Sir – I yield to no one in my regard for the work of the Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT) but I am baffled by its decision to plant trees on the northern boundary of its farm fields on the Marston Ferry Road (Report, November 29). As far back as records go field boundaries are filled with hedgerows. Their numbers were hugely increased by the Enclosure Acts and they became one of the glories of English landscape.
The boundary on OPT fields on the south side of the Marston Ferry Road honours this tradition with a fine hedge of white hawthorn. In doing so, it also honours the OPT’s stated objective to preserve historic heritages and customs.
It is hard, therefore, to understand why the precedent of the southern boundary was not followed on the northern one. If the OPT’s objectives mean anything, it should be in the vanguard of the current movement to restore the country’s hedgerows, decimated by quick fix farming. As for the trees themselves: while everyone loves trees, their siting is as important as the trees themselves. Sticking them down on the fringe of cultivated soil verges on the freakish.
Dr Kathleen MacLarnon, Old Marston
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