Clarion Weekend, 10 April 2026

Vintage books! New book festival! More police! (Or not?) Sing-along-Wicker Man! And the end in sight to the saga of the Didcot GP surgery? All this, and so much more for your weekend reading, in what has to be Oxfordshire's most eclectic newsletter.

This week’s (short) long read

The Oxford Fieldpaths Society, born to preserve ‘Footpaths, Bridlepaths and Commons in the neighbourhood of Oxford’, turns 100 this week. We took a look at their work in this short read.

Step outside: Oxford Fieldpaths Society turns 100

In 1926, in response to urban sprawl and increasing motor car traffic, a group met at Oriel College to ‘to form a Society for the preservation of Footpaths, Bridlepaths and Commons in the neighbourhood of Oxford.’ The Oxford Fieldpaths Society (OFS) was born from this meeting, and pre-dates even the

Oxford ClarionOxford Clarion

This week’s top stories

Oxford have won the Women’s Boat Race for the first time in 10 years, by a margin of 9.4 seconds on a windy day on the Thames. Although Cambridge’s women won the coin toss and chose Surrey station, seeking a perceived strategic advantage of being on the inside bend at Hammersmith Bridge, Oxford gained an early lead and were 4.5 seconds ahead by the first mile.

An estimated 200,000 spectators crowded the banks of the Thames. University Vice-Chancellor Irene Tracey said:

“A truly memorable and spirited contest on the river today. I could not be prouder of all our crews and coaches. It’s been a long time coming but how thrilling to see Oxford’s women securing an historic victory today - huge congratulations to one and all. The physical and mental grit on display today was so inspiring alongside the technical skill they showed in the face of ever-challenging river conditions.”

Cambridge beat Oxford in the Men’s Boat Race by a distance of just under four lengths, extending their winning run to four years.

Around the city

• Oxford has more Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) than any other district in England, according to research by an insurance company for landlords. Just Landlords reported 2,458 applications per year in Oxford, vs 1,491 in Bristol, 1,412 in Southwark and 1,394 in Tower Hamlets. Nationally, inspections of HMOs increased by 83% since 2018, and enforcement actions by 180%. MD Clark Ross said: “Higher standards protect the reputation of the sector and ensure that dedicated, professional landlords aren’t being undercut by sub-standard operators.”
       Oxford City Council operates a ‘Selective Licensing’ scheme with proactive inspections, as well as issuing a regular Landlords’ Newsletter. 14,500 properties are now covered by the scheme. Cllr Linda Smith said “We are committed to driving up standards across the private rented sector, supporting good landlords and taking a zero-tolerance approach to rogue landlords.”
• Oxford indie rock band Beaker have released a new single, ‘50 Men’, in tribute to Frenchwoman Gisèle Pelicot. It’s the band’s first single in 27 years, produced and mixed by producer Sam Williams (Supergrass, Plan B). The all-female group garnered a loyal following during the 90s Oxford rock scene, with their debut single ‘Backgarden’ and their double A-side ‘Monster’/ ‘Plastic’. Despite not having performed together since 1999, band members were brought together once more by the tragic death of bassist Kim Parsons. Since then the band have sold out shows and had a rapturously received slot at Truck Festival.
       ‘50 Men’ gradually opens with sharp, brooding guitars, adding layers of haunting, choir-like vocals, building to a ferocious anthem to inspire a whole new generation of girls. “Being an old lady in a heavy rock band feels even more ‘not the done thing’ than being a girl in a band felt in the 90s. I like that!” says singer Sam.
• Trading Standards have warned of “relentless criminality” as a further 13,000 illegal cigarettes were seized from seven shops in Cowley and Headington. The raids were part of a national HMRC-funded exercise.
• The saga of the Uni Food & Wine owners’ off-licences continues with another application for 133 Botley Road, this time for a convenience store called Botley Superstore. The application is again by Manpreet Kaur Lalpurwal. (Previously in this series… an application for Botley Booze at 133 Botley Road, and the licence of Uni Food & Wine being revoked following Trading Standards inspections.)
• 71 charities and community organisations, from Oxford City Farm to Didcot Baby Monday, are bidding for a chance to ‘Brand the Bus’ in Oxford Bus Co’s annual bus livery competition. The winner will get a year-long full-wrap advertisement and free onboard advertising.
• The owners of Virgin Media O2 say that they will be spending £4.3m on new full fibre broadband connections in Oxford, to an estimated 27,000 homes. Nexfibre, their network business, is buying independent broadband provider Netomnia. Seven community centres in the city will receive a free connection.
• An ‘insiders’ guide’ to Oxford University by TikTok law student Oliver Carter and “an anonymous academic” has been snapped up by publishers Little Brown. Inside Oxford will be published this August. (Just when we thought we’d cornered the market in anonymous writing about Oxford.)
• Oxford United’s new manager Matt Bloomfield has been nominated for ‘Manager of the Month’ as the club’s attempt to stave off relegation goes down to the wire. A 2-2 draw against fellow strugglers Portsmouth leads into a tricky concluding series of games for OUFC, who are currently in the relegation zone with lost cause Sheffield Wednesday (deducted points for financial shenanigans) and former Premiership champions Leicester City.
• “Complex and involved negotiations” are underway to save Oxford Stadium, according to speedway promoter Jamie Courtney. The greyhound and speedway stadium off Sandy Lane (not to be confused with the Kassam Stadium) has been put at risk by streaming company SIS pulling out of their deal to broadcast greyhound racing. Wednesday’s speedway fixture was cancelled but a race on 22 April is still scheduled to go ahead.
• Oxford’s city centre Wetherspoons has applied to open late every day of the week. A new licensing application for the Four Candles would see the pub open until 2.30am every night, with alcohol served until 2am. It currently closes at midnight from Sunday to Wednesday, and 1am on Thursday.

