Clarion Weekend, 7 November 2025

It’s the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, not that there was much of the latter at OCC’s full council meeting this week. (Photo by Roger Close.)

Sometimes quantity means quality. We owe you all an explanation. Thanks to our growing list of amazing contributors, we have more content than we can fit into our weekly newsletter. Email clients cut it off around 4,100 words (thanks, Google!) and its length means it sometimes gets directed into the Junk folder.

What has this meant? Well, several things. Firstly, we are spending increasing amounts of time editing on a Thursday night/Friday morning, and frankly that’s unsustainable for our volunteer crew. But mainly, to hit a word count we’re editing out the style. The snark, the colour that we think made you like us in the first place. The extra details on what's coming up in council meetings. Cat pictures! The newsletter has become a dramatically abridged version of the tweets/bleats in the week, and we didn't start this to write listicles. Or to produce dry content.

So what does this mean? We asked for your views on two newsletters a week, and we listened hard. You were broadly split down the middle and we thank you for taking the time to respond.

We’re going to trial moving to two weekly newsletters. One on a Tuesday, which will have news and politics. (MP constituency days are Fridays, so by the time we report things a week later, the news can be stale.) And on Friday we’ll keep the news, but have more of an events focus, so you can plan your weekend around the fabulous things our county has to offer.

So here’s our first. We’ll see how it goes. Keep talking to us, and above all, keep sending us the news. We love hearing from you, we love a full inbox, and we love shining a light on the county. The light has dimmed of late, and we want to make it better.

This week’s top stories

Oxford is adjusting to life with a congestion charge. Some of you have written to us to ask for a shareable congestion charge explainer – so we wrote one. It’s not our usual style, but we thought a listicle was called for just this once. We hope it helps. Please do share it!

Buses are getting around the city faster as a result of the congestion charge, according to Oxford Bus Company. Their managing director Luke Marion said: “We’ve already seen encouraging improvements to traffic flow and bus journey times in the scheme’s first week.”

Real-time location data shows most city buses running to time, with long delays at St Clements eliminated. The traffic counter there has shown a consistent fall in car numbers since the charge came in last Wednesday, even now that half-term is over.

New bus timetables come into force on Sunday (for Oxford Bus Co) and 30 November (for Stagecoach), with faster schedules removing the waits at bus stops that some services currently need to keep to timetable. From December, Oxfordshire County Council plans to publish an online traffic “monitoring and evaluation dashboard” to monitor the effects of the charge.

Tuesday’s County Council meeting saw the defeat of a motion from the Conservatives to abolish the charge, despite Labour voting with them. With the LibDems and Greens firmly backing the charge, the vote was 22 for removing it, 36 against. We live-posted the meeting over on Bluesky.

Conservative leader Liam Walker, introducing the motion, said “It’s policy chaos and the public are paying the price.” His coalition partner David Henwood (IOA, Littlemore) said “Oxford has already exceeded Government targets for cleaner air, so what is the need for this new charge? Instead of taxing movement, the council should make buses cheaper and more reliable.” For Labour, leader Liz Brighouse said “I have never known anything as toxic as this. We need to do something about congestion but we need to look at people who do need to use their cars.”

The LibDems’ transport chief Andrew Gant responded: “The Tories have called for free Park & Rides before; here they are. Labour have called for better buses; here they are.” He characterised the opposition position as “‘We want less congestion, we want better public transport, but only if we don’t have to do anything about it.’” The Greens’ James Barlow remarked that “We took the X40 bus into Oxford this morning. Usually it’s quicker to get off and walk; today it took just 4.5 minutes from Redbridge to Folly Bridge.”

[Content warning: stillbirth]
Channel 4 is reporting allegations against the John Radcliffe Hospital maternity department, including that a baby declared stillborn was later found to be alive. They raised issues with a non-standard scanning pathway used by the Trust, and said a support group was covertly recorded.

Oxford University Hospitals is one of 12 trusts currently under a rapid maternity review ordered by the Health Secretary. In Prime Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Freddie van Mierlo, MP for Henley & Thame, raised the maternity review and demanded that it be the start of a sea change in maternity care, and not a whitewash.

