If you happen to be at the Churchill Hospital between June 28th and August 7th, take a stroll to the South Street corridor where you’ll see about 14 lovely photographs of Shotover.
The photographer is Jane Burke, and she’s one of four artists in this exhibition called ‘A Sense of Time and Place’.
Here are two of Jane’s photos on display.
Thank you to all our litter-pickers
We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part in the annual Shotover Preservation Society litter-picking event, which this year was on Sunday March 9th.
About 60 people joined in over the course of the two hours, and between them collected 25 bags of general litter and waste, and 19 bags of recycling.
SPS is joining forces with BBOWT (the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust) to look into how visitors use our local nature sites, including Shotover, the CS Lewis reserve and Sydlings Copse, and to get their comments.
Whether you come to Shotover regularly or whether you have come just the once, we’d like your views.
You can find the survey here:
It won’t take long, and you don’t have to register or give your email address. All your answers are anonymous and will be gratefully received.
The survey is open until September 12th.
We are excited to launch a brand-new collection of poems inspired by Shotover.
With contributions written from the 1620s to the 2020s, this brings together 25 poets young and old, from near and far, who share their creative writing about Shotover.
The booklet, complete with colour photographs, is now available. It costs £7, with all profits going to the Shotover Preservation Society.
You can buy it in Daunt Books in Banbury Road, Summertown, Oxford. Alternatively, email Paul Walton at: servantofclio@icloud.com
New Shotover Poetry
Published March 2024
Oxford City Council, which manages Shotover, commissioned a firm of consultants to devise a management plan to cover the next ten years, from 2022 to 2032.
After extensive consultation with all stakeholders, including Shotover Preservation Society, the Council published the plan in October 2022.
You can download it here
Very, is the answer. Especially when it’s something that we have asked for, and waited for, so long. And now, here it is: a new, capacious litter bin in the Shotover car park. A quick peek inside showed that people are already making good use of it.
Let’s hope this helps to reduce the litter on Shotover. Spread the word that it’s there.
While we are it, just a polite request not to have barbecues on Shotover. We often find the remains of disposable barbecues, especially near the picnic tables and under the trees there. It’s a fire risk at the best of times, but particularly so at the moment when everything is tinder-dry.
Tall fencing erected around Horspath Railway Bridge is proving a problem to wildlife. Steel fencing backed by steel mesh on private land next to the bridge area and leading on to Horspath Nature Reserve means that larger wildlife can no longer use this area as safe passage to Shotover. Deer have been filmed running along pavements and in the road trying to find their way through to the Nature Reserve and on to Shotover.
If you are interested in reading further, a Horspath resident has started a petition (www.change.org/p/horspath-residents-save-horspath-s-wildlife-corridor)
It’s been a fantastic year for fungi, thanks to the right combination of sunshine and rain. And Shotover is no exception to this bounty of fungi. Some enthusiasts have been picking the edible field mushroom from the woods; others have restricted their interest to photographing the wonderful variety of fungi that have sprouted up throughout the woods.
The above photographs were taken by SPS member Monika Blackwell. Other photographs – on this and other Shotover-related themes – welcome. Please send them to sps@shotoverpreservation.uk
On October 18th, members of the SPS committee showed a a group of 24 Chinese forest planners – complete with interpreter – around parts of Shotover and Brasenose. The visitors were particularly interested to see how local community groups help with woodland management.
