Clarion Weekend, 26 June 2026

We have many fans. Not as in “happy Clarion readers”, but as in the array of air-circulating devices currently pointed at the editors’ desks. In today’s edition: County Council 1, flaggers 0; quiet lanes; forever chemicals and beer (hopefully not in the same glass). Plus some cracking events and 4,554 origami frogs. Pour a cold drink and enjoy.

This week’s top stories

Four Raise the Colours agitators have given an undertaking to the High Court not to put up flags in Oxfordshire or to encourage others. A hearing took place on Tuesday after Oxfordshire County Council applied for an injunction against Ryan Bridge, Ben Cullen, Trudy Wells and Kevin Good.

OCC leader Tim Bearder said: “We’re pleased with the result. This is not, and never has been, about the flag: Raise the Colours have caused fear within our communities for almost a year. Today’s decision by the court provides clarity and protects communities.”

In March, the Clarion reported on the criminal backgrounds of several Raise the Colours agitators, and the intimidation that their supporters directed towards an Oxford councillor – behaviour that was cited in OCC’s application to the High Court. As well as the four named individuals, the court order also applies to any “persons unknown” following the publicising of the injunction. Legal commentator David Allen Green explained how the injunction worked, saying that Oxfordshire’s lead “could be done, in principle, by any other local authority”.

Nine Oxfordshire parish councils have applied for ‘quiet lanes’, where a road is closed to through motor traffic to improve safety for residents, walkers and cyclists. Each one will go through an initial assessment and design phase and then, if selected, be trialled for 6–18 months.

The applications include narrow lanes around Kennington, Sunningwell and Radley, where the new Lodge Hill A34 junction will provide an alternative route; a lane into the Chilterns from Goring, parallel to the B4526; part of the National Cycle Network in Fawler, near Charlbury; and two roads in Blackthorn near Bicester, where a child died in a road traffic collision. However, parish councillors in Brize Norton have not applied for their road linking Carterton to Witney, parallel to the A40, where a cyclist was killed in 2024.

Oxfordshire’s quiet lanes policy keeps roads open to cars from either end but prevents through traffic, after Department for Transport research found that signage-only schemes have “little to no influence”. A full list of candidate lanes is on the OCC website.

A fire-fighting practice area has come under suspicion in investigations to find the source of “forever chemicals” (PFAS) at Heyford Park in North Oxfordshire. Fire-fighting foams were used at the former airbase, including an “Adjacent Fire Practice Pond” which emptied into storm-water drainage.

Recently, the Gallos Brook stream at the site was found to have the UK’s highest concentration of PFAS. No PFAS testing was carried out before the RAF disposed of the site in the mid-1990s; since then, extensive house-building has taken place, and a new town with a further 9,000 homes is proposed.

Documents supplied by the Ministry of Defence to local MP Calum Miller concede that the site was known to represent a “potentially serious risk to the environment”, but that rather than remove contaminated soil, the MoD decided simply to “provide information to potential developers”.

Miller has called for targeted testing to identify the source of PFAS, and “a coordinated response” to involve the Environment Agency, the MoD and the UK Health Security Agency. He called an April public meeting “an urgent wake-up call… I was shocked by what I heard”. Cherwell District Council has stressed “there is no evidence to suggest an immediate risk to the health of residents”, but says it will “take a precautionary and evidence-led approach” when judging future planning applications for Heyford Park.

Around the city

• The Radcliffe Observatory is currently under wraps while restoration work takes place. The wrapping shows a beautiful building – the Radcliffe Observatory. The building joins a small but select list of in-process Oxford buildings disguised as themselves, also including the Eagle and Child pub on St Giles. The 18th-century Radcliffe Observatory is being restored with a £3m gift from American businessman Stephen Schwarzman. The observatory now forms part of Green Templeton College on Woodstock Road, and faces the humanities centre named after Schwarzman.
• 31 affordable houses, to be built on the Bertie Place recreation ground off Abingdon Road, have been given planning permission at this week’s Oxford City Council planning meeting. Local residents had organised a ‘Save Bertie Park’ campaign, arguing that the replacement play area is insufficient.
       22 of the homes will be council houses, plus 9 shared ownership – all low-carbon and car-free. The City Council says the site has been earmarked for housing since 2013, and that a replacement multi-user games area and “new modern play area” will be provided.
       The Save Bertie Park campaign counters that “housing does not outweigh the need for a recreation ground”. They say the park is well used by local children – “it is often the first place that children are allowed to go on their own” – and that the replacement is insufficient.
• Honey's of the High has retained its 'Newsagent of the Year' title, also winning Home News Delivery Retailer of the year. Co-owner Kinnari Patel said "It is all about, and for, our community. We have been doing this for 13 years now and we love what we do."

