Rycote Meadow restoration

Enhancing the biodiversity of Rycote Meadow and making it a place for quiet recreation.

Overview

Thame Green Living has been invited by the Town Council to oversee the provision of a new path from the Thame Meadows estate across Rycote Meadow to Oxford Road. In addition, a plan will be developed for enhancing the biodiversity of the Meadow as a place for quiet recreation.  Thame Green Living will be working with the Cuttle Brook Local Nature Reserve – the main part of the Cuttle Brook Nature Reserve is situated directly opposite Rycote Meadow on the south side of Oxford Road. This will be a 3-year staged delivery.

Objectives

  • Year 1 :
    • To design, specify and cost a new path (to be paid for from planning funds)
    • To commissioning flora and bird surveys of the site to inform the conservation plans
    • To design a planting scheme and an overall scheme for the area
  • To protect the ecologically sensitive parts of the site, by introducing features such as hedges
  • To engage with the local community in order to build support and a team of volunteers committed to looking after the Meadow
  • To develop and commission appropriate signage to explain the importance of the site.
  • To fundraise for elements not covered by planning funds.

Impact

  • Agreement from TTC on the proposed project brief
  • Flora and bird surveys commissioned

Next steps

  • Further development of the design and determine site layout of the new pathway

Gallery

Latest project news

  • by Sue Martin-Downhill
    Thame Green Living, 21st Century Thame, Carmichael UK in collaboration planting hedges in Thame.
  • by Sue Martin-Downhill
    You may have seen these new signs appearing in areas around Thame, indicating verges that are part of a no mowing trial. They are the result of a joint initiative led by Thame Green Living working with Thame Town Council, and part of a broader project that aims to restore some of the richness of […]
  • by Charles Boundy
    Recently we introduced you to the Thame Outer Circuit; today meet its little brother – the Thame Inner Circuit. This walk is a 4 mile walking route making use of existing paths, pavements, tracks and trails within Thame and is perfect for a dog walk, getting your step count up, meeting a friend for a […]
  • by Charles Boundy
    The Thame Outer Circuit is a new walking route that is now available for you to enjoy, providing an approximately 20 mile circular walk in the countryside around – and linked back to – our town. The route has been created thanks to the hard work and dedication of members of the Thame & Wheatley Ramblers to […]
  • by Colin Bloxham
    Wild Oxfordshire, our local conservation organisation, has been very supportive to Thame Green Living and has advised on the Green Living Plan.  Recently it hosted its Annual Lecture online at which Dr. Richard Benwell, CEO of the Wildlife and Countryside Link, gave a salutary analysis of the situation facing the natural environment.  Despite the promising […]
  • by Harriet Woollard
    Churchill Retirement Living has teamed up with Thame Green Living on plans to create a new ‘bio-diverse’ area of land opposite the Yeats Lodge development on Greyhound Lane. Prompted by support for the ‘natural world’ principles embraced in the Thame Green Living plan, Churchill Retirement Living will landscape and plant the area with a variety […]

Project Team

  • Dom Gabriele, Charles Boundy, Colin Bloxham, Lynne May – Thame Green Living
  • Nigel Sims
  • Hilary Phillips – River Thame Conservation Trust
  • Mike Furness – Cuttle Brook Local Nature Reserve
  • Ava Gabriele

 

Get involved

  • TBC

 

Resources

 

Project Partners

 

Project type:
Green Spaces

Project status:
Current

Project start:
February 2021

Project end:
Spring 2024 (expected)