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Reasons to be Cheeseful, Part 3

Is Oxfordshire’s local government reorganisation all over bar the shouting? The Secret Cheesemonger looks into his crystal ball of Edam… Predicting the near future is usually a losing game. Either you are right, and in retrospect everyone agreed with you and it was obvious all along, or you’re

The Clarion, 16 June 2026

Amid furrowed-brow news on planning, polemics and prisons, we have plenty of reasons to be cheerful this week: South Park’s distillery, an Internet of Birds, the world’s largest display of origami frogs, and an outbreak of Councils Doing Nice Things. Read on… This week’s top stories Cherwell

Local business support in West Oxfordshire

Why are West Oxfordshire businesses receiving visits from mystery shoppers? And how do local shops with minimal staff survive in an age of unforgiving, instant-judgement online reviews? In a guest post for the Clarion, West Oxfordshire District Council explain their new programme to support local businesses. What if better customer

Clarion Weekend, 12 June 2026

The sun’s out again and Friday’s Clarion is everything you need to read for the coming weekend. Featuring the Covered Market, tortoise races, solar farms, and Mick Jagger. Plus we pontificate about local news a bit. This week’s top stories Oxford’s Covered Market will have a

The Clarion, 9 June 2026

It’s a busy week for m’learned friends, with legal bills stacking up in the bids to halt Oxford United’s stadium and building on Iffley’s Horse Fields, never mind Campsfield Immigration Removal Centre. But we also have coffee shops, a restored 14th century pub, EV chargers, and

Oxford Pride 2026

Pride may have had a soggy start, but the weather gods saw fit to bring out the sunshine for the parade. Our photographer, Roger Close, was there to take some gorgeous pictures. While political parties remained banned from the parade, organisations from across the city and county marched in support

Clarion Weekend, 5 June 2026

City centre mobile reception, wheeling to Cambridge, footy scran, £26.5m country estates, coffee horsebox, plus all Oxford’s finest events and some otter-ly brilliant nature news. If there’s a more varied news update anywhere in Britain, we’d like to see it. Step this way… This week’s

The Clarion, 2 June 2026

New town! New bookshop! New science! This way for all the city and county news you need… This week’s long reads Saturday saw the culmination of Oxford’s Summer Eights, the annual college rowing races on the Thames (or rather, the ‘Isis’). Our photographer, Roger Close, was there to

Summer Eights

Saturday saw the culmination of Summer Eights, the annual college rowing races on the Thames (or rather 'the Isis'). Crowds lined the banks from Iffley Lock to Folly Bridge, cheering on the eight-member crews as they attempted to bump each other's boats. Several college boathouses sported

Volunteering in Oxfordshire

Volunteers make this county tick – carers for people, for the environment, for buildings, for the arts, you name it. (There’s even a volunteer online newspaper.) For Volunteers’ Week, which this year runs from 1–7 June, we spoke to Jenny Bowley, Deputy CEO of Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action

Clarion Weekend, 29 May 2026

Relentlessly reporting on the local impact of the climate emergency even if everyone else ignores it... Plus OCC on the move, a new coffee shop, playgrounds, the Kidlington dump, and all your weekend reading. Long reads This seems like a good time to reshare our article, from Oxford horticulturist Amandine

The Clarion, 26 May 2026

A quiet news weekend? Pretty much… apart from the small, unremarked matter of Eynsham Park & Ride. But we do have a bumper crop of amazing research news, the heat death of the universe, and some alpacas. This week’s top stories The amber heat health warning for Oxfordshire remains

Clarion Weekend, 22 May 2026

Councils, cabinets, closure orders. Quarries and quiet lanes. It's been an eventful week in Oxfordshire: here's what you need to know… This weekend’s long(ish) reads Every bookshop in Oxford, listed. From Blackwells to Barkers, Caper to Curio, and many more: new, secondhand and remaindered.

Every bookshop in Oxford

Oxford is a city of books and bookshops. Reporting on a new opening in the city centre encouraged your Clarion team to think about their favourites ... Independent bookshops Caper, Magdalen Road Children's books, cookery books, and more in East Oxford's Magdalen Road Village since 2023. There’

Making the Mayor

Oxford has a new Mayor, Chewe Munkonge – the first black Lord Mayor of Oxford. Our photographer Roger Close attended last night's mayor making ceremony. Councillor Chewe Munkonge grew up in Zambia. He moved to the UK in 2003 and then to Oxford, to be closer to his wife,

The Clarion, 19 May 2026

A dispute over a bridge, another Bridge arrested, a row over rowing, a bumper crop of university news – and how active is your MP in Parliament? Plus the return of Ozymandias to brighten your week. This week’s top stories Labour will continue to run Oxford City Council after recent

