I have been delighted to see, on my regular cycle rides beside the Thames, that Oxfordshire County Council is not only reinstating the river bank between Osney and Folly Bridge but also the long-out-of-use path at the water’s edge.

It seems ages – probably about 20 years – since the stretch of path south of the railway bridge crumbled into the water and was replaced by another higher up on the former gasworks site. I had assumed the path had gone for good. Three cheers to the council – and their contractors, Greenford – for proving me wrong.

Even in the days when the path was bordered on one site by corrugated sheeting (the disused gasworks site lay beyond) it was an appealing place for an evening stroll. I look forward to being able to use it again soon.

The £750,000 reinstatement of the Thames bank and its paths through Oxford is something of which the county council can feel justly proud. The already completed section between Osney Bridge and Medley (pictured above), looks absolutely marvellous, as anyone who has walked or cycled along it will agree.

A good word, too, for Greenford. Their workers have been unfailingly polite as they have gone about the job, as I have noted on a number of occasions when our paths (so to speak) have crossed.