Volunteers help get Forest Hill and Stanton St John in good shape

An Oxfordshire public right of way has been ‘set straight’ thanks to a team of committed volunteers.

The footpath linking Forest Hill and Stanton St John had found itself in need of some TLC and signage to help keep walkers on the right track.

So, to help put things back as they should be, officers from the Countryside Access team at Oxfordshire County Council, the tenant farmer and the local Ramblers volunteers got together to reopen and sign the legally recorded route of the public right of way.

16 volunteers were on site for around four hours installing four wooden waymarker posts and clearing a path through a woodland strip for 50m. They also litter picked one black bag of rubbish and removed old barbed wire, a mini trampoline and a ladder.

County Councillor Liam Walker, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for Highways Delivery and Operations said: “Volunteers play a really important role in keeping Oxfordshire thriving.

“I am really pleased to see the results of the hard work done by the ramblers on this footpath. Hopefully what they have done will keep fellow walkers on the straight and narrow as they pass through this lovely part of the county.

“Public rights of way are really important as they help people to enjoy part of our wonderful county that would otherwise be inaccessible. Because of their legal status, and the placement of things like gates, their true line has to be respected and maintained as has happened here.

“I can’t say, however, whether it will prevent people dumping rubbish and strange things like trampolines, but I hope they will think twice now the area has been spruced up.”