You can enjoy the Footpath along the Gipping throughout the year. Create a wonderful walk and enjoy the Biodiversity of the countryside around the old Canal. You’ll find a great variety of wildlife and loads of fresh air. The footpath “towpath” beside the Gipping is level most of the way, with a few steps up to some bridges, which the Trust would like to see removed.

We consciously look for ways to improve the environment and the Biodiversity of the area. We aim to protect and promote wildlife, and make this a special place for all who pass through. For example, our volunteers have planted around 700 hundred trees over the last two years along the ‘sunny’ side of the towpath to help give some shade in the future to the river. Four robust bat boxes have been installed underneath the new footbridge crossing, and many ‘bug hotels’ have been created along the towpath. Every year Trust volunteers remove thousands of Himalayan Balsam plants along the river banks. The plant is an invasive species, it competes with native plants for light, nutrients, pollinators and space, excluding other plants and reducing biodiversity. It dies back in the winter, leaving river banks bare and open to erosion.

Before any major project is implemented the Trust will make sure there is a biodiversity net gain.