My friend Jim Parke, who has died of cancer aged 82, had a life of achievement in two separate spheres. After a distinguished career in education, he played a transformative role in the protection and maintenance of rights of way in Oxfordshire.
Like many passionate defenders of the countryside, Jim came from an urban background. He was born and grew up in Birmingham, where his parents, Edwin and Irene, owned two bakeries, and where he attended King Edward’s school, and then the university, graduating in history and geography. There he met Angela Withers-Lancashire, whom he married in 1964.
