When idyllic Port Meadow was used as the city’s main tip

They have been able to walk uninhibited across the lush green pastures, admire the horses and cattle grazing there, and take a dip in the passing River Thames.

There was one feature of the 1,000-year-old, 85-acre meadow, however, that was not so pleasant – the city’s main refuse tip.

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Dust carts loaded with rubbish from homes, offices and factories would bump their way across a corner of the meadow to discharge their load.

The operation went on for nearly 40 years, starting in the early 1940s and continuing until the late 1970s.

Millions of tons of waste dumped there during that period raised the surface of the land by about 15 feet.

When the dumping finally stopped, Oxford City Council began a major and expensive operation to restore the site, plant trees and shrubs and turn it into a nature park.

The idea was to create a place where everyone could walk, play and study wild birds and flowers.

There was a surprise in store when conservationists turned up in November 1987 to start work – rubbish was barely a foot below the surface.

John Thompson, the council’s landscape architect, told the Oxford Mail: “The rubbish should be about two feet below the topsoil but in some places, the cover is only about a foot. It is going to slow growth.

“Methane gas we have found coming from the top could also have an inhibiting effect.”

Oxford Conservation Volunteers eventually planted more than 1,000 oak, ash, beech, field maple and cherry trees.

Mr Thompson added: “We want tree and shrub cover to provide habitat for wildlife and birds.

“We are starting from scratch and we want to involve the local community as much as possible.

“They will be able to see how the wildlife develops. I would hope that in 10 years’ time, the trees will be six to 10ft high.”

Schools were invited to run nature studies where children could watch and help the park take shape, and local businesses were asked to sponsor parts of the six-year, £250,000 restoration project.

Port Meadow is one of Oxford’s largest open spaces. With the River Thames flowing through the heart of the meadow, the flood plains are home to many species of cattle, horses and wildfowl.

Port Meadow and the neighbouring Wolvercote Common are a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Access to Port Meadow is via Walton Well Road or Aristotle Lane in the south or from Godstow and Wolvercote in the north.

As Memory Lane readers will recall, the meadow was the site of a First World War airfield.

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