1
Footpath in the Horspath Parish Council Wildlife Conservation Area
The Nature Reserve is in the tunnel cutting of the former Princes Risborough to Oxford railway.
Image: © Steve Daniels
Taken: 25 May 2011
0.03 miles
2
Yellow flags in the former railway cutting
The Nature Reserve is in the tunnel cutting of the former Princes Risborough to Oxford railway.
Image: © Steve Daniels
Taken: 25 May 2011
0.04 miles
3
The former track bed of the Princes Risborough to Oxford Railway
The former Princes Risborough to Oxford railway was closed in 1963.
Image: © Steve Daniels
Taken: 25 May 2011
0.04 miles
4
Horspath: Disused railway tunnel portal
This is the western portal of the Horspath Tunnel which formerly carried the Oxford to Princes Risborough railway line through the eastern end of Shotover Hill. The tunnel was (and still is) 475 metres (520 yards) long. The railway was closed in 1963, and the abandoned tunnel subsequently proved a popular venue for illegal raves in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as a popular roost for bats. However in 2002 the tunnel was taken over by Oxfordshire County Council, and formally turned into a bat hibernaculum, or winter hibernating refuge. Five species of bats, Daubenton’s, Brown Long-Eared, Natterer’s, Brandt’s, and Whiskered, are said to use the tunnel. This transformation was achieved with major financial assistance from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation http://www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk/ and One World Wildlife (formerly The Biodiversity Trust).
The former trackbed immediately outside the tunnel is maintained as a Wildlife Conservation Area by Horspath Parish Council http://home.clara.net/shotover/horspath/hiber.htm and a volunteer member is hard at work.
(Mrs Albion was forcibly reminded of Henry the Green Engine with this image!)
Image: © Nigel Cox
Taken: 16 Jan 2008
0.06 miles
5
Footpath in the Horspath Parish Council Wildlife Conservation Area
Image: © Steve Daniels
Taken: 25 May 2011
0.06 miles
6
Kissing gate to the Horspath Parish Council Wildlife Conservation Area
Image: © Steve Daniels
Taken: 25 May 2011
0.06 miles
7
Butts Road crosses the former railway
The former Princes Risborough to Oxford railway was closed in 1963.
Image: © Steve Daniels
Taken: 25 May 2011
0.07 miles
8
Boggy wetland in the former railway cutting
The Nature Reserve is in the tunnel cutting of the former Princes Risborough to Oxford railway.
Image: © Steve Daniels
Taken: 25 May 2011
0.07 miles
9
Footbridge over the wetland
Image: © Steve Daniels
Taken: 25 May 2011
0.07 miles
10
Boggy wetland in the former railway cutting
The Nature Reserve is in the tunnel cutting of the former Princes Risborough to Oxford railway.
Image: © Steve Daniels
Taken: 25 May 2011
0.07 miles