This site is an OCV favorite. It's managed by Natural England to maintain the important chalk grassland habitat. They have a small flock of sheep on site which we sometimes help with. Other popular tasks include fencing and scrub bashing. A book shop on Magdalen Street (centre of town between Cornmarket and St Giles) Boundary Brook Nature Park is between the Iffley and Cowley Roads on a 3-acre site that used to be allotments until the mid 1970s. If you go down Iffley Road away from the Plain, pass the university sports ground, reach the traffic lights with the turn to Donnington Bridge on your right, you turn left, head towards a primary school straight ahead and the reserve is behind the school. It's hidden behind a hedge and wire fence with just a single gate and an information board to mark the ent Extensive woods attached to the bottom of Shotover hill. Access from the Brasenose farmhouse exit on the ring road. The Brecon Beacons mountain range form a long ridge in a horseshoe shape. Magnificent views can be had from the highest point, it's even possible to see as far as Devon. We may also meet the odd Welsh Mountain Pony. Britwell Hill near Watlington is a truly beautiful spot in the Chilterns AONB. It has stunning views over the Oxford Plain and footpaths nearby that run beside a Norman embankment through SSSI sites rich in downland flora. There are usually lots of Red Kites around (up to 17 have been seen together in this location!)
This BBOWT nature reserve was once an old clay extraction pit for the brick industry. It has become a haven over the last 50 years for large numbers of overwintering wildfowl and waders. The reedbeds provide ideal habitat for the scarcely seen Bittern and the nutrient poor clay capped land around the lake provides the right conditions for good numbers of rare butterflies including the Grizzled and Dingy skippers. A good place to go punting from A small valley just outside the ring road at South Hinksey. It has a reed bed, mature woodland and limestone grassland. Chinnor Hill sits high on the steep slope of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, commanding excellent views across the Vale of Aylesbury. It is a rich mosaic of chalk grassland, mixed scrub, secondary and mature woodland habitats, and also has archaeological interest in the form of Bronze Age barrows and ancient 'sunken ways'. It is managed by BBOWT to preserve and increase the important chalk grassland, and also maintain the network of footpaths and bridleways that cross the reserve. OCV have worked here on scrub clearance, fencing, and footpaths An organic farm in the Cotswolds near North Aston Created in 1997, Crecy Hill Local Nature Reserve is a County Wildlife Site in Tackley; ten miles north of Oxford. Sloping steeply down to the main railway line, the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal; you might guess it's a beautiful place, and so it is. It is managed by Tackley Parish Council to preserve the 3 acres of unimproved chalk (calcareous) grassland, and the hundreds of species of wildflowers and insects that this valuable habitat supports. OCV have built gates, stiles, steps and footpaths to improve access to, and around the reserve, and in 2008 we are undertaking a large-scale training project to replace the post and wire stock fencing that runs along the upper boundary. 2003 Summer Resi happened in Cumbria.
We worked on the sand dunes, managing the sea buckthorne.
Some of the photos are taken at a site nearby where we had a BBQ in the evening. This Wildlife Area in North Oxford is a good place for butterflies and birdlife even though just North of the Oxford ring road. Community teams have planted 900 young trees (oak, ash, rowan, holly, etc) in one corner of the area, and when established this will become one of Forest-of-Oxford's 'necklace' of woodlands all around Oxford's ring road.
BBOWT site in Buckinghamshire The Parish of Deddington consists of Clifton, Deddington and Hempton and covers some 4,000 acres. Deddington stands 416 feet above sea level on an ironstone Hill. Within Deddington itself, the 'Castle Grounds' is the site of a 13th century castle, managed by English Heritage. The last remains of the castle itself lay buried below the mound in the south east corner, however, part of the moat surrounding the castle is still visible. The site is approximately 6 acres overall and contains many mature trees and areas of grass. This is a beautiful place which is popular with dog walkers.
Within the parish there are also a selection of traditional hedges, avenues of trees and areas of copse which the parish council tries to maintain as habitats for a variety of wildlife. .Deddington was District Winner in the Cherwell Large Villages category of the Oxfordshire Calor Village of the Year Competition 2006 We've had bank holiday residential trips to Durlston in recent years. Work here is dry stone walling, a bit like tetris but not so fast paced. We stay in Swanage a pleasant seaside town.
267 square miles of open heath and moor, ancient wooded valleys, fast-flowing rivers and rugged north Devon/Somerset coastline. This is 'Tarka the Otter' and 'Lorna Doone' country; the wide variety of habitats home to myriad species of interesting and important flora and fauna, as well as archeological features reminding us of our historical heritage. The area is managed and protected by the National Park Authority and National Trust. Once the hunting ground of medieval kings, Finemere Wood (BBOWT reserve) in Bucks, is a rich mosaic of woodland wildlife habitats abounding with birds and butterflies. The tiny goldcrest breeds here and all three woodpeckers occur. If you are lucky you may see the magnificent purple emperor butterfly on the main ride in
July and August.
Since 2005 the reserve has almost doubled in size with the purchase of 32 hectares of adjoining grassland which will be transformed into species-rich meadows. It's a pub on the Abingdon Rd A beautiful BBOWT woodland haven famed for its spectacular spring bluebells and abundant bird life – but don’t miss the fungi later in the year!
Once part of the ancient Wychwood Forest, this tranquil woodland slopes gently down to the River Evenlode in west Oxfordshire. Grims Ditch is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, ie a nationally important historic feature. It appears to have been a land boundary or defensive boundary dating to the later Iron Age. It's history has links with the nearby Ridgeway National Trail. This section is jointly managed by English Heritage and Natural England, as it runs through the Aston Upthorpe Downs SSSI, and as such features important habitats. All of Church Hanborough and parts of Long Hanborough are designated as Conservation Areas. Part of Long Hanborough is also in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) can be found between the two villages.