• The Oxford Climate Choir, chorally, called on members of the Church of England’s General Synod to support a landmark motion to protect and restore nature on Church-owned land. The performances inside the University Church and outside Christ Church Cathedral come ahead of July's General Synod meeting.
       A Private Members’ Motion submitted by the Revd Canon Val Plumb, an Honorary Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, calls on the CofE to support the restoration of nature on 30% of its land by 2030, in line with the international “30x30” target and “the scale and urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises”. The CofE is one of the UK’s largest landowners, managing over 100,000 acres.
• The Ultimate Picture Palace is celebrating its 30th birthday with an unusual competition: the best idea to use the cinema for anything except watching films gets to use it for free. Organisers say “everything from hip hop for toddlers, to lectures on quantum gravity, is welcome”. It already has a packed summer programme of films, including the final cut of Blade Runner, the very first film shown at the UPP; later this month, a live stand-up comedy introduction to Legally Blonde; and pizza from the nearby Il Principe to accompany Goodfellas.
• Former Arsenal midfielder and Wales international, Aaron Ramsey, has been appointed as the new manager of Oxford United. He said: “I want a squad that fights for the badge until the end, and one that makes our supporters proud.”
• Eight people have been charged with Class A drug offences in Oxford after a 150-officer swoop this week. The suspects range in age from 20 to 58 and are all resident in Oxfordshire.
• Oxford's long-running open mic night The Catweazle Club has closed after three decades. Named after a wizard from a 1970s TV show, Catweazle was an intimate space for music and poetry, but struggled as Oxford venues closed. Founder Matt Sage has posted a eulogy.
• On a more positive note, the next special exhibition at the Museum of Oxford pays homage to the vibrant grassroots music scene that flourished in Oxford in the 90s. Sounds of the City kicks off on 11 July. Until 4 July, the special exhibition is about the journey of the Oxford Hindu Temple, bringing together photos, personal stories and objects to tell the story of how a former football club's changing rooms changed into a community space open to all. We wrote about the formal opening of Oxford's first Hindu temple earlier this week.
• First-rate beer and secondhand books will come together today when Curio bookshop begins a series of weekly pop-ups at the Lamb & Flag. The bookshop is temporarily 'on hiatus' while its usual home, Common Ground on Little Clarendon Street, changes management.
• East Oxford is to get its first Climate Cafe, this Sunday at East Oxford Community Centre at 1.30pm – “a chance to share feelings about the climate crisis and build resilience”. We found out more about Climate Cafes in a long read last September.
• Heatwave escapes for Mini Clarions: Oxford City Council have announced extended opening hours for Cutteslowe and Hinksey Splash Parks - now from 10.30am until 8pm. (Our article on other cool spaces is a very live document right now.)

