Towpath gardening opportunities

Are you a budding gardener? Would you like to get involved with regular towpath maintenance? Could your school or organisation adopt a stretch of the towpath near Regent's Park and take care of the vegetation? See below to find out how and why you can help.

What has been happening in September?

The Canal and River Trust (CRT) has been carrying out towpath improvement works with financial help from Transport for London (TfL). Some of this work has involved repairs of uneven sections of the towpath, improved drainage, improved lighting under bridges and provision of extra benches. A consequence of this project is that much of the vegetation has been replaced by hard surfaces as shown in the image below.

What do you think?

Would you have preferred to have kept the vegetation? The CRT has no budget to employ regular gardeners and has argued that the affected vegetation comprised weeds growing through existing hard surfaces. It's too late to resurrect the greenery that has already been paved over but the project managers are willing to cooperate with any groups that are prepared to protect and maintain other stretches. Are you motivated to step forward and help? Or is it a foregone conclusion that most of the towpath will be paved over?

What are the opportunities?

You could pick a stretch of the canal where you create some planters, similar to what has happened near Hanover School. You could prune the invasive vegetation to keep the towpath useable (without losing its charm).

Other spaces

There are a couple of spaces that could benefit from the TfL grant without spending it all on the towpath surface. Perhaps this inlet could become a picnic area with a few benches or tables. And what about these green cabinets? We could commission a local artist to repaint them with images of canal scenes to replace the graffiti.

Next steps

We must act quickly before the TfL budget expires. Please send an e-mail to friendsregentscanal@gmail.com if you would like to make a difference.