Crime & Safety
Oxford’s green spaces face ‘similar threats’ 100 years on
The Oxford Fieldpaths Society this week celebrated 100 years since it was founded, in 1926, and it remains an important campaigner for access to nature and one of the UK’s oldest walking groups.
It was formed to protect the footpaths, bridlepaths and commons in the neighbourhood of Oxford to prevent them from being paved over or forgotten, and to make people aware of the paths they’re allowed to use.
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One hundred years ago, the threats facing walkers on public footpaths mainly came from private landlords putting up ‘private property’ notices to prevent access to paths which had always been walked.
After founding members of the Fieldpaths Society painstakingly mapped and charted the public rights of way across the area, the paths are firmly secured for everyone’s access.
Today, however, the main issue facing footpaths is their re-privatisation through major developments on great swathes of land – from new-build housing estates to quarries, solar farms and business or science parks.
“It’s a big task,” said Jennifer Byrne, chairman of the society’s executive committee. “We’re doing exactly the same thing they did 100 years ago.
“These days it’s an increasing volume of work which falls on fewer and fewer people.”
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The society works with Oxfordshire County Council‘s countryside access team and checks every planning application which goes through the system for footpaths which are frequently ‘ignored’ by developers.
Ms Byrne added: “Some private diversions are, of course, acceptable – we’re not against expansion.
“But when it’s a blatant obstruction of a footpath, that’s a bit more contested.”
Protecting the footpaths and public rights of way that earlier society members worked so hard to establish remains a key part of what Oxford Fieldpaths does, at a time when developments become ‘harder to constrain’.
The committee chair said: “Without protection, everything will get lost.
“People’s access to the countryside – which is good for wellbeing, fresh air, sharing in the beauty of the English countryside – is so important.
“And once it’s lost under concrete, it will never reappear. It’s important to take a stand at the start.”
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As well as a lobbying group, the society educates people on what footpaths are available and funds waymarking – which serves both walkers and landowners by stopping people from roaming onto private land.
Beyond that, Oxford Fieldpaths Society is well-known as a sociable walking group with a ‘faithful’ following of around 140 members, though not all of them regularly walk.
For its centenary year, the society hosted a celebratory AGM and plans to host 100 group walks across the year, continuing the legacy.
Nigel Bailey, who is close to becoming the new owner of the former Horse and Radish in Burford Road, Minster Lovell, has said he wants to have the watering hole opened in the summer during the upcoming Football World Cup.
Mr Bailey and his wife, who live in Brize Norton, had an offer accepted for the pub earlier this year and hope to finalise the deal with Stonegate soon.
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The Minster Lovell tavern was on the market for £850,000 last summer although that fell to £650,000 late in 2025.
Mr Bailey confirmed that they would give the pub a new name and said it would be based on English literature.
He said: “We’re eyeing English writers as a source for the name, people who have taken inspiration from the Cotswolds. That’s the concept.”
He added that the food would be traditional British but with a twist and that he is hopeful it will be open for the busy summer season.
“A good thing is that we have got the World Cup coming up,” he said, adding: “I mean it’s going to be all hands-on deck when we get the keys.
“I’ve got contractors lined up and we’re already looking for stuff but not really going into high gear until we have got the keys.”
Boasting 2.092 acres of Cotswolds views, the pub is less than two miles away from Jeremey Clarkson’s boozer The Farmer’s Dog in Asthall.
However Mr Bailey said he expects the upgraded Horse and Radish to complement the former Top Gear man’s boozer as well as The White Hart in Burford.
He said that it will be a pub stitched into the community and that they hope to hold plenty of community events there.
It dates back more than 100 years to 1871 when it was first mentioned in The Census with the name New Inn.
Over the years the New Inn had several transfers of ownership with tenancies lasting on average two years.
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It continued to be called the New Inn into the 21st century and then it reopened in May 2006 after a major refurbishment which included an extra single storey being built to the pub at the rear and side.
In 2013 the Inn was renamed The Dovecote before being rebranded again as The Horse and Radish.
The pub comes with planning permission for eight shepherd’s huts in the adjacent wild paddock, granted in 2022 and – according to the Land Registry – it was last sold for £465,000 in September 2017.
Inside the pub is a three-section trading area with multiple entrances, a raised bar section with 22 seats leading to three sets of customer toilets, a central bar-servery section split either side of a feature fireplace and a larger dining area suitable for 46 people at the back.
Leonardo Silvestre, aged 23 and of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of class A, namely cocaine, at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on Monday (April 13).
He was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on May 12.
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This follows his arrest on April 10 at Denchworth Road, Wantage.
Thames Valley Police said they stopped a male “posing as a food‑delivery rider after suspicious behaviour caught our attention”.
The force added: “That instinct paid off — during a search we recovered 16 wraps of cocaine and over £1,000 in cash. All seized.”
The police team said that this was part of their ongoing crackdown on drugs in Wantage.
They said: “Our recent survey told us loud and clear that our community wants us to focus on drug-related activity—and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Over the next few days they had several other encounters with possible drugs offenders, including arresting a man, reportedly mid drug deal, on April 11, at Naldertown in Wantage.
The force said: “As a result, a 22-year-old male from outside the area was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.
“Drugs and cash were located on him, and his vehicle was seized.”
That man has since been released on police bail until June 26.
On April 12 they saw another man engaging in drug-related activity in Wantage with the suspect running from the police officers.
“Despite our best efforts—and assistance from the police helicopter—we were unable to locate him,” the police said.
They added: “However, we did seize his vehicle, along with cash and significant items inside.”
As of Friday, April 17 no arrests have been made in the case.
In one of their updates the Wantage and Grove neighbourhood police team warned that much of the drugs activity in the area relates to ‘county lines’.
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The police explained: “It’s when organised drug networks from big cities push into smaller towns, exploiting vulnerable people to move drugs and money. It brings violence, fear and exploitation into communities that deserve better.
“This is one of several arrests we’ve made recently. Every time county lines tries to creep into Wantage, we’ll be there — and we’ll stop them.
“A huge thank‑you to our fantastic colleagues from Abingdon and Faringdon neighbourhood police teams for backing us up. Teamwork keeps our communities safe.”
Thames Valley Police said they confiscated the vehicle today (Friday, April 17) as it was on the roads uninsured.
In addition to the vehicle seizure, the driver has been reported.
A spokesperson for the Roads Policing team said: “First vehicle seizure of the late shift today by XRC01 on the A41 near Bicester.
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“Driver was going to get around to insuring it at the weekend. Vehicle seized. Driver reported.”
This follows an incident on Wednesday, April 15 when a Vauxhall car was confiscated by Thames Valley Police.
The police attempted to talk to the driver of the car who then “made off” after which the car was located and recovered from its registered address.
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