Around the county

• Speed limits on Oxfordshire A and B roads could change as a county-wide review gets underway. On roads where risks have been identified, the speed limit could be lowered to 50mph or 40mph as part of Oxfordshire County Council’s ‘Vision Zero’ policy which seeks to eliminate deaths and serious injuries. Lower limits have already been approved on several sections of road with a record of collisions, such as the A4260 between Oxford and Banbury and the A40 at Barnard Gate near Eynsham. Around 60 more schemes will be brought forward over the next year as part of a “data-led reassessment of safety”. Cabinet member for transport, Cllr Gareth Epps, said: “Oxfordshire’s last major A and B road speed limit review was carried out 15 years ago. While Oxfordshire is seeing significant improvements in road safety according to recent provisional government data, we are far from complacent.”
• The Government has announced plans to house asylum seekers in “basic accommodation” at MOD Bicester – 21 years after a previous scheme was cancelled for not being value for money. The barracks would replace hotel accommodation, including the former Four Pillars Hotel in Witney.
       In June 2005, plans to use Bicester as an “asylum accommodation centre” were scrapped following widespread local opposition, rising costs and a fall in the number of asylum seekers. The latest announcement envisages that MOD Bicester Site A, between Arncott and Piddington, would become one of three new camps, together housing 3,750 people.
       PCC Matthew Barber said he had “significant concerns about community impact” and called for extra police resources to manage protests. Local MP Calum Miller said the plans were a “real worry and concern” and that he was urgently seeking answers from the Home Office. Cherwell District Council leader Lesley McLean said: “It’s astounding that proposals of this scale are being brought forward without communication.”
       LibDem Cllr Laura Gordon, whose Kidlington North & Otmoor area includes the site, added: “This is a dreadful scheme – the Government should focus on processing claims quickly, not spend millions keeping people in barracks accommodation in rural areas with nothing to do. The impact of this and the inevitable protests will be disastrous for the village.”
• A controversial motocross park at Wroxton, just west of Banbury, could face new planning controls – but not immediately. The track currently operates without planning permission as a “temporary use”, but locals say there has been a “cynical upgrade over time into an international motocross venue”. Cherwell District Council’s cabinet voted for “a non-immediate Article 4 direction”. Such a direction would remove the permitted development rights under which the track operates. The council envisages that this would not lead to a complete ban, but to more oversight of larger events. Deputy leader Cllr Chris Brant said “I know some residents will be disappointed that these new planning controls won’t start straightaway, and I understand those frustrations. But we are committing further resources to strengthen the evidence base so we can take robust, defensible action in future.”
• Oxfordshire County Council has approved a £306,200 grant to support 127 community action groups, including £100,000 for work including the Heat Safe Homes project. Member groups host tool libraries, run repair cafés, and help residents grow and cook zero-waste food, amongst a very long list.
• Fly-tip crackdown: West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) have issued 17 Fixed Penalty Notices for fly-tipping and littering offences this year, plus 11 more for abandoned vehicles. Their crackdown on fly-tipping also includes targeted CCTV, a new Environmental Crime Officer, and work with police. Cllr Alistair Wray from WODC said: “We know that fly-tipping and environmental crime can be frustrating for residents and can have a real impact on local communities. That's why we are taking a proactive approach, using new technology and targeted enforcement to prevent offences before they happen.”

• 170 new houses are proposed for the eastern edge of Benson in South Oxfordshire. Developers Elivia Homes are planning 40% affordable houses, with the main route through the site connecting to “a network of short streets including characterful shared-surface spaces that give priority to pedestrians”. Previous applications were refused in 2017 and 2023. The site is not in the Local Plan, but the developers say that South Oxfordshire District Council cannot currently guarantee five years of housing supply, which gives them an out from this consideration. A planning application is with SODC.
       The application is the first one we have seen with a Roman snail survey: “During the two survey visits, no Roman snails were observed within the site boundary. However, up to two (sic) Roman snails were observed from a public footpath on the adjacent land within 20m of the northern boundary.”
• The North Star in Steventon, one of only two Oxfordshire pubs to be rated as a three-star heritage interior by CAMRA, has reopened after restoration works that began in late 2025. The building is renowned for its low ceilings and for having a serving hatch in place of a bar.
       Steventon is 4 miles south of Abingdon and 4 miles west of Didcot. The Great Western main line railway runs through the village, and the North Star was the first ever GWR locomotive. Oxfordshire’s other three-star heritage pub is the Peyton Arms at Stoke Lyne, near Bicester.
• More beer news: North Oxfordshire independent brewers Hook Norton Brewery have joined forces with London-based craft brewery Five Points Brewing Co to create a new limited cask ale “celebrating modern British brewing rooted in tradition”. Points of Brew, a 3.8% Light Copper Ale is described as a “modern interpretation of a traditional English ale: soft, layered, balanced and highly drinkable.” Thirsty?
• Oxford University Libraries and Museums are encouraging Oxfordshire cultural venues to join a nationwide 'Cool Off in Culture' campaign, due to launch later this month. The campaign highlights cultural venues as spaces where people can take refuge and enjoy culture during periods of extreme heat. Interested venues should sign up here.
       Jon Ray, for Oxford University, said: “Adapting to a changing climate is becoming increasingly critical. This campaign is a great opportunity for cultural venues, where they can, to provide spaces for people to escape extreme heat.” The Pitt Rivers, Ashmolean and Weston Library are already signed up. We wrote about cool spaces in a recent article. Thank you to those of you writing in to suggest more – we are updating it as we receive more information. #WeAreAllTheClarion

