Clarion Weekly, 10 October 2025

Full speed for faster buses! (Photo by Roger Close.)

Happy weekend to all our readers! We have a gloriously varied newsletter for you this week: historical mysteries, bonus buses, and geeking out about council reorganisation. Put the kettle on and settle down. We know it's long – pretend it's a newspaper and enjoy it all, or skip to the the sections you love.

This week’s long reads

“Well preserved” walls potentially dating back to Saxon times have been discovered in excavations at Speedwell House, the building just off St Aldates which is proposed as Oxfordshire County Council’s new HQ. In an exclusive article for the Clarion, architectural historian Madeline Odent takes a look at what it could be, and explains why on earth it wasn't spotted years ago.

As first reported by the Clarion, relocation plans are currently on hold after the find. Labour’s Cllr Brad Baines said the hold-up could “blow a massive financial hole in the plans… the council risks forking out significant rents to accommodate its staff and formal council meetings.” LibDem cabinet member Cllr Neil Fawcett responded “Yes, this discovery creates a big challenge for the County Council. But it's not a disaster. It's a fantastic and exciting find and could lead to us finding out loads of new things about Oxford's history.”

Oxfordshire’s councils are finalising their reorganisation plans before submission to the Government in November. We crunched the numbers to find out which work best, cost least, and won’t turn into Humberside mk2. Spoiler: it’s complicated. But there are photos of cheese.

The group leader of the Independent Oxford Alliance, David Henwood, has been found to have harassed and bullied a female councillor, and brought Oxford City Council into disrepute. Our full report:

This week’s top stories

Park & Ride bus journeys will be free when Oxford’s congestion charge comes into effect on 29 October. Holders of P&R parking tickets will be entitled to catch any Stagecoach or Oxford Bus Co service from the sites.

The free bus scheme will initially apply for three months until the end of January. Oxfordshire County Council has previously said that it will need to assess the cost of the scheme vs the income from the congestion charge before deciding whether to continue the scheme. Cllr Andrew Gant said “The congestion charge is also set to bring a whole host of new and improved bus services, with more details expected very soon. This will support local businesses in the run up to Christmas and beyond, helping more visitors come and enjoy our fabulous city.” Here’s the Ts&Cs.

At the same time, Oxford Bus Company has announced more frequent bus services from November. The improvements mean Blackbird Leys and Cowley will have services to the city centre every 10 minutes, while Iffley Road gets a new night bus. Changes include:

100 (Blackbird Leys–St Clements) and 700 (Blackbird Leys–Kidlington) each run every 20 minutes Mon–Fri, up from half-hourly
New 20 service from Rose Hill to the JR via the Plain
5A (Minchery Farm/Littlemore) runs every 20 minutes
3/3A (Rose Hill/Cowley) run to rail station
500 (Cowley–Westgate) every 10 minutes on Saturdays
More peak-time and weekend buses from Carterton/Witney to the JR
N3 Iffley Road night bus (Mon–Sat)
Faster journeys on services 8, 11, 15, 300, 400, 500, ST2 and X3

OBC’s Luke Marion said: “We thank Oxfordshire County Council for its bold approach to make bus travel more attractive to people to move around the county. The Park & Ride free ticket offering is a pilot scheme and we’d encourage people to use it to ensure it is a success and can be extended.”

Anti-immigration protesters in Oxford on Sunday; my milkshake brings all the boys to The Yard, and they’re like, damn, it’s temporarily closed.