Simon Crowther, OUH’s interim CEO, said: “We extend our heartfelt apologies to any family who has not received the care they deserve. We recognise the profound responsibility entrusted to us in caring for women, babies and families during the most significant and vulnerable moments of their lives. We recognise that there is much more to do, and the Trust is determined to go further.”

The remnant Bernwood Forest. (Steve Daniels at Geograph.org.uk, CC-BY-SA.)

A new National Forest is to be planted in the Oxford–Cambridge corridor, together with forest towns which “embed nature recovery into development with green spaces designed alongside new homes”. The Government this week announced £1bn to be shared between this and a forest in the Midlands or North.

The exact location is “subject to design work and discussion with partners”, but one candidate could be the historic Bernwood Forest – today reduced to woodlands by the M40 between Wheatley and Otmoor, once a vast area extending almost as far as Buckingham and Aylesbury. The Bernwood area encompasses much of the East–West railway from Bicester to Milton Keynes and its future connection to Aylesbury. Calvert, where the two lines join, has been repeatedly suggested as a rail-connected “garden city”.

Around the city

Oxford City Council has launched a consultation on its next Air Quality Action Plan. The plan sets a target for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) of 20µg/m³, building on reductions to beat the 30 µg/m³ target in almost all locations in the 2021-2025 Plan. The ‘20 by 30’ target is aligned to WHO and EU goals, and the fact that there is no safe level for air pollution. From 2019 to 2024, the number of monitoring sites above the City’s 30 µg/m³ target fell from 35 to just four: measures in the previous plan had included city-wide smoke control, bus electrification and LTNs. But though transport emissions have reduced the most, they are still larger than domestic or business emissions. The new plan proposes 30 actions including the trial traffic filters, Workplace Parking Levy, expansion of the Zero Emissions Zone, the Cowley Branch Line, improving foot and cycleways, ‘low-car’ developments, and further rail and bus improvements. Fossil fuel heating will not be permitted in new housing.
St Edward’s School on Woodstock Road is proposing to build a new sports centre, with access offered to local primary school and sports clubs. It says “the proposals have been developed in dialogue with nearly 30 local schools, charities and organisations”. The development, including new pitches and a cricket field, would replace a “little-used” golf course.
Thames Valley Police imposed a dispersal order last weekend when the Oxford United v Millwall match would have coincided with protests about asylum seekers at the nearby Holiday Inn. Organisers of the counter-protest called off their demonstration. TVP said “We are aware of recent tensions involving anti-asylum seeker protesters and residents of the Holiday Inn hotel. We want to be clear: any criminal activity will not be tolerated.”
Botley Road businesses Warlands Cycles, Spanner Works, and Osney Mead’s Jericho Coffee Traders have together launched a pop-up shop in Broad Street. The initiative, from Oxford City Council and Network Rail, is timed to take advantage of festive trade at the heart of Oxford's Christmas festivities. The launch of the pop-up shop coincided with the council’s Go Electric Oxford City event, giving Warlands Cycles and Spanner Works a chance to showcase their electric vehicle offer. Cllr Chewe Munkonge, the council’s small business champion, said: “The pop-up shop shows how we can bring energy and innovation into the city centre while supporting our local businesses. This space will help them connect with new customers, showcase their products, and be part of Oxford’s festive buzz.” A wider strategy to activate vacant city centre units also includes temporary shops, artwork, and charity displays to maintain a vibrant streetscape during letting and refurbishment periods.
The first tenant has been announced at Oxford North, the city’s new “global innovation district”. Law firm Mishcon de Reya's team operating in the fields of life sciences, healthcare, space, defence, AI, blockchain, quantum and more will relocate. Partner Nicola McConville said: “Together with our offices in London and Cambridge, we are well positioned within the Golden Triangle of innovation excellence.” (Our Bluesky post on this one inspired this “once seen, never unseen” image by Holy Bollards.)