• Wednesday evening saw the Rose Ceremony at Earth Trust Centre at Wittenham Clumps. Ted Fenton, Chair of Oxfordshire County Council presented a rose to the Trust as a token payment for public access to the Trust's green spaces, the largest available to the public in Oxfordshire.
       Alison Rooke, the King’s Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, said that Earth Trust exemplified the King's priorities of climate and community. Martin Reeves, CEO of OCC, talked about how important enabling public access for everyone in Oxfordshire is. Finally, Ian Barrett outlined planned developments at Earth Trust, including better access by car or cycle, an improved visitor centre with a new cafe, an adventure playscape and new walks. We wrote about the Rose Ceremony, the Earth Trust, and the Trust's incredible founders, in a long read last year.

• The Diocese of Oxford and Christ Church Cathedral have marked Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month with a series of events celebrating heritage, building understanding and strengthening relationships with local communities. Centred around the theme Onward with Hope, the programme included a special service at Christ Church Cathedral and community events in local churches, creating opportunities to celebrate Gypsy, Roma and Traveller culture while reflecting on the discrimination these communities experience. Hannah Ling, for the diocese, said: “The families spoke warmly of the experience, noting that they had never before attended a church or school event celebrating Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritage. Hosting the event in such a historic and sacred setting felt both powerful and affirming.”
• Would that it were closer: Oxfordshire-adjacent but we'll allow it, because it might be useful to some. A spectacular new adventure playground funded by the Rothschild Foundation is to open at Waddesdon Manor on 1 August. Wild Wood Adventure Playground is "a unique series of exciting features crafted from wood" for ages 2 to 12. Entry is included with a grounds ticket or free to National Trust members. It is 37 minutes by car from Oxford; or the X20 bus will take you to Aylesbury, then change to the 17 bus to get to Waddesdon (c. 2 hours).

Charity begins at home

• Got a bike gathering dust? Asylum Welcome’s Magdalen Road office on Newtec Place is accepting donated bikes during office hours. Its Sanctuary Wheels project provides free refurbished bikes, helmets, lights and locks to people rebuilding their lives in Oxfordshire. Last year, they gave out 198 bikes.
       Project coordinator Mohamed Hage, himself a former asylum seeker, said: "A bicycle can make a huge difference in the life of a refugee or asylum seeker. It can help people get to college, attend appointments, volunteer, find work and become part of their community. One of the best parts of my job is seeing someone’s smile when they collect their bicycle and realise what it will mean for them.” Asylum Welcome rode in Bike Oxford last Sunday, raising funds for the work they do across Oxfordshire.
• A local resident has started a crowdfunder for Barry and Ping, the owners of the Goldfish Bowl on Oxford's Magdalen Road, as "a thank you from all the local little people who have spent time in the shop, transfixed by their aquatic beauties, and yet have never spent a penny". The shop announced its closure due to retirement earlier this week.

• If you've ever wanted to see 4,554 origami frogs in one place, here is Cutteslowe Primary School's recordbreaking display (pending confirmation from Guinness World Records). The children raised over £1,000 for Cancer Research UK and Oxfordshire Homeless Movement. The previous record of 3,542 origami frogs was set by the Japan Hospital Clown Association in 2019.

Walking and cycling

• Oxfordshire could become one of the first counties to ban pavement parking. Oxford residents are being asked if they would support “a local ban on footway parking”, and if they have encountered “issues with obstructive parking on the footway”. The question is one of several in a review of the city’s Controlled Parking Zones (aka residents’ parking). The CPZs are being reviewed to “ensure these zones remain effective and continue to benefit local communities”. Questionnaires have been now been published for the Florence Park, Cutteslowe and Headington West CPZs.
       Separately, a motion at next week’s Oxfordshire County Council meeting will propose that OCC supports an end to pavement parking, and that it introduces “a cost-neutral enforcement mechanism” to county streets. We tackled the subject in one of our first long reads.
• With thousands of new homes planned for Carterton, a new study is underway to plan walking and cycling improvements on Upavon Way, the town’s inner relief road. Oxfordshire County Council envisages it will identify schemes that can be funded by housing developers.
• Conservative councillors have called for a three-mile traffic-free cycle route to link Carterton and Witney. Cllr Thomas Ashby, their shadow cabinet member for highway repairs, said that a safe route alongside the B4477 should link to an upgraded bridleway through Peashell Farm, parallel to the A40 – “this effectively removes cyclists from traffic entirely”. The Clarion understands that a bridleway upgrade is in fact already planned, but that as yet no funding has been secured for the B4477 path: the shadow cabinets can put forward budget proposals every February.

