TWO Oxfordshire woods have beaten competition from across London and the South East to take two of the Royal Forestry Society’s top awards for Excellence in Forestry.

Lot 3 Wood at Hinksey Hill, owned by Riki Therivel, won the Small and Farm Woodland Awards and Bagley Wood at Kennington, owned by St John’s College, came second in the Duke of Cornwall’s Award for multipurpose resilient woodland.

READ AGAIN: Oxford academic Riki Therivel reflects on success of community fridge

Five hundred acre Bagley Wood, on the edge of Oxford, has been owned by St John’s College since 1557.