10th July 2024
The Rycote Meadow Conservation Project in Oxford Road, Thame, has started work on the latest measures to enhance and conserve this precious piece of floodplain meadow. The project is a partnership between the Cuttle Brook Conservation Volunteers, Thame Green Living and Thame Town Council. It is supported by the Trust for Oxfordshire's Environment (TOE), which in 2021 funded the planting of a new section of hedgerow interspersed with native trees.
The new phase in the Project is the creation of a wetland scrape by the volunteers from CBCV. This will provide additional temporary wet habitats conducive to a range of specialist creatures and plants.
The work is taking place ahead of further works to build a fenced path across Rycote Meadow linking the new Thame Meadows estate to Oxford Road. This has been made possible thanks to a second successful grant application for £9,377 made by Thame Green Living to TOE. This supplements core funding generated by the new development.
When opened, the path will enable local people to enjoy this tranquil natural space, which will remain, however, primarily a conservation area for wildlife, protected by a fence designed to prevent disturbance of birds, aquatic life and the delicate eco-system on which they depend. Advice on conservation work has been received from the River Thame Conservation Trust and Wild Oxfordshire, and it builds upon the extensive experience of CBCV, who manage the Cuttle Brook Local Nature Reserve close by. Rycote Meadow will be managed by CBCV in future and become an extension of the local nature reserve.
Chairman of Thame Green Living, Charles Boundy, commented, "TGL are delighted to see the Rycote Meadow Conservation Project move forward. It builds upon the aspirations of the Green Living Plan, which we did so much to create, to help make Thame a better place for nature, for wildlife and for local people. We value enormously the support from the Trust for Oxfordshire's Environment and the commitment of our partners: CBCV and Thame Town Council."
Mike Furness, for CBCV, added, "We warmly welcome the opportunity to help conserve even more of Thame's natural habitats. Floodplain meadows are vital to local eco-systems. Sadly, we have lost many of them. It is more important than ever that we safeguard what we have for the future."