Around the county

• Abingdon’s wooden monk is back! The new sculpture unveiled at the weekend at the Marcham Road roundabout replaces one erected in 2002 which rotted away and fell over last year. Donated by local Freemasons, it commemorates the monastic tradition of this abbey town, dating back to the 7th century.
• Deddington Councillor Eddie Reeves has called for action on dangerous dogs after his cavapoo, Coco, was mauled to death while walking in Banbury with his wife and five-month-old baby. In a Facebook post, he said it had happened “in an instant” and he was left with blood all over him and his baby, though neither he nor his wife were bitten. He said the family were "still processing the senselessness of it all" and thanked the people of Banbury for their good wishes. “The number of young men with dangerous dogs in this country is out of control. The dogs need to be put down. Apparently, that isn't automatic and the dogs need to be ‘assessed’ before a decision is taken as to whether to muzzle them or not. The law needs to change.”
• Three Oxfordshire districts are among the top 30 councils in the country for household recycling: South Oxfordshire (61.3%), Vale of White Horse (58.9%), West Oxfordshire (57%), and Cherwell (51%). Oxfordshire overall recycles 56.6% - the highest of any county council. The annual figures for 2024-25 were published this week by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA). In a joint statement, Liberal Democrat MPs in Oxfordshire said: “These figures show Lib Dem-run councils in Oxfordshire are delivering strong results for the environment. By making it easier for people to recycle and cutting waste sent to landfill, councils are helping to keep Oxfordshire cleaner and greener.”
• Decaying farm buildings near Wallingford could be rebuilt as a farm shop, café and artisan food venue. Christie’s (or New Barn) Farm, on the road to Cholsey, has lain derelict while nearby land is quarried. The plans would revive the Grade II listed threshing barn as a shop and café/restaurant. A 1960s ‘Atcost’ barn would be reclad in profiled metal sheeting and converted to artisan workshops and manufacturing spaces. A new building would be erected with toilets, and a link building with kitchens. The development would include outside café seating, a play area, space for pop-up craft stalls, 115 car parking spaces, cycle parking, and a walking trail devoted to Wallingford author Agatha Christie. Plans are with South Oxfordshire District Council.
• A series of new 20mph limits are proposed by Oxfordshire County Council. The plans cover Fordwells and Asthall Leigh, near Witney; Compton Beauchamp, near Shrivenham; and Hardwick Hill in Banbury. (Reporting on village 20mph limits is doing wonders for our knowledge of Oxfordshire village geography.) The consultation is open until 1 May.
• The organisation that oversees Oxfordshire’s NHS has merged with a neighbour. The new Thames Valley Integrated Care Board replaces the two former care boards of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire & Berkshire West (BOB) and Frimley (east Berkshire). Government has encouraged care boards to merge to save costs. Redundancies are expected to be set out later this year.
• A planning application has been submitted for a battery box micro energy storage facility in Thame. Battery boxes store energy from the network at periods of low demand & can be seen as a solution to the need for increased flexibility in the national grid, increasingly fuelled by renewable energy. A month ago, Cherwell District Council rejected a proposal for a similar installation. Both South Oxfordshire and Cherwell District Councils declared a climate emergency in 2019.
• The Abingdon County Hall Museum has opened an exhibition celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the MGA, one of the most successful MG models. The MG factory in Abingdon closed in 1980, after producing cars there for 50 years. The MG Car Club Abingdon Works Centre is active in the town putting on several runs and displays each year; a pub in Abingdon was recently rebranded from the Magic Midget in celebration of one MG car to the Roaring Raindrop in celebration of another, despite local opposition.
       The exhibition is in addition to the permanent MG exhibit in the museum, which includes an MGB Roadster. This blog shows how they got it in to County Hall (the Berkshire one, not the Oxfordshire one) by “posting it through a first floor window”, arriving “after a close shave with a chandelier”. Here's the video:

• A rare book inscribed by Martin Luther King Jr and donated to an Oxfam bookshop in Thame has sold for £2,560 at auction. A volunteer noticed the book's distinctive dust jacket, and found the handwritten inscription beneath the cover. An Oxfam spokesperson added that the sale highlights the extraordinary finds that can pass through charity shops every day. The Thame shop hopes the story will inspire more people to donate their pre-loved books – and to take a closer look when browsing.
• Also in antiquarian book news, a rare volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s poetry, believed to be only one of three copies in private ownership, is up for sale by a Wallingford book dealer. ‘Songs for the Philologists’ was printed by students at UCL but hastily withdrawn when their tutor realised Tolkien had not given permission. The 13 poems were written by Tolkien at Leeds University in the early 1920s. The last copy to come to market was in 2014. The asking price is £65,000.
• The winners of the County Council Library Service’s Short Story Competition this year include an 11 year old's story about an unexpected adventure while shopping for ice cream. You can read the winning stories on the libraries’ Overdrive page and the Libby app. The Oxfordshire Libraries Libby app and Overdrive page also allow library members to borrow a whole host of fiction and non-fiction ebooks and audiobooks; joining is free.
• Plans for a waste burning facility at a commercial refuse tip near Hook Norton have been recommended for refusal by Oxfordshire County Council. Officers said that the applicants hadn’t demonstrated that the waste could not be recycled instead. Although the plans were presented as an “energy from waste” scheme, no National Grid connection was included, so energy could not leave the site – although several local businesses had expressed interest. A decision will be made at a meeting on Monday.
• Campaign group Friends of Stratfield Brake have launched their expected judicial review proceedings against the planning permission for Oxford United’s new stadium, citing queries around ancient woodland and traffic management on match days. An FoSB spokesperson said: “We have made our concerns clear at every stage. Those concerns have not been addressed, leaving us with no option but to bring this judicial review. We believe the impacts of this development on the adjacent woodland and transport have not been properly considered.” The group is being represented by activist law firm Leigh Day. Other recent judicial review cases in Oxford have included bids to halt the congestion charge and the Oxpens pedestrian/cycle bridge, both of which failed.
• 85 more police officers and PCSOs in the Thames Valley have been recruited in a year, new figures show, part of a 3,000 strong increase nationwide. Banbury MP Sean Woodcock welcomed it: “People want to see more neighbourhood policing – and that’s exactly what Labour is delivering. Change has begun.” However PCC Matthew Barber labelled government claims 'misleading at best': "Thames Valley Police have managed to increase neighbourhood police numbers – in spite of, not because of the Home Office. Unfortunately the rhetoric from the Home Office is not matched by a real commitment. In year, the Government have said that Thames Valley must put another 53 police officers into neighbourhood roles; but have provided funding for just 24! The rest either has to come from cuts elsewhere in policing or officers being moved to different roles and not adding to the total number." Crime and Policing Minister, Sarah Jones, said: “Neighbourhood policing was hollowed out under the previous government. We’re delivering the biggest reforms to policing in over 200 years. The government will halve knife crime within a decade, saving lives and protecting communities.”
• A new developer has been appointed to deliver the long-awaited GP surgery in Didcot's Great Western Park. MP Olly Glover welcomed the announcement. "Residents have waited far too long. My constituents deserve primary care that keeps up with housing growth, and I will continue to press for this”. (Ongoing saga, for the interested.)

