Hogacre Common

This sassy spindle tree is part of a woodland planted six years ago on a 14-acre site that was once Christ Church's pheasant-shooting arena, then Oxford City Football Club's ground, then Corpus Christi College's sports area. Since 2011 it's been a community-run ecopark (extra) bounded by streams on three sides and a railway line on the fourth, so accessible only on foot.  

There's a community growing area, a young orchard containing a greater variety of heritage apple trees than any other orchard in the county, a hazel coppice for fuel to heat the old sports pavilion-become-community cafe, a wind turbine and bee-hives - the rent Corpus Christi asks for the site is one jar of honey a year.

Today's annual harvest festival offered affordable food with zero food miles, local beer and cider, apple pressing, a wood fire and live music.

And an amble round a whole lot of trees singing at the tops of their autumnal voices.

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