Oxford’s Castle Quarter is up for sale. Property firms LandSec and the Crown Estate, who own the site as part of their Westgate partnership, have put it on the market for £31m. The site includes the Malmaison hotel, restaurants and bars.
New staff accommodation at the John Radcliffe is a step closer to completion as a topping-out ceremony marks completion of the roof on units on Ivy Lane. The intention is to offer new staff high-quality homes at rents more affordable than Oxfordshire’s private market. For Oxford University Hospitals, Terry Roberts said: “Providing Trust staff with good quality, low rental housing within walking distance of our Oxford hospitals is so important. We know how vital good housing is for attracting and retaining the people who deliver outstanding care every day.”
Oxford City Council has announced the Oxford Living Wage will increase to £14.06 from April 2026. OLW was launched in 2018 to help workers earn enough to meet the city's living costs. It is reviewed annually and set at 95% of the London Living Wage. Over 175 organisations are signed up. Cllr Chewe Munkonge said: “I encourage all our current employers to commit to paying their staff at least the OLW, and help to make Oxford a better and fairer place to live and work.”

Tap Social lands in Milton Park next year (via Tap Social Instagram). Bicester campaigns for an underpass.

Around the county

Over 100 Bicester businesses have signed a joint letter to the Treasury urging ministers to back an underpass at the London Road rail crossing. They say a footbridge-only crossing would “paralyse” the town and “threaten local jobs”, pushing traffic onto already congested routes and driving people away from shops. Calum Miller MP, who has long campaigned on this issue, said: “Volunteers have driven this campaign, showing the strength and pride that runs through our town. The Treasury must back the underpass that serves everyone, not a bridge that splits Bicester in two.”
The RSPB’s Otmoor reserve is to get a 21-hectare extension, funded by developers. A former agricultural site will be transformed into a floodplain grazing marsh, with wetland features such as scrapes and footdrains. A “habitat bank” is a way of providing habitat creation off-site when developers are unable to achieve this at the development site itself: under new Government planning rules, developers must enhance biodiversity by 10% when building new homes, but commitments from multiple sites can be brought together in one, larger habitat bank. James Robinson, for the RSPB, said: “Otmoor is one of the largest inland wetlands in the country, providing a crucial habitat for lapwings, redshanks, and curlews.” Cllr Jean Conway from Cherwell District Council said: “We are proud to be acting swiftly on new biodiversity legislation.”
A second habitat bank is to be created at a farm in Bloxham. Brian and Louise Pile, landowners at Ells Farm, said: “As a family who have farmed for generations, we are incredibly proud to be creating a habitat bank. For us, this isn’t just about diversification, it’s about looking after the land we love and securing its future for our children and grandchildren.”
Social enterprise Tap Social is to open its fifth venue in early 2026 at Milton Park. ‘Day Release’ will be a cafe and taproom offering their Criminally Good Beer, artisan coffee, sourdough, and pastries. It’ll also be home to a new Brew School which will host hands-on brewing sessions. Tap Social is a social enterprise that brews, bakes, and creates inclusive community hospitality venues to help turn lives around for prisoners and prison leavers through direct employment and advocacy.
Cumnor Parish Council is fundraising to buy Cumnor Hurst, after All Souls announced the end of its lease to the Parish Council, who worry that a sale on the open market could mean loss of access to the Site of Special Scientific Interest. Little Oxplorers call this the woodland of dreams: “A beautiful 17 acre community woodland nestled on top of a hill. A paradise for children with rope swings, dens, epic trees to climb and mini cows!” It is currently managed by the Cumnor Conservation Group.
Following months of focus on domestic abuse, Thames Valley Police have announced 50 arrests of high-risk suspects, alongside victim support and a program of community engagement. Five suspects have been charged so far. Chief Constable Olly Wright said: “We are proud of the work to tackle domestic abuse with a variety of activities completed to fight crime and support victims. We want victims to know they’re not alone, we’re here to support them and will do everything we can to bring those responsible to justice.”