Walking, cycling and boating

• A safe cycle route from East Challow to Grove, avoiding the busy A417, will be built this summer. An all-weather gravel surface will be laid on the towpath of the Wilts & Berks Canal. The canal was closed in 1914 and is currently under restoration by a volunteer group. Local campaign group Wantage & Grove Active Travel reports: “This involves the construction of a stone path with a self-binding gravel surface to give a useable year-round route. The surfacing works are hopefully going to take place in August/September to fit around harvest.” The canal path will be rebuilt as far as Stockham Farm. Residential roads continue to Denchworth Road, where a segregated cycle path completes the journey to Grove. Oxfordshire County Council published a cycling and walking plan for the area last year.
• A £6m scheme to improve walking and cycling in East Oxford has gone out to tender. Oxfordshire County Council says the East Oxford Active Neighbourhoods project will include zebra crossings, segregated cycleways, better crossings, and tree-planting for LTNs in areas including Cowley and Littlemore. OCC aims for the scheme to connect neighbourhoods that are divided by a busy main road; fill “missing links” in existing cycle and walking infrastructure; calm traffic; and improve the public realm on streets and cycleways. The £6m cost will be partly met by developer funding.
• Rewley Road swing bridge, which once carried the LNWR railway from Bicester to Oxford’s “other” station, is set to swing again. Greenford, contractors for the Oxford Preservation Trust, have begun work repairing the sliding mechanisms, the last part of a painstaking rebuild. The bridge crosses the Sheepwash Channel, a Thames backwater which gives access from the Oxford Canal. It was swung so that boats could pass until the 1980s; restoration has been underway since 2020. Rewley Road railway station itself was moved to Quainton, Buckinghamshire in advance of the construction of the Saïd Business School which now stands on its site.
• Whatever floats your boat: The Environment Agency is continuing to clear the Thames of abandoned boats. In these images, submitted by a Clarion correspondent, a crew including a diver is refloating a sunken boat this morning (zoom in for the inquisitive duck).

This weekend

• DJ-on-a-bike Dom Whiting will return to Oxford on Sunday at 2pm, with the ride leaving from Broad Street. The popular rides can also be walked, skated or rollerbladed.
• And in a coincidence of timing that raises a very Oxford possibility of a Trunkles/Inner City Life mashup, the city streets are set to be filled with dance and music as this weekend also sees the annual Oxford Folk Festival. Volunteer-run, the event includes Morris dancing, ceilidhs (including a family/ SEN ceilidh) and live music. Headliners include Ellie Gowers. Details and tickets.
• Oxford Shorts, Fri-Sun, St John's College. Free festival of 90 short films in 3 days.
• Find Your People Summer Kickoff, Sat, Manzil Way Gardens. IRL Oxford marks its birthday (and its founder's) with a free festival on Cowley Road.
• A Taste of Spring, Sun, Banbury Market Place. Food festival with 'artisan jams', both literally and musically.

This week

• Try Me For Treason: Voices Against Putin's War, Wed, Clerici Learning Studio, Oxford Brookes. Readings of speeches from Russian activists tried for sabotage as a protest against the invasion of Ukraine.
• Climate Change, Net Zero, What Next? (£), Wed. The physicist behind Net Zero, Oxford's Myles Allen, asks what happens when other crises divert attention from climate change.
• Absurdities (£), Wed-Sat, Wolvercote Village Hall. Double bill of 'absurd comedy': Suppressed Desires (1914) and Epidemic (1898).
• New Labour, New Britain?, Thu, Oxford Brookes University. An expert panel including Anneliese Dodds MP, historian Glen O’Hara, and No 10 alumnus Patrick Diamond ask “what can we learn from the Blair governments, and are there any lessons that are still relevant for Keir Starmer today?”
• Community Garden Planting Day, Fri, Donnington Doorstep. Plant the seeds, literally, of a new community food garden.

