The Gordano motorway service station is at the eastern end of the valley, near the Royal Portbury Dock and the Avonmouth Bridge.

There is no river Gordano - much of the valley is reclaimed land barely above sea level, and it is drained by ditches (known in the area as "rhynes").

The unimproved wet-meadow communities largely consist of variants of the nationally rare Blunt-flowered Rush–Marsh Thistle (Juncus subnodulosus–Cirsium palustre), Soft/Sharp Flowered Rush–Marsh Bedstraw (Juncus effusus/acutiflorus–Galium palustre), Purple Moorgrass–Meadow Thistle (Molinia caerulea–Cirsium dissectum) and Crested Dog’s-tail–Common Knapweed )Cynosurus cristatus–Centaurea nigra) community types.

The extensive system of rhynes and field ditches contains a rich flora which includes three nationally scarce species: Water Parsnip (Sium latafolium), Whorled Water Milfoil (Myriophyllum verticillatum) and Fen Pondweed (Potamogeton coloratus).

[4] The site is now connected to the Severn Estuary by the Portbury Ashlands nature reserve.