Hanborough is located in an area designated as one of ‘high landscape value’ and residents are fortunate to have access to the surrounding countryside from every direction through a network of footpaths which provide a number of very attractive ‘circular walks’. At the northern edge there are views over the Blenheim Estate a World heritage Site. On the southern edge Church Hanborough is a designated conservation area. A quiet urban reserve in the heart of Oxford. Hook Norton is a old railway line that was used to move the local ironstone to smelters in Wales. Part of the railway cutting supports limestone grassland which is particularly rich in colourful wildflowers including cowslip, ox-eye daisy and common spotted orchid. The cutting is also important for its geology due to the layers of rock exposed when they were dug which is important in our understanding of geological history. A small meadow next to the river Glyme. A chalk grassland site in the Chilterns with SSSI status. This site also has woodland and is home to red kites and other intersting wildlife. The site is found at the end of Grays Lane in Ibstone. Sir Martin Wood set up Oxford Instruments in his garden shed in Northmoor Road, North Oxford. His company became a world-leader in medical technology. In the 1980s he set up the Northmoor Trust to promote nature conservation through research, education and management of Little Wittenham. One part, Castle Hill, was an Iron Age hill fort with a view for miles across Oxfordshire. A fragment of countrysite surrounded by the city. This is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in recognition of the rare calcareous fen habitat and the reedbed. village just outside Oxford Millennium Wood is just North of Kingham, which in turn is not far from Chipping Norton. Work here includes pond creation, transplanting shrubs, and clearing bramble and hawthorn.
Indian restaurant that is situated on the Cowley road in Oxford. Oakley Wood is on the A4130 just outside Wallingford. Work at this overgrown woodland includes coppicing and dead-hedging, to restore the hazel coppice cycle and increase biodiversity.
Greyhound racing stadium in the Blackbird Leys estate in Oxford. Bowling and cinema complex in Greater leys, Oxford. Palmer's Bank is home to one of Britain's rarest wild plant, Cotswold Pennycress (aka Perfoliate Pennycress or Thlaspi perfoliatum).
Between 2000 to 2006, not more than 28 plants appeared in a single year. In 2006, OCV came to the rescue and with Plantlife and the support of Blenheim Estate, held a volunteer work party to remove the coarse grasses that had smothered the Pennycress plants. In Spring 2007, when the Ashmolean Rare Plants Group returned to the site, they were amazed to see 95 Pennycress plants in flower! This is a five-fold increase on recent years and the highest count there for a decade! The appearance of the plants proves that seed in the soil is still able to germinate given the right conditions. Plantlife is also working with the farmer and landowner to establish conservation headlands to protect the plant in future. Only about 10m or so of the bank was dug over last year, so the plan is to return again this year (2007) to carry on the good work.
Ridge and furrow fields overlooking buckingham.
This site has a long hedge which the OCV have been managing (hedgelaying) for many years. When we get all the way round it will be time to start again!
The site is mainly known for the wild flowers which grow on the main field. A large flat meadow next to the river in the north of Oxford. An OCC grassland site near Botley. An OCC reserve with views over Oxford Important site near Newbury with over 2000 species A church yard managed for wildlife near to the corner of Cowley Road and Magdalen Road in east Oxford. | More Info | Stansfeld Outdoor Educ. Centre, Oxford |
An 11 mile route on quiet roads, byways and purpose-built paths, with links to The Ridgeway National Trail and Berkshire Downs. Sustrans is a charity for sustainable transport encouraging people to walk, cycle and use public transport in order to reduce motor traffic and its adverse effects. An environmental education centre managed by BBOWT aka Iffley Spit; it is not actually an island, but a low, marshy land spit in the Isis (Thames) just upstream from Donnington Bridge. It is managed by Oxford Preservation Trust to protect the SSSI habitat for the fascinating Snakeshead Fritillary which flowers here in late spring Over 600 acres of high, mature beech woodland and chalk grassland SSSI in the Chilterns AONB. Privately-owned and managed under Higher Level Stewardship to protect and encourage these species-rich habitats that are synonymous with the Chilterns A pub claiming to be the oldest in Oxford. Dating back to 1242. Serving real ale and numerous other beverages to quench thirsty OCVer's The building with our tools are stored nr Brasenose farmhouse by the ring road Oxford Town Hall, this is where we hold our committee meetings and AGMs, after which we can be found in a nearby pub.
112 acre National Trust chalk grassland site in the Chilterns offering stunning views over the Oxfordshire Plain. Essential conservation work reducing scrub cover by 50% to protect rare habitat supporting myriad flowers, herbs, mosses, lichens, birds and animals that thrive in this habitat threatened by natural succession. Wells Farm is a working farm in the Chilterns Area of Outsanding Natural Beauty. It's 163 acres of arable fields and wildflower meadows are dotted with ponds, streams and woodland and a living example of how a working farm can remain profitable whilst encouraging wildlife diversity. It is jointly managed by BBOWT to grow the wildlife value This BBOWT managed site near Aylesbury has an large reed bed at one end that is home to an array of wild flowers and birds. The owners of this stunning estate set in beautiful Cotswold countryside are converting the site to organic land; partly for growing fruit, and also just trying to make it as environmentally rich as possible! This ancient BBOWT woodland straddles the border between Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. More than 300 plants have been recorded here as well as abundant numbers of birds and mammals. The reserve is renowned for its beautiful butterflies and moths. Stansfeld Field Studies Centre, off Quarry Road - entrance at SP554064 Lovely village with fantastic pub! We stay in the village hall for our dry stone walling weekend. |