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Oxford Clarion

Clarion Weekend, 9 January 2026

Clarion Weekend, 9 January 2026

Welcome to 2026! We were struck this week by a video from Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds promising this would be “the year when our city turns the corner”. (Extra points for recording it on a moving bus.) Here’s just a few of the things we’re expecting in

Pack away your amusingly-shaped nutcracker. Christmas is over (phot by Roger Close).

New Year Clarion, 6 January 2026

A very Happy New Year to all our readers! The start of January always makes for a quiet news week, so this and the next newsletter or two will be shorter than you might expect. Over the festive break, we’ve been writing long reads and we have some absolute

A year in Oxfordshire, 2025

A year in Oxfordshire, 2025

A growth corridor, a new stadium, a new branch line, a congestion charge, and partying seagulls. It’s been a busy year in Oxfordshire. Here are just a few of the highlights. January Growth, part one: Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the formation of the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor, very much

Clarion Weekend, 19 December 2025

Clarion Weekend, 19 December 2025

’Twas the Knight before Christmas... yes really. We start our penultimate newsletter before Christmas with a note from a Clarion correspondent who reports the sighting of a knight in Summertown: “He was having a little difficulty with the pelican crossing when I caught up with him. Pressing the button is

Oxford’s new billionaires

Oxford’s new billionaires

Do you know your Blavatniks from your Bukhmans, your Saïds from your Schwarzmans? We take a look at Oxford University’s 21st century donors. For centuries, Oxford’s university buildings have each been adorned with the name of a benefactor: Radcliffe, Rhodes, Nuffield, Templeton and Green. In Part 1, we

The Clarion, 16 December 2025

The Clarion, 16 December 2025

It's nearly Christmas. Are you ready yet? To paraphrase the carol, today we have: seven brand new shops, six bed suites, five new towns, four school visits, three villages getting a new bus service, two MPs angry about Thames Water, and… a really very lovely fluffy cat. This

Right town, wrong place?

Right town, wrong place?

Outline plans have been unveiled for Chalgrove Airfield, Oxfordshire’s most controversial housing development. Can the merits of a “21st century sustainable market town” outweigh the problems of its location? Chalgrove New Town would be located on one of Oxfordshire’s many historic airfields, ten miles south-east of Carfax. It