Dos and don’ts

Please help to ensure the eyot can be enjoyed by future generations and nature is allowed to thrive by keeping human impact to a minimum.

We encourage you to enjoy the eyot responsibly. While you visit, remember the area is home to several plants, animals and insects, several of which are delicate or easily disturbed. Please stick to the paths, and be considerate of nature and others.

Here are some common rules we can all follow when enjoying the reserve.

Don’t

• Fly drones
• Climb trees
• Start fires or BBQs
• Install or use swings
• Camp
• Moor boats
• Dig for rubbish
• Leave paths and disturb ecosystems

Do

• Keep to paths
• Take photos
• Take your rubbish home with you
• Run (but give way to people walking)
• Walk your dog (remembering to pick up any poo!)
• Report any problems to us by emailing info@friendsofastonseyot.org

Using and installing swings on Aston’s Eyot

The eyot is home to many fragile trees. We encourage you to look up and make sure you are safe. Visitors often install swings in the trees around the eyot too – these haven’t been put up by volunteers of the charity and they’re not maintained or checked. Many have been recently removed.

We are very aware that many families have enjoyed the swings on Aston’s Eyot over recent years and are sad at their loss. We would like to explain what led to the decision by the trustees of the Friends of Aston’s Eyot to remove them, and open the discussion about where could we go from here for families with young children. We think it s also timely to provide a reminder about the nature of Aston’s Eyot.

The land is owned by Christ Church college and managed by the Friends of Aston’s Eyot

Aston’s Eyot is neither public land nor Council owned. It is owned by Christ Church and leased to the Friends of Aston’s Eyot for use as a nature reserve.

Despite the cosy name, we are not just a group of volunteers helping out. The Friends are a charity with trustees, and we are the legal leaseholders of the Aston’s Eyot Nature Reserve. This means that we are solely responsible for maintenance, access and safety, with no support from Christ Church. As a small team of volunteers, our core priority is nature conservation and restoration, plus maintaining the basics for general public access. This is set out in our constitution and is a key factor of our lease. We also spend a lot of time clearing up other people’s mess and dealing with the results of bad behaviour.

Why swings were removed in early 2026

Over the past couple of years we’ve seen the number of swings proliferate; more and more were put up, not always safely, sometimes several on one thin branch. It seemed to have become a way of re-homing unwanted play equipment. Someone even installed (badly) a very large climbing frame.

No-one was maintaining the swings. Both we and many other Eyot users became increasingly concerned about safety and the liability issues arising from that. A significant proportion of other Eyot users said they hated the lurid plastic in a natural place, and were increasingly voicing concerns about safety. Our tree surgeon pointed out that the ground around one swing tree had become very compacted which would impact the tree’s health. Combined with the fact that horse chestnuts are notorious for suddenly dropping branches, this was a concern.

Tree branches are heavier than they look, and some could cause serious injury if they fell on a child. Branches did get broken, leaving jagged branches at face height as you approach the tree. It became clear that some people were assuming that the swings area was being looked after when it was not. Swings started falling into disrepair and some were vandalised. Fires were lit. Increasing numbers of adults were using the swings, sometimes to have somewhere to sit, but increasingly in the evenings by people and older children who bounced vigorously on them, adding to the strain on swings and branches, often also generally misusing the area, and leaving quantities of litter.

In short, the risk of medium to serious injury was increasing – maybe still fairly low, but the consequences of a serious accident would be catastrophic for everyone. It does happen, and the Friends would be liable. This is why the council (like most councils) does not allow tree swings or other unsanctioned play equipment on their land.

Help us shape the future

We recognise the importance of encouraging children to spend time in nature, and that this is helped by interesting things to do and see. We do occasionally run wildlife events (such as bat and moth evenings) which appeal to people of all ages. Play equipment such as swings are always likely to be difficult to cater for as such strict rules apply, it requires training, and weekly checking has to be kept up and where necessary action taken, especially for permanent swings. The way forward might be to design, fund and implement other possible activities or points of interest for younger children, but the current volunteer and trustee team does not have the time or resources to take this on.

We would love to have one or two people volunteer to take this on as a project – maybe first to gather up everyone’s suggestions for what might work that would be suitable for a nature reserve and would not require too much ongoing maintenance, and then with back up from the trustees and other volunteers to implement a plan of action.

Would you be interested? Or could you help us find such a person? We’d be delighted to meet and discuss it with you. Contact us via info@friendsofastonseyot.org.