Grantham Canal SSSI is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest which runs along a stretch of the

Grantham Canal The Grantham Canal ran 33 miles (53 km) from Grantham through 18 locks to West Bridgford, where it joined the River Trent. It was built primarily for the transportation of coal to Grantham. It opened in 1797 and its profitability steadil ...

and its banks between

Redmile Redmile is an English village and civil parish in the Melton (borough), Melton district of Leicestershire, about north of Melton Mowbray and west of Grantham. The population of the civil parish, which includes Barkestone-le-Vale and Plungar, w ...

and Harby in Leicestershire. This site has diverse aquatic and terrestrial habitats, which supports a varied insect community. The canal has floating plants such as

fat duckweed ''Lemna gibba'', the gibbous duckweed, swollen duckweed, or fat duckweed, is a species of ''Lemna'' (duckweed). It has a simple plant body, known as a thallus, which floats on the surface of the water and measures in diameter. A single root hang ...

and

water fern Water fern is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * Salviniales, an order of aquatic ferns * ''Austroblechnum lanceolatum'', syn. ''Blechnum chambersii'', lance water fern * ''Austroblechnum patersonii'', syn. ''Blechnum patersonii'' ...

, and there are breeding birds such as

sedge warbler The sedge warbler (''Acrocephalus schoenobaenus'') is an Old World warbler in the genus '' Acrocephalus''. It is a medium-sized warbler with a brown, streaked back and wings and a distinct pale supercilium. Sedge warblers are migratory, crossing ...

moorhen Moorhens—sometimes called marsh hens—are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae). Most species are placed in the genus ''Gallinula'', Latin for "little hen". They are close relatives of coots. They are o ...

s and

reed warbler The ''Acrocephalus'' warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Acrocephalus''. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler famil ...

s. There is access to the canal towpath.

References

{{SSSIs Leicestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Leicestershire Redmile