This weekend

• Voices of Light (£), Fri, University Church. Dvořák, Parry, Pärt: sacred choral music from local ensemble Opus 48.
• Ára (£), from Fri, Schwarzman Centre. Installation of sound, light, and scent developed by Icelandic post-rock ensemble Sigur Rós.
• Summertown Day Festival (£), Sat, Daunt Books. Six book talks and a one-man Sherlock Holmes story.
• Charlbury Beer Festival (£), Sat, Charlbury Cricket Club, right next to the railway station. Celebrating having served 100,000 pints since the first festival in 1998, and featuring the Aunt Sally World Championships.
• Fun and Music in the Park (free/£), Sat, Abingdon Abbey Gardens. Free family festival in the afternoon followed by ticketed tribute bands.
• Silver Band Summer Concert (£), Sat, St Mary & St John Church. Brass band favourites from the City of Oxford Silver Band.
• Sweet Bird (£), Sat, St Laurence's Church, Combe. Music in Country Churches present a concert of Georgian music featuring soloists from Instruments of Time & Truth, following the church fete.
• Oxford Nature Festival (free/£), Sat, Oxford Museum of Natural History and elsewhere. 36 events at the inaugural festival.
• Theodora (£), Sat, Holywell Music Room. Jericho Youth Opera bow out with a fully staged production of Handel's oratorio in the 18th-century Music Room.
• Titania (£), Sun, Old Fire Station. What happens when you wake from a midsummer night's dream? Bold new one-woman show.
• Choral Evensong (free), Sun, Christ Church Cathedral. Evensong takes place pretty much every day of the year, so we don’t usually list it. But we will make an exception for the Cathedral Choir’s last service of the academic year simply because the anthem, James MacMillan’s ‘O give thanks unto the Lord’, is an absolute banger.

This week

• Grains of ... Sound (£), Mon, Jacqueline du Pré Music Building. Sand art created live to accompany Pictures at an Exhibition.
• White Bouquet / Kids and Art for Ukraine (free), from Wed, St John's College. Abstract paintings by National Legend of Ukraine Oleksandr Dubovyk, with contemporary art by Ukrainian children.
• A Celebration of Swifts (£), Fri, Weston Library (or online). Lunchtime talk to mark National Swift Awareness Week.

Oxfordshire’s independent media

• Abingdon councillor Nathan Ley writes that “Oxfordshire probably isn’t getting an elected mayor”, in an article which would be really good if only it had more photos of cheese.
• Byline Times says that Oxford’s student debating society has a far-right problem “much deeper than Tommy Robinson”, in what Oxford Student editor Guilherme Lopes calls “a culture of chasing shock value and clicks”. The sharpest take you’ll read on the ‘Robinson’ episode. Meanwhile, Middle East Eye reports from inside the debate.
• Abingdon Blog is on the trail of Dave the lost duck.
• The Oxford Sausage looks at benches and who sits on them.
• Oxford Lives, a monthly interview podcast which unaccountably we haven’t featured before, talks to Tony Morris of the wonderful Morris Oxford.
• Daily Info reviews the end-of-year show at the Ruskin School of Art.
• Ox in a Box announces the shortlist for its annual food awards.
• A review of Stolen Fragments, the story of how ancient manuscripts from Oxford's Sackler Library turned up in Washington's Museum of the Bible.
• #BeMoreBanbury: Banbury Old Town Indies encourage you to eat ice-cream.

Notes from Clarion HQ

Stick a fork in us, we're done. Keep calm, drink water and share the Clarion. We're off to stick our head in a freezer. See you next week.