Around the city

Oxford City Council has drawn up a Working Overseas Policy after “the organisation identified a number of employees working overseas without having notified ICT or obtaining permission”. Forbidden countries include Russia, North Korea, Afghanistan and the United States of America. At Monday’s meeting, councillors asked for revisions to the country list, which is those “considered to have high-risk conditions based on information from the UK Foreign Office and the European Commission on data protection”.
Oxford City Council’s new events and music champion says he wants to ”get the Cowley Road Carnival back on track as a regular event in our city’s calendar”. Cllr James Taylor (Lab, Headington Hill & Northway) said: “In common with other cities, Oxford has seen a decline in the number of venues available for live music and nightlife. I will use my position to work with new businesses who would like to expand into Oxford’s nightlife economy, and support existing businesses.”
The Yard, the new food court on Cowley Road, has closed (“temporarily” according to the owners) after Oxford City Council refused a retrospective application for planning permission. The council said that, because the site used to be a garage workshop, a contamination assessment was required. They also said that a noise assessment was needed, noting that although Cowley Road was an “appropriate location in principle for this type of business in terms of noise and activity”, noise mitigation measures might still be needed. Several Jeune Street residents had submitted objections.
Stand Up To Racism demonstrators near the Kassam Stadium held a minute’s silence for the victims of the attacks on the synagogue in Manchester and the Peacehaven Mosque in Sussex. The silence was interrupted by anti-immigration protesters demonstrating outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers. Protesters praised police at the demonstration who worked to de-escalate tensions between both sides, with 12 police officers in attendance.

FIRE! At the Bull in Charlbury on Sunday (picture sent in by a Clarion reader) and entirely separately, a lock keeper's cottage on the Oxford Canal (Savills).

Around the county

Police have announced dispersal orders to prevent pony and trap racing on the A40 near Witney. For West Oxfordshire District Council, Cllr Geoff Saul said: "We understand that pony and trap racing has cultural significance for some, but the A40 is not the place for it. Public roads must be safe for everyone."
Four fire engines were called out on Sunday to deal with a chimney fire at an Oxfordshire pub praised by Time Out for its “roaring fire”. It is the second such fire at the Bull in Charlbury in a year. The Cotswold Gentleman wrote, rather presciently, that “the restaurant is centred around open fire cooking”.
A burned-out lock cottage on the Oxford Canal south of Banbury could be restored. The house at Grant’s Lock was vacant when it suffered an arson attack in 2020. Its ground floor dates from the construction of the canal in 1794, with the first floor added in 1914. An application with Cherwell District Council seeks to “reinstate the existing building completely” with works to the roof, windows, doors and internal structures. We think you could call this a fixer upper.
Oxfordshire County Council’s trading standards team has seized almost 20,000 counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes and over 15kg of tobacco, worth over £10,000 in Operation CeCe, a national crackdown on illegal tobacco trading. One premises had concealment at height, operated by electromagnets to evade detection dogs. Jody Kerman, OCC's Head of Trading Standards, said: “Organised criminals are using illegal tobacco as a commodity to raise cash, which funds serious crime. We know it can be hard to stop smoking but help is available. People are three times more likely to successfully quit by using a [free] stop smoking service like Smokefree Oxfordshire.”
A 2,500-home “standalone community” on the outskirts of Brize Norton, and 300 homes next to Hanborough station, are proposed in West Oxfordshire District Council’s new housing plan for the district. 18,000 houses are planned in total, increasing the population by around one third. The plan continues to identify Witney, Carterton and Chipping Norton as “hubs for growth”, but says “Witney is perceived as nearing saturation with infrastructure constraints”. Development at Chipping Norton is being rethought after “highly significant” Roman remains were discovered. The density of the proposed Salt Cross garden village could be increased, raising it from 2,200 homes to as many as 3,780: WODC is keen to see the development served by a new rail link from Oxford to Carterton and Witney. The plans are expected to go out to consultation in early November.
1,600 trees will be planted across the Vale of White Horse as a result of the district council’s Climate Action Fund grants for 2025. The International Tree Foundation is one of 16 recipients, which also include countryside charity CPRE and the Oxford Preservation Trust. Other projects to be funded include water testing at 40 locations across the Ock river catchment; a new boardwalk on the Hinksey Trail; and ‘Creative Climate Champions’ in Abingdon schools.
Abingdon's Michaelmas Fair ran from Sunday to Tuesday. It claims to be the longest street fair in Europe, spanning 960 metres along High Street and Ock Street. The fair's origins date back to after the Black Death in the 14th century, where it began as a fair to hire labour. A week later came the Runaway Fair for workers who discovered their bosses to be cruel, and ran away to find new work. Now it is a funfair with rides, stalls and food.
Cherwell District Council has announced a renewed crackdown on anti-social behaviour in Bicester town centre, via a Public Spaces Protection Order giving community wardens and police powers to tackle antisocial behaviour, including loitering and aggressive begging.