Markus in the Rhino House with Head Keeper Mark (photo by Philip Joyce via Cotswold Wildlife Park)

A baby rhino, Markus, has been born at Cotswold Wildlife Park just outside Burford – the only white rhino birth in the UK this year. Head keeper Mark Goodwin said “He’s one of the most confident calves I’ve seen… if he grows into his features, he will be a big lad.” Cotswold Wildlife Park now has eight rhinos, the largest number at any time in its 55-year history. Markus has been named after the late Dr Markus Borner, who had a crucial impact on rhino preservation programmes in Tanzania.
Tona Erreguin, of Imma the Bakery in Stoke Row, has won Baker of the Year at the Baking Industry Awards. Mexican-born Tona named her bakery Imma, which means ‘mother’ in Hebrew, to evoke memories of a mother’s kitchen. (Imma let you finish, but this is the best bread of all time. Of all time!)
Oxfordshire County Council has announced a new way to prioritise pothole repairs. Locations are chosen based on volume of reports to the Fix My Street portal and engagement with town and parish councils, before sending in Highways Asset Response Teams (HARTs). In the first 10 weeks of the programme the teams cleared vegetation from 313 sites, cleaned 213 signs, removed 63 illegal signs or posters, repaired 128 potholes, fixed 17 footpaths and completed 87 other tasks such as cone removal, general tidying up, and installing barriers. The HARTs have also been clearing waterbrooks, and, well, we couldn’t not.
Minchery Farmhouse in Littlemore, Banbury’s Unicorn Hotel, Wallingford Castle’s motte, and the church of St Thomas the Martyr near Oxford station remain on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk list, published this week. The list identifies listed buildings which are decaying or at serious risk. The 17th century Minchery Farmhouse near the Kassam Stadium was built from the earlier Littlemore Priory; in recent years it became the Priory pub, derelict since 2013. Restoration is proposed as part of the Ozone Reimagined redevelopment but Oxford Preservation Trust has expressed concerns. The Unicorn in Banbury has been disused for 13 years; it was proposed for conversion to flats in 2016, but work has ceased. Cherwell District Council inspectors in 2024 said the former pub was “structurally sound and watertight”. The 1960s Church of the Holy Family in Blackbird Leys (closed in 2018) remains on the list for now, but demolition was recently agreed after the roof was said to be beyond economic repair. The full Heritage at Risk list can be browsed via an online map.

Artists’ impression of the proposed artwork in Didcot.

Walking and cycling

A light artwork is proposed for the dank Cow Lane underpass under the railway close to Didcot Parkway station. ‘Routes’, by Ben Carlin and Helen Brook, will comprise six animated panels that react to pedestrian movement. The motion will not be triggered by vehicles, and highways officers say they are satisfied no distraction will be caused. Small circular artwork discs will also be installed on the wing walls of the tunnel. South Oxfordshire District Council is putting the plan forward for approval.
A new cycleway has opened as part of Oxford North’s Canalside housing development. The path links the A40 to National Cycle Route 5 and the canal towpath, so you can now cycle from Eynsham to Oxford avoiding Wolvercote Roundabout. Oxford’s assiduous OpenStreetMap volunteers have already charted it.

Books

Our new section featuring authors from, or books about the county. No affiliate links; support your local bookshop!

The 2025 Oxford Indie Book Fair takes place on 23 November with 160 exhibitors from small publishers to poets. Talks include Oxford Brookes Chancellor Paterson Joseph on his book Children who Changed the World and celebrated Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov. (We love his book Grey Bees and have not seen honey, or Donetsk, in the same way since.)
New Tolkien! The Bovadium Fragments is a satirical fantasy which grew out of a planning controversy in Oxford in the 1940s, when J.R.R. Tolkien was the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature. It expresses a barbed cri de coeur against the inexorable rise of motor transport and “machine worship” that was overwhelming the tranquillity of his beloved city. Sounds familiar? Cllr Emma Garnett (Green, Parks) actually read out an excerpt in this week’s County Council meeting. (Echoes of the time Duncan Enright declaimed The Motor Bus…)
56 Abingdon artists have together published Our Town in Pictures, capturing the town in watercolour, oil, acrylic, collage and graphite.
Mini Clarion favourite Donut Squad Take Over The World!, by Oxford’s Neill Cameron, has been shortlisted for both Waterstones’ and Blackwells’ Book of the Year. The bagels are reported to be apoplectic.
Il Corno Neapolitan Book Club, Thursdays at 6pm. A book club, dedicated to fiction about Naples, in the Covered Market, with pastries and wine. What are you waiting for?

