Bagley Wood — Attraction in Vale of White Horse

According to Wikipedia, Bagley Wood is an ancient wood that has had only two owners since 955AD - the current one being St John's College, Oxford! In other words, this wood is not only outside Oxford city’s boundaries, it is not owned by Oxford City council.

It seems as if the woods were bisected by the southerly extension of Oxford’s Southern Bypass, the A34. My visit was to the eastern section of the woods, just off the Kennington Road. I also have to admit that Bagley wood is such a massive woodland I simply wasn’t able to detail all of its boundaries - other than that its western boundary is the A34.

I confess that I didn’t know these woods. This is the first time I’ve visited. I tried in the past but found it locked up. It also seemed to require a permit which I never got around to getting. It seems now as if visitors don’t need a permit.

When I visited I followed Bagley Wood Road off the Kennington Road opposite St Swithun’s church. The road seemed to go on for miles because I couldn’t find an entrance to the woods. I eventually turned right into another road, confusingly also called Bagley Wood Road, and almost immediately found an entrance. I walked around the northern part of the woods before leaving by the Bagley Close entrance.

I’d bitten off more than I could chew. I will need to prepare for a much more extensive walk the next time around. For the present I content myself with just a few of remarks about the trip.

Bagley Wood is overwhelmingly woodland with virtually no grassy areas with the exception of the paths winding through the woods. There are lots of different varieties of trees and many of them are in a mature state reaching great heights. Some areas of the woods are being replanted. but the majority of the trees are mature. And they create quite a fabulous spectacle. I was constantly craning my neck backwards to photograph the entirety of these trees.

I’m sure kids would love letting off steam in these woods because the woods are so extensive few people would be disturbed by their exuberance. And by the time they’ve walked through even a small part of the woods they’ll be exhausted - just like me!

The woods’ owners/mangers request that there is no cycling in the woods. This is fair enough especially when there is a BMX area close by. But, the owners don’t provide anywhere for cyclists to lock up their bikes so they can walk through the woods. I’m not going to leave my bike without security whilst I’m walking through the woods. It takes long enough to cycle to the woods without discovering the bike has been stolen so that I have to walk home. If the woods are open to the public for the first time then perhaps those managing it will have to consider their visitors.

As I’ve said, the A34 forms the western boundary of the woods. The longest section of path that I followed in the woods just happened to be adjacent to the motorway. The part of the woodland I saw is virtually free of any rubbish/litter. This is in remarkably stark contrast to the litter/rubbish which is accumulating along the side of the motorway. It seems like motorists aren’t just throwing litter out of their car window as they speed to their destination but are actively taking rubbish with them with the specific intent of dumping it somewhere along the motorway. It’s reaching plague proportions and seems to make a mockery of claims that all motorists support environmental protection. What makes this even sadder is that it just confirms what I’ve seen elsewhere. This problem is a worrying insight into some motorists’ attitude to...

Lovely woods to wander through, lots of different paths to follow to make your walk as long or short as you want. You could easily walk for hours and not repeat a track. You can hear the constant rumble of the A34 but it's easy to zone out. Came across a peaceful spot containing the gravestones of several of the previous woodsman. It looks like it could get pretty muddy in wetter weather. There are a few places to park around the woods including...

Basically a lovely woodland. You can let dogs walk off lead but 'keep them close'. It's the A34 right through the middle that prompts me to only give 3 stars. Some lovely old trees, real 'Ents'. A reminder that we need to fight hard for what woodlands we have left. Majority of people just don't feel for the damage a major road can do when it bisects a space. It's a grand canyon, and the noise,...