5 /5 Robert Finch: Visiting Sydlings Copse Nature reserve, owned by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), was a quadruple treat.
Firstly, to get to this Nature reserve visitors have to walk along an attractive countryside footpath. It runs alongside farmersâ fields and provides panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.
The footpath is accessible from the Beckley section of the B4027 or, from the south, by following a footpath at the back of houses on Hubble Close, in Barton and then crossing the Bayswater Brook.
The distance from the Beckley end of the footpath to Sydlings Copse is about half a mile whereas the distance from the Barton end of the footpath to the Copse is about a mile and a half - virtually all of it uphill.
Visitors from either ends of the Barton-Beckley footpath have the opportunity of walking alongside cropland whilst seeing panoramic views of the surrounding countryside not only in Oxford but in Oxfordshire. The walk along this green footpath with panoramic views is a treat for visitors even before they get to the Copse.
The second treat is the Copse itself. It is very hilly. There is a particularly wide and deep valley which reminded me of Lye valley. There are hardly any places in the Copse where the land is flat.
Since I last visited, the site has become more of a âwalk in the wildâ rather than an opportunity to explore the Copseâs wildness. Visitors are corralled along paths which are all well trodden and signposted. It would not be difficult to go off-piste but the path network is extensive enough to make this unnecessary.
The last time I was here there were horses grazing in a small field but thankfully this time I didnât have to walk past them hoping they wouldnât notice me.
The third treat is that Sydlings Copse is entirely surrounded by hilly pastureland, some cropland and plenty of trees. A lot of Nature reserves exist in urban areas but this one is entirely surrounded by countryside. It is one of the few Nature reserves where visitors have no need to fear having to avert their eyes in case they glimpse the urban world visually intruding into a Nature reserve. What visitors see when they glimpse what is beyond the Copse, is just more countryside.
It is not difficult to understand why this area, in the middle of the delightful Oxfordshire countryside, has been put aside as a Nature reserve. It is so steep and hilly that it cannot be used for grazing animals let alone growing crops.
The fourth treat was that when I visited the Copse, the Bluebells were blooming. A large area of the woodland was covered in a carpet of Bluebells. So many of them that the air was filled with their fragrance.
Sydlings Copse is a wonderful, medium-sized, Nature reserve. The carpet of bluebells is well worth seeing in its own right. It is a luxurious green island in the middle of the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside. Even getting there provides delightful panoramas of Oxford and other parts of Oxfordshire.
My one quibble is that this is another ecologically minded green organization intent on saving current species whilst preventing âsuccession to woodlandâ needed to combat global warming.
