I had never been to the County Archives – what an interesting trip that turned out to be. Once registered I was allocated a desk space and issued with a pair of cotton gloves. These I didn’t need to wear as I was handling our own material. The staff were extremely helpful and the filing system so efficient that when I requested to see the records from 1926, they magically appeared within a few minutes.
I was always under the impression that D’Arcy Dalton was our founding member but reading through the historical records I was surprised to discover this was not the case.
The earliest entry was a letter written by Mr. Frank Roby dated 12 December 1925. It was he who was responsible for galvanising members of the University to form a society.
“There are so many beautiful footpaths in the district, but the danger is that many of them will be grown over, or even deliberately obstructed, unless approaches are kept clear, their courses well defined, and a regular list of them drawn up.”
Hence the Oxford and District Footpaths, Bridlepaths and Commons Preservation Society was founded, later renamed Oxford Fieldpaths Society. The very first meeting was held at 4pm on 26th January, 1926 in the hall at Oriel College. 36 people attended almost all were members of the University. D’Arcy Dalton was not listed but was elected to the committee at the AGM in 1927 becoming Assistant Secretary in 1929.
Jenny Byrne (from 2024 Newsletter)