Dates for your diary

Our pick of upcoming events that look likely to get booked up.

• The Lord of the Rings (£), Sat 25 Apr, Ultimate Picture Palace. Fourteen hours of fantasy adventure (each film showing in its extended edition, natch).
• May Morning at St Hilda's (£), Fri 1 May. Breakfast, coffee, and a view across the Cherwell to Magdalen Tower.
• Sherlock Holmes and the Creatures of Oxford, Sat 2 May, Schwarzman Centre. Before dark academia, there was Sherlock Holmes; but was he an Oxford man?
• Islip Big Bike Ride (£), Sun 3 May. Fundraising for the local church and school with a sponsored ride from Westminster Abbey (shorter rides are available).
• Badger Watch, 6/7 May, Wytham Woods. Stay still and silent, spot the stripes. Age 8+.
• From Chawton (£), Sat 9 May (matinee/evening), Painted Room. Jane Austen and her characters recreated in a Tudor room on Cornmarket.
• Sing-Along-a-Wicker-Man (£), Fri 15 May, Florence Park Community Centre. Folk horror goes Rocky Horror.
• Postmodern Jukebox (£), Wed 20 May, New Theatre. Popular music in period style(s).
• The Otmoor Challenge (£), Sat 30 May. Circular walk or half marathon across what is euphemistically described as 'mixed terrain'.

Oxfordshire’s independent media

• Oxfordshire Music Scene interviews queercore post-punks Top Shortage and deadpan techno teasers No Worries If Not.
• The Oxford Sausage goes in search of spectacular snakesheads in Magdalen College.
• Ox in a Box visits the most authentic Vietnamese cafe in Oxfordshire, Cay Khe in Abingdon.
• Daily Info reviews Bridget Christie at the New Theatre: “It takes a supremely talented comedian to pack the biggest theatres in the land for months with what is effectively a feature-length monologue on the menopause.”
• Makespace Oxfordshire have a second season of their podcast Glimpses of a Possible Future, starting with YWMP and the UPP.
• The Witney Gitzette reports that Kanye West is to headline the Witney Music Festival: “We’re hoping he tones it down once he sees the bouncy castle.”
• The Banburian hits back against a Telegraph article which says that Banbury “has taken a serious nosedive since the pandemic”. We read it and wanted to stand up and cheer. This is civic pride. #BeMoreBanbury (and visit its food festival this weekend)

Books

We're just going to leave these bookish events here...

• Wantage Children's Books Festival (£), Sat 30 May, Wantage Beacon. New spinoff from Wantage Literary Festival. Free, booking required (and quick!)
• Jan Morris: A Life (£), Wed, Blackwell's. Sara Wheeler's new biography of the Christ Church-educated journalist and travel writer.

Charity begins at home

• Good news from Oxford Mutual Aid! Their emergency crowdfunder, which we reported on last week, has covered the needed repair costs. They say any additional money donated will allow them “to reopen at full force and ensure we can cover the additional costs of recovering from this closure”. Read more about Oxford Mutual Aid and Oxford's hidden food emergency in our guest article here.

Notes from Clarion HQ

The editor with the red pen is away in the land of no wifi this week, so the writers are running the show. We threatened to write entirely in Comic Sans, but thought that might be a step too far. Still, if you've received it, we've managed to put it out, which is a good start.

The Easter ‘break’ meant we got some research done, so hang on for some cracking long reads we've got in the pipeline. And of course, election season is underway, so watch for an incoming long read on the key issues. You can help with this. We need to see your leaflets! Are parties promising the same thing in different areas? Are they campaigning on things the city/district councils can actually deliver? Are they changing their messaging as 'feedback on the doorstep' starts to bite? We'll write it if you send us your leaflets: news@oxfordclarion.uk. See you next week.