26th June 2025
Yesterday a group of people gathered at the newly opened Rycote Meadow footpath to officially mark that it is open to the public.
Rycote Meadow, bordered by the Cuttle Brook on its eastern side and by Oxford Road on the south, is a rare remnant of precious floodplain meadow, home to a rich variety of plant species and the animals that depend upon them. The project has been a partnership project between Thame Green Living , Thame Town Council and Cuttle Brook Conservation Volunteers (CBCV) to help protect the site for the future.
This marks the end of a project that has spanned almost 5 years. Initial work in November 2021 included the enhancement of the important area of hedging along the western side of the Meadow to provide even more protection for wildlife – birds and the invertebrates on which they feed principally – interspersed with trees of a modest size to contribute more habitat and variety.
In June 2024 Cuttle Brook Conservation Volunteers created a new wetland scrape within the meadow to maintain a more aquatic nature conducive to smaller creatures and plants. This is not a pond as such and will not directly link to the Cuttle Brook itself.
Finally, this year a new footpath was constructed to give new public access from Oxford Road to the rear of the site. This links to the Thame Meadows Estate and gives footpath access to the River Thame beyond. The path was installed to 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 was received from the Environment Agency, River Thame Conservation Trust and Wild Oxfordshire, and it builds upon the extensive experience of CBCV, who manage the Cuttle Brook Local Nature Reserve. Rycote Meadow is now a part of the Nature reserve and will be managed by CBCV from this point on.
The project was funded through a grant from Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment, with support from South Oxfordshire District Council, as well as by Section 106 funding from the Thame Meadow development on Oxford Road.
