canals and rivers

The workshops, at Hillingdon Canal Clubhouse in Uxbridge, will highlight the bio-diversity on our doorsteps around the Grand Union Canal, which provides an invaluable home to insects, birds and bats. The children will also have the opportunity to meet some creatures from further a-field, handling rainforest inhabitants including a treefrog, a snake, stick insects and cockroaches. The groups from St Mary’s, St Andrew’s, Heathrow, Hillside and Bourne Primary Schools will round off the day with a boat trip along the Grand Union Canal where they can put their new found environmental knowledge to the test, as well as have a go at steering the boat and working the locks. Elaine Stanley, British Waterways’ learning services officer said: “As well as a wide range of leisure opportunities, rivers and canals offer vital green corridors across our cities. Days like these are an opportunity for local school children to enjoy and benefit from the natural resources in their communities while developing their knowledge of the natural world.”