This weekend

Re-evaluating Margaret Thatcher, Fri 7 Nov, St Barnabas Church. Tour of Thatcher's haunts in Jericho followed by a talk by radio commentator Iain Dale.
Oxford Round Table Fireworks, Sat 8 Nov, South Park. The annual display returns with a new low-noise display and silent disco. Tickets in advance or at the gate.
Ogrepalooza, Sat 8 Nov, O2 Academy. With the Ogretones, apparently the UK's number one Shrek tribute band. No under-18s.
Enchanted After Hours, Sat 8 Nov, Story Museum. An evening of fairytales for grownups, with Elizabeth Garner and Creation Theatre.
It’s Remembrance Sunday. The annual civic service and wreath laying will be at Oxford's war memorial on St Giles from 10am. Christ Church Cathedral’s service starts early at 10.55am and will be Choral Matins (no communion, but great music).

A few of the 24 Men of Grandpont & Cold Harbour.

This week

24 Men of Grandpont & Cold Harbour, 9 Nov-7 Dec, St Matthew's Church, Marlborough Road. Remembering the men of South Oxford who died in the Second World War and the community they left behind.
Video Game Preservation, Mon 10 Nov, Weston Library (or online). With curators from the National Videogame Museum and Rebellion Group Archives.
Page Turning Ceremony, Tue 11 Nov, Christ Church Cathedral. Service of remembrance in the Regimental Chapel.
The Haunted Wood, Tue 11 Nov, Caper. Sam Leith in conversation with Elizabeth Garner about his history of children's books.
William Herschel: a Polymath with Oxford Connections, Wed 12 Nov, Florence Park Community Centre. The man who discovered Uranus. Stop sniggering.
Jericho: Oxford’s ‘dangerously hospitable’ 200-year-old suburb, Wed 12 Nov, Rewley House. Free talk by local historian Mark Davies for the Oxford Civic Society.
Displacing Rhodes, Fri 14 Nov, University Church. Uncomfortable Oxford presents talks on Cecil Rhodes and an exhibition of Zimbabwean sculpture.

Oxfordshire’s independent media

Think of this section like your Sunday colour supplement. Lots of gorgeous local reading for your weekend pleasure.

Bitten Oxford reviews the new Beefy Boys at the Westgate. Vegans can skip this article.
The Oxford Sausage has some beautiful photos of autumn in Oxford.
Ox in a Box previews Oxford's Christmas Light Festival.
Daily Info reviews a “truly remarkable” play inspired by ’80s classic The Breakfast Club.
Cherwell says “we must fight the Right’s narrative about Oxford”.
The Oxford Blue’s agony aunt is back.
Abingdon Blog reports the town monk has become a bug hotel. We promise it makes sense.
Little Oxplorers is flagging up that Appleton Christmas Barn opens on 14 November, and it sounds magical. See also the Besselsleigh Christmas Lights drive through which the Clarion did last year. (The county council's “switch the street lights off” policy makes complete sense once you've seen that…)

Notes from Clarion HQ

Thanks for your forbearance as we find our way around two newsletters. Missing the politics, university news, council reorganisation, and trains? They’ll be with you on Tuesday together with more city and county news.

All this for free! Speaking of which… your Clarion gets no funding, but legacy papers do – including TV licence-funded reporters and enforced advertising by local councils. Pubs and bars currently have to buy an expensive paper advert every time they change their opening hours. The Home Office is now considering whether to remove this latter requirement. The local press magnates are lobbying hard to keep it, but we think “about time”.

Something more to read? We missed it on first publication last year, but this illustrated thinkpiece suggesting a water-centric “100-mile landscape from Oxford to the Wash” is magnificent; set aside half an hour this weekend. Have a great one, and we’ll see you on Tuesday.