Oxfordshire politics

There has been a lot of politics this week. Refill that cuppa.

Green county councillor Emma Garnett gave a barnstorming speech on the big stage at the Green Party Conference, as her party overwhelmingly passed a motion to get East West Rail done and fully electrify it. Her colleague Emily Kerr, meanwhile, was on the BBC, where she agreed with a public comment that the Green Party was like a beaver: making big changes and caring about nature. (She did not comment on the suggestion that the Conservative Party were closest to vultures.) Green Party activists on social media have been very chipper about rapidly growing membership figures.

Our Conservative Party correspondents were also at conference. They report a “reset” conference with the far right wing having defected to Farage, leaving the “sensible activists” to rebuild. Oxfordshire sightings include PCC Matt Barber on a variety of panels from rural crime to waste crime and the importance of families, while a very enthusiastic Liam Walker attended a farmers' rally, went drinking with Robert Jenrick (is that Toby Young in the photo?), and very much liked Kemi Badenoch’s leader’s speech.

There was a remarkable spat this week about the 3/3A bus to Rose Hill and Templars Square, which is being extended to the railway station. Oxford Labour put out a press release saying this came “after Labour pressure”. LibDem councillors and active travel campaigners retorted that it was a direct result of the Oxford congestion charge, which Labour opposes. The Clarion loves both political intrigue and buses, but 74 bad-tempered Facebook comments test even our patience. We do also love bringing receipts, however, so here’s Labour’s Ed Turner in July directly quoting OBC’s Luke Marion on it being “dependent on the Congestion Charge being introduced”, and OBC saying the congestion charge “will enable it to save seven vehicles which will be redeployed to enhance services”. Shall we just say it’s a result of the congestion charge but Labour’s petition kept it front-of-mind? There. Everyone’s happy now.

Regular Clarion readers might have expected us to report in depth on Oxford City Council's full council meeting this week, or perhaps even live-tweet it. We try to report news that is relevant to local residents, slicing up the £100m+ budget the city spends. But this month’s council motions were little more than “this council resolves to write a letter”, with some wrangling over the contents of that letter, probably so it could later be put in a leaflet. And for that, 48 city councillors plus officers sat and debated for some 90 minutes. Folks, the council delivers housing, planning, licensing of pubs, taxis, parks, leisure, homeless provision, toilets and more – you couldn't find anything in that lot to raise a motion on? We've even found you a diagram...

Van Mierlo in a chalk stream; Dodds at Waste 2 Taste; Woodcock's photographer doing excellently with word placement there.

We now return to our regular content. Perhaps there is calming, wholesome content in here? Maybe a Labrador or two?

Banbury MP Sean Woodcock signed a cross-party letter condemning the Conservative party's stance on the Climate Change Act, visited local business Cleenol, and wrote an opinion piece on protecting veterans. He posted that Oxfordshire will receive £8.3m Government cash to help sick or disabled people with tailored support to find work. He shared his own round up. We still want to see your cat, Sean.
Bicester & Woodstock MP Calum Miller (who’s also LibDem Foreign Affairs spokesperson) condemned both the attack on the Peacehaven Mosque and the events of 7 October 2023, calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Subsequently, he welcomed the prospect of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Oxford West & Abingdon MP Layla Moran is Britain's only MP of Palestinian origin. She said: “The war is Gaza has gone on two years too long. I welcome this ceasefire, of course, but it’s hard to celebrate after we’ve had such misery and destruction.” Here she is on the radio with Jeremy Vine talking about the future of an independent Palestinian state.
Witney MP Charlie Maynard has been walking round Ducklington, delivering his Annual Report, and looking at sculptures.
Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds has been out and about in the constituency including Barton Park. She attended the opening of Cowley Army Cadet Centre.
Didcot & Wantage MP Olly Glover highlighted a LibDem policy delivering access to nature, plus converting more disused railways to walking and cycling routes. He’s the LibDem transport spokesman, but for the local angle, the Clarion would love a cycleway on the old Didcot–Newbury line. He wrote to the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police over their decision to investigate fewer bike thefts outside train stations.
Henley & Thame MP Freddie van Mierlo called for universal neurodivergence screening in schools, and is asking the MoD to intervene on the plan to build a new town on Chalgrove Airfield. He spent a day in the Crown Court in Oxford, finding out about the criminal justice system, court delays and overcrowded prisons. On a lighter note, he explored a chalk stream, and learned to knit at the repair cafe at Sonning Common. (Knitting. Now there is the wholesome content this section needs. It did not need these pictures of van Mierlo in… leggings?)
Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber, a former leader of the Vale of White Horse District Council, savaged South Oxfordshire and Vale after planning inspectors rejected their Local Plan. His opinion piece is here. Disappointingly, no Labrador picture from him this week (we blame Conservative conference).

