Alison Boulton digs beneath the city's dreaming spires

The sweetest strawberries I have tasted this spring were not from a shop.

Neither were they from a supermarket, with a significant international supply chain at its disposal. Instead, they came from the Covered Market in the High Street.

The delicious punnet was bought by one of my children. The strawberries were served to my mother-in- law and myself on Mothering Sunday in the shape of an heart. We both agreed, it was a peerless gesture: simple and heartfelt, with a sugar rush.

Walking the lanes of the Covered Market in Christmas snowstorms or winter sleet is one of Oxford’s delights. Now, as the great tulip bed in the Botanic Gardens explodes with colour, coaxed by the warm sunshine, the market’s produce reflects that seasonality.

Geese, turkey, holly wreaths and Norwegian pines in winter, pheasant and partridge, Bramleys and blood oranges in autumn, spring greens and daffodils in early April, while summer brings clouds of sweet peas, fresh raspberries and home grown asparagus.

Founded in November 1774, to discourage the “untidy, messy and unsavoury stalls” from clustering on Oxford’s crowded streets, the Covered Market has attracted independent traders, butchers, bakers, greengrocers and fishmongers for hundreds of years. Its elegant building was designed by John Gwynn, the architect of Magdalen Bridge, and its four entrances onto the High Street entice tourists and townspeople alike to sample its cafes, its food stalls and its independent shops, even if you’d only scribbled “bananas” on the back of a crumpled envelope.

It would be a huge pity if the current dispute between Oxford City Council and the Covered Market Traders’ Association was to widen and deepen. Everybody concerned seeks a financial future for the Covered Market. Yet the traders are pressed by falling footfall and the council by avoiding loss of revenue. All parties have demands on their resources, and no one can afford to overpay or under- charge.

Meeting at the highest level between the traders and the council – giving the matter the priority and the status it deserves – is critical if an equable solution is to be found. The appointment of a capable and sensitive manager who understands all parties priorities is a welcome step. But the most important ones are to follow: who will take them first? We need movement on both sides. Most of all, Oxford needs a vibrant, successful Covered Market to complement Westgate and Cornmarket, which appeals to shoppers from all over Oxford – not just the casual and the well- heeled.

Are we going to be the first generation in two centuries to drop the ball? It’s a team effort which is required now. Let’s see some skilful passing, to achieve a mutually beneficial goal.