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We deal with almost 1000 cases a year assisting communities, groups and individuals in protecting their local spaces and paths in all parts of England and Wales. Can you help us by joining as a member?
With residents of the Oxfordshire village of Dorchester on Thames, we have celebrated the erection of plaques on the new village greens at Dyke Hills and Day’s Lock Meadow.
Fizz at Day’s Lock Meadow, left to right: Becky Waller, Kate Ashbrook, Louise Aukland, and John Taylor. Photo: Open Spaces Society
The greens were the subject of an intense battle ten years ago when the then owner of Bishops Court Farm fenced off the land and barred local people from exercising their customary rights to enjoy the land. Dyke Hills is a magnificent, scheduled, iron age settlement, and Day’s Lock Meadow is a glorious stretch of land alongside the River Thames with a fine view to Wittenham Clumps.
Local people formed the Friends of Dorchester on Thames and Little Wittenham Open Spaces. With help from the society, they gathered evidence of recreational use of both areas of land over a long period and applied to Oxfordshire County Council to register them as village greens. Fortunately, the land changed hands and, in 2021, the new owner, Keith Ives, dedicated the land as greens, thereby circumventing the lengthy registration process.
Now the group has provided plaques to tell the story of how the land was saved for local people to enjoy.
Plaque at Day’s Lock. Photo: Open Spaces Society
Jubilant residents walked there on 10 April and cracked open a bottle of fizz to celebrate the culmination of the long campaign.
Says Becky Waller, who led the campaign: ‘It was such a momentous day. I can still remember our first meeting when over 200 people crammed into the village hall. I had no idea how many families considered these spaces to be special. The community owes a debt of gratitude to Keith Ives.’
‘The fences have gone, the spaces are restored and protected in perpetuity.’
Plaque at Dyke Hills. Photo: Open Spaces Society
Adds Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary: ‘It was a joy to work with such an enthusiastic and committed group, and to bring our expertise to help save these splendid open spaces for ever. Keith Ives has set a brilliant example to other landowners of how to secure land for local people to enjoy, and we are deeply grateful to him for his generosity.’