New development proposed in Marston; new sculpture outside the Saïd Business School

University and research

Oxford University has again topped the new Times Higher Education World University Rankings, which compared 2,191 universities from 115 countries. Oxford has held top spot since 2017.
Artificial intelligence will bring disruption “orders of magnitude bigger and faster than we have witnessed before, and we won’t have a generation or two to adapt as we had in the industrial revolution”, according to Oxford University’s Vice-Chancellor Irene Tracey. Delivering her annual Oration in the Sheldonian Theatre today, she said “Oxford is leading in AI”, citing applications including drug discovery, blood tests for cancer, and OUP’s AI-enabled assistants (while pointing out the Oxford Word of the Year was “brain rot”). The full speech is online.
The Blavatnik School of Government and the Clooney Foundation for Justice have launched an initiative to use AI for justice. The Oxford Institute of Technology and Justice will focus on advancing access to justice, promoting accountability for unlawful cyber operations, and protecting human rights in trials in the digital age.
The Association for Science and Discovery Centres, whose members include the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Science Oxford, has written an open letter to Government asking for new policies on funding. Science centres have been omitted from public funding available to other cultural institutions..
The Pitt Rivers Museum is hosting a delegation of Shuar leaders, elders, students and professors from Ecuador this week. They are here to discuss the future of an exhibit of Shuar artefacts currently curated by the museum. Ten ‘tsantsa’ (or shrunken heads) are held by the museum, but have been removed from display lest they encourage stereotypical and racist views of Shuar culture. The visit will include collection viewings and workshops designed to shape the future care and understanding of these cultural materials, with a public event highlighting Shuar perspectives and the collaborative work of the project.
An Oxford research startup, Lightricity, will share in Government funding via the Made Smarter government programme which provides advice, training and grants. Lightricity makes PV devices for indoor specialist applications like sensors or wearable tech.
Exeter and Hertford colleges have published their vision for a redevelopment of their sports facilities on Edgeway Road, Marston. The plans include a new community café and rooms for local groups and clubs, plus padel courts, cricket nets, hardcourts for basketball and netball, football and cricket pitches, a golf simulator, and refurbished historic pavilions. The site has suffered from vandalism and antisocial behaviour in recent years.
A giant bronze sculpture entitled ‘Seated Figure’ was installed in Oxford on Wednesday. The sculpture by Sean Henry, depicting a middle-aged man in a jacket, sitting on a stool and clutching a leather bag, is inspired by actor Jonathan Pryce. It is temporarily on show outside the Saïd Business School near Oxford railway station.

The underused cycle parking at Oxford Parkway proposed for conversion to a bike freight hub. Pic via Google Street View.

Walking and cycling

Electric cargo bikes can replace many everyday car trips for the average family and “reshape suburban family mobility”, say Oxford University researchers. 49 British households were loaned e-cargo bikes for school runs, shopping trips, family outings and other day-to-day use. The families said they felt more connected to their local communities. Researchers described this as “a hybrid experience for users, allowing interaction between riders and passengers – somewhat vehicle-like – while still connecting users to their local surroundings”.
Abingdon councillor Nathan Ley has made a video explaining the proposed changes to the town centre. Definitely worth a watch if you're local to Abingdon, as it adds colour to the technical consultation documents. (Excellent councilloring. If only consultations could be this easy to understand in the first place…)

A freight interchange between delivery trucks and cargo bikes is planned for Oxford Parkway car park. Shipments will be delivered to the “micro consolidation hub” every morning, then taken into Oxford and Kidlington by electric cargo bike. Oxfordshire County Council is proposing the pilot project “to understand the opportunities, challenges and benefits of using underused sites for this purpose” including “the impact of the delivery vehicle on bus operations as well as the efficiency of cycle freight”. An existing, underused bike shelter will be repurposed and surrounded by security fencing.

