#RaleighParkOx
@RaleighparkOxford
The Friends subscriptions of £5 per person are now due for the year 2023 - 2024. Please preferably make a standing order to 20-65-18 a/c 93057402 to Friends of Raleigh Park with reference your name or send a cheque to Stephen Parkinson (Chairman) 8 Yarnells Hill, Oxford, OX2 9BD. Tel 01865 724525 or contact David Brown (Secretary) [email protected].
If you are interested in taking an active role in the Friends, please come forward. The Chair and Secretary will be happy to discuss what is involved.
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Workparty volunteer dates.
Friends of Raleigh Park volunteers normally at 09:30 - 13:30 on a Saturday
The last work party was Sat December 2 2023, we met at the entrance to Raleigh Park from the footpath off Raleigh Park Road on a freezing misty morning at location what3words melt.rarely.wedge
We raked the fen by the pond where the City Council had recently cut the Hard Rush and cut and raked the Hard Rush in the fen opposite the Raleigh Park Road entrance. Unfortunately the cattle don't eat Hard Rush given a choice.
We also hosted an event with the Freshwater Habitats Trust GroWet project to plant out the bog plants Common cotton-grass, Ragged Robin, Flea Sedge and Marsh Arrowgrass mostly in holes made by cattle hooves in both the areas raked. The plants are marked by flags.
Also, a reminder about ticks. To my knowledge they have not been a problem at Raleigh Park but will certainly be present. To avoid tick bites and the risk of Lyme disease, please wear closed toe footwear, long trousers tucked into socks, and long sleaved shirt tucked into trousers. Some people like to spray their clothes with insect repellent too. Advice on avoiding tick bites and Lyme disease can be found here
Tasks are led by Adam Bows and are covered by BBOWT insurance as usual. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
OPT award
The Friends received the Oxford Preservation Trust 2022 award for our work on the restoration of the fen.
Path construction
See the BBOWT page to apply for free workparty leader training; contact [email protected] to be placed on their mailing list.
The objectives of the Friends of Raleigh Park are to protect, conserve and enhance the Park, which is a Local Wildlife Site, for the benefit of the community.
Cattle are currently out of Raleigh Park. They graze the Park all summer. They reduce the rank grass and nettles and encourage the development of wild flowers. If left uncut the brambly thorny growth and trees will increase and the park will become entirely scrubby woodland.
When cattle are present give them a wide berth. Cattle have an instinctive fear of wolves and may be agressive to dogs so it is advisable to keep dogs well under control and preferably out of sight of the cattle particularly towards dusk as they become frisky before bedding down for the night. If there are any issues please contact the farmer (07887701011) or the Parks Dept [email protected] or the Friends of Raleigh Park [email protected]. For any urgent enquiries please contact the Parks duty officer 07768238906
The Chairman gave a brief reflection on the contributions of Carol Kramer, who passed away on 18 August in his report.
Clive Smith gave a nest box report. Many of the bird boxes need to be replaced or resited due to damage or wear and tear. The bird feeder was well used.
Barbara Witkowski presented the successful work of the Oxford Badger group doing badger vaccination.
OCC led the Oxford Volunteers installing a gravel path down a muddy incline. They have not yet installed a proposed bench at a viewpoint.
Two signboards funded by the Friends are to be installed by the OCC at entrances to the site. A further one is planned.
The Chairman presented the accounts for 2022-2023. The balance of £626.94 includes a generous gift of £150.
A memorial birch tree has been planted but because of the problem it would cause by seeding the fen it will be replaced by a disease resistant elm.
Butterfly egg hunts and walks should resume in 2024.
Cag Oxfordshire was suggested as a source of volunteers.
Raleigh Park is located in the village of North Hinksey near Oxford ( Location map ) It contains lightly managed fields with three ponds linked by a stream, very unusual alkaline bog areas, trees, grasses, marestail, stately marsh thistle and wild flowers.
Be aware of health and safety if pond-dipping; we are expecting to install a platform in due course.
Ridges from medieval strip farming are visible parallel to Westminster Way.
Buzzards, red kites, roe deer, muntjac deer and foxes are frequent visitors while badgers, moles, song birds, rabbits and other rodents and bats are resident. Song birds like to visit the bird feeder; watch the feeding birds scatter as a sparrowhawk arrives:
Tree Planting
Disease resistant elm trees have been planted with help from Butterfly Conservation. Small leafed lime is the other species currently allowed to be planted in the park with agreement of the landowners (Oxford City Council) and the Friends of Raleigh Park.
Butterfly surveys normally start in the spring when the butterflies start emerging from their chrysalises, they need the warmth to fly. We hope to resume our leisurely walk noting the butterfly species we encounter.
We also would look at the flora and insects. Thanks to Ian Marriott for the wonderful flora and insect photos.
Oxford City Councils Countryside Team are working in partnership with the Friends of Raleigh Park and BBOWT to carry out works to improve the habitat and open up the views of the City from areas of the Park. We have received a Letter of Commendation from the Oxford Preservation Trust in recognition of these works which are the subject of a scientific study proposal resulting in a dissertation by Adam Bows discussing the outcomes of the Wild Oxford initiative of 2021.
Judy Webb has completed excellent reports with a list of recommendations for future workparties in the Park.
The Freshwater Habitats Trust funded an invertebrate survey . They also funded the work done in rewetting the fen involving constructing leaky dams, filling in the ditch, digging ponds and clearing scrub.Willows overgrowing the pond have been thinned, vegetation overgrowing the stream removed, a waterfall rebuilt and removal of Himalayan Balsam and Greater Reed Mace from boggy areas, parrot's feather from the pond and new bramble growth on the fen areas by the stream is ongoing. Yellow Rattle wild flower seeds have been collected and sown in late autumn to weaken the coarse grasses.
There is what is believed to be the remains of the Roman road towards the ford which gives Oxford its name from the direction of Besselsleigh running parallel to the current road up Harcourt Hill. The outline of the raised metalled section with a ditch each side is clearly evident under the turf in winter or when the grass has been cut.
There is a small oblelisk near the pond. The sun is shining revealing the date 1753 in the picture (click on the picture to enlarge it) and placing plasticine in the depressions reveals more of the inscription, probably "the Conduit". Conduit House (marked Well House) had been constructed over a spring to supply Oxford with water in 1615-17 and is within a kilometer of the obelisk (marked Stones on the OS map). The obelisk presumably marked the location of a chamber holding water for an extension to a channel or vaulted gully diverting a spring to Conduit House.
A cutting and embankment constructed to smooth the slope of a track linking Harcourt Hill to the track between North Hinksey and Yarnells Hill is shown on the map of the land handed over to the City of Oxford in 1926 and its construction has covered this channel on the obelisk side or the embankment.
A curved depression leading towards Conduit House visible on the other side of the embankment from the obelisk supports this interpretation of the writing on the obelisk.
