A Canalside Flora

With the help of community groups and residents of Brent and Ealing we are turning an underused pathway onto the Grand Union canal into an open-air exhibition.

A Canalside Flora will depict the plants that grow on the canalside and explore peoples relationship to urban nature through sustainable printmaking and creative writing.

purple flower on a gated fence next to a canal

Rosebay Willowherb

A ‘Flora’ is a book that documents the plant species found within a specific geographical region. Our exhibition is based around exploring the question “what would a flora for London’s canals would look like”. The canalside’s most prominent plants are those that thrive alongside people: in the spaces we open up, the hinterlands and in-betweens we create that are allowed to grow wild. These are often plants that in other settings would be called weeds due to their vigorous growth and proliferation, outcompeting garden plants or crops but along the canalside, where, they largely balance each other out we call them wildflowers. And so our flora is not about plants in isolation but an exploration of their relationship with people, considering how both people and plants share and create the canalside environment. This project is about promoting a knowledge and appreciation of these plants, celebrating their importance for biodiversity and their historical cultural uses.

Close up of person brushing a piece of paper with green paint

This ongoing project has consisted of public nature walks, cyanotype and anthotype print making workshops and creative writing sessions. It will culminate in a public display of prints and creative writing that will be hung along a pathway connecting Willen Field Road and the Grand Union Canal in Park Royal. A Canalside Flora is part of a wider project based around improving the canalside environment in west London called the Grand Union Canal Volunteering and Biodiversity Programme.

Community groups that have participated in the project include: Bashley Road Traveler Site, JE Delve youth group and Faiths Forum for London.

Anthotype printing

An "anthotype" is a photographic image created using dyes extracted from plants, making use of their photosensitive properties.

Cyanotype printing

A similar process to anthotype but using paper that has been coated in photosensitive (nontoxic) chemicals rather than plant dye. It is a much faster process resulting in a more detailed image in Prussian blue.