Dates for your diary

Christ Church 500: an autumn programme of music to celebrate the college and cathedral’s 500th anniversary.
St Cross Calypso and Soca Concert, Monday 13 October, Pusey House Chapel. Free one-hour concert exploring the history of calypso music up to the present day.
Power and Pride: Histories of African and Caribbean People in Britain, Thursday 16 October, Keble College. Professor Hakim Adi (LSE/SOAS) delivers Oxford University's annual lecture for Black History Month.
North Hinksey Conduit House drop-in, Friday 17 October, 2-4. Open afternoon at this 17th-century stone building which brought water to Carfax until 1868.
WolvLitFest at Wolvercote Village Hall, Saturday 18 October, 10am-4pm, hosted by Oxford Independent Authors. Bookstalls, talks and workshops for readers and writers of all ages!
Did you know Sunday 19 October is St Frideswide’s Day aka Oxfordshire Day? Now you do.
Fairport Convention homecoming gig, Sunday 19 October, Banbury’s Mill Arts Centre. The band which put Oxfordshire’s Cropredy on the map, they hold a coveted BBC Lifetime Achievement Award. Their album Liege & Lief was voted ‘Most Influential Folk Album Of All Time’ by Radio 2 listeners.
Tom, Monday 20 October, University Church. The Oxford Literary Cafe Society presents “a new verse drama based on the life & works of T.S. Eliot”. £10 on the door.
The End of the World - and What We Can Do About It, Tuesday 21 October, Caper, Magdalen Road. Journalist Tom Ough discusses his new book The Anti-Catastrophe League.
Sheldonian Series: Cancel Culture, Tuesday 21 October. The Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University in conversation with Sunder Katwala, Helen Mountfield, Zoe Williams, and Toby Young. Free, booking required.
Spartimu, Wednesday 22 October, St Barnabas Church. Corsican vocal music preceded by optional singing workshop.
Bartlemas: Oxford's hidden sanctuary. Book launch at Caper, Magdalen Road, Saturday 1 November. 7.30pm, booking essential. Did you know this corner of Oxford was once a leper colony?

Bartlemas Chapel, photographed during Oxford's Open Doors.

This weekend

Big Open Weekend for Oxford City's Leisure Centres all weekend, with free activities for all the family. See website for details.
Oxford International Song Festival starts on Saturday. Fabulous classical singing including a family-friendly “programme of fairytale songs” on Sunday.
The Isis Chamber Orchestra plays Stravinsky, Beethoven and Cimarosa.
Saturday 7.30pm at St Michael & All Angels, Summertown.
Three Idle Women, Saturday 7pm, St Andrew's Church, Linton Road. ‘A Towpath Through Time’: close harmony songs inspired by the Oxford Canal.
Grand Sukkot celebration, Sunday, 12pm-5pm, Bonn Square. Klezmer music, Jewish food, and local history exhibition.
Oxford Half Marathon, Sunday. It’s sold out, of course, but go along and cheer.

Oxfordshire’s independent media

The Oxford Sausage tells the tale of a bear banished from Christ Church.
Little Oxplorers has published a guide to October adventures in Oxfordshire. This one is for the Mini Clarions. Keep scrolling down to find conker activities from the Woodland Trust.
Daily Info reviews Voice of America at the North Wall.
Ox in a Box tastes divisive ramen aka “the face punch of the ramen world”. We are intrigued.
Edible Reading reviews a lovely-looking Henley pub.
The Witney Gitzette has a tale of preventative policing as the boys in blue arrest an entire pre-school. (Remember: it's a parody.)

Notes from Clarion HQ

Genuine congratulations to the Oxford Mail whose website was the stand-out performer in ‘unique users’ this year. We might take the mickey out of their Clarkson fixation, but the OM team work hard and know their jobs. We will, however, say that their comments section has some very unique users.

We were sent this photo of a doorway in Jericho Coffee Traders. Thank you to whoever put it up! You can find our poster here or of course, more traditionally, share this newsletter with a like-minded friend or friends. We are all the Clarion. Have a great week.