Clarion Weekend, 15 May 2026

It’s one of those weeks where almost everything qualifies as a top story. Read on for changes at the top of Oxfordshire’s councils, an imminent start date for direct trains to Bristol, Reform candidate controversy, a bung (money, not plug) for Abingdon Reservoir and much more… This week’

Voles in the Vale… and friends

Council biodiversity reports might not seem the most thrilling reading. But underneath the dry pages of figures is a promising story of rewilding and recovery. The Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire District Councils recently released new biodiversity reports, which (perhaps surprisingly) offer an encouraging look at the regions’

An orchid orchestra – bringing back Oxfordshire’s flowers

Pandas are the poster child for endangered species, with their picky diet of bamboo and their habitat being lost, but a species nearly as as exotic and threatened lives right here in Oxfordshire. It’s just that it’s the plant kind. Oxfordshire’s conservationists are quietly holding the line

The Clarion, 12 May 2026

All the fallout from last week’s elections, plus trains to Bristol, college beehives, a new blue plaque and Europe Day. And two photo specials! Read on… This week’s photo stories Can you spot yourself in either of the two mass events in the city on Sunday? Our ace

Town and Gown, May 2026

Six thousand runners of all speeds took on the Oxford Town and Gown 10k in aid of Muscular Dystrophy UK on Sunday. Our photographer Roger Close was out on the course. The day started with a guided warm up, and a 3k junior race. A fast, flat course on closed

Kidical Mass, spring 2026

They came on balance bikes, cargo bikes, tandems, bikes with stabilisers, bikes with doll seats, and just plain bikes. But they filled the city with energy, and joy, and the tinkling of bicycle bells. Organised by cycle campaign group Cyclox, Kidical Mass claimed the streets of Oxford for the afternoon

Clarion Weekend, 8 May 2026

Election fever! Our editorial fingers have barely stopped moving since the small hours. This week’s newsletter is brought to you by coffee, adrenaline and sheer bloody-mindedness. Read on for the latest… This week’s top stories The Green Party was the big winner in the Oxford City Council elections

The Clarion, 5 May 2026

It’s a short week, but a long one. (Can we really call it a “midweek” newsletter on the first working day of the week?) All the Oxfordshire news you need in our election week roundup… This week’s top story Elections for Oxford City Council, West Oxfordshire and Cherwell

Clarion Weekend, 1 May 2026

“Now is the month of Maying, when merry lads are playing.” We’ll stop right there to avoid the more suggestive bits. Our May Day round-up has madrigals, mangos, and maternity wards. Only in Oxford’s most eclectic newsletter… This week’s long reads It’s just under a week

A primer on South Asian mangoes: a very opinionated guide

We thank our brand new mango correspondent for writing the primer on East Oxford's (not so) hidden seasonal fruit that we never knew we needed. We’ll be in the Cowley Road food shops if anyone needs us… Oxford has many signs of the beginning of spring: the

The 2026 election run-down

Elections come but once a year… depending where you live. This time, it's the turn of Oxford City and the northern districts. Each council has a subtly different arrangement for electing its councillors (have we mentioned de Gaulle's 246 varieties of cheese…?), but essentially, every City

The Clarion, 28 April 2026

Come celebrity spotting with us in a very Clarion way. In this edition, we meet a new world record holder; an MP meeting a popstar (and a giant bird); the world premiere of a choral installation; and innovation at the Churchill (because doctors are celebrities in their own way). And

Clarion Weekend, 24 April 2026

For Shakespeare, Oxford and St George! In today’s newsletter: an all-new college, car-free developments, and a bumper crop of events. Your weekend starts here… This week’s long reads The incredible festival of free art that is Oxfordshire Artweeks begins on 2 May. In this very special collaboration with

Oxfordshire Artweeks

As Oxfordshire Artweeks bursts into life next week with a three-week festival of artists' open studios and pop-up exhibitions at 350 venues across the whole county - all of which are free to enter - we ask, ‘what’s it all about and why has it been so successful?

Can Oxfordshire change the future of social media?

Social media is a fixture in many of our lives. Its use and its impact have been polarising. It can be used to find a lost cat or new skincare regime, or learn how to clean a dirty kitchen, or even, dare we say it, to find out about the

The Clarion, 21 April 2026

MPs with pandas, ‘Quarry Roubaix’, tiny bugs, a 10-hour choral marathon, more trains. We love writing about this city. And then there’s potholes… This week’s long reads We know, we don't write about potholes. But they’ve been front page news in almost every other news

Planning applications: there may be leopards

“It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.’ ” So Douglas Adams, writing in 1979, judged the opacity of English councils meeting the legal requirement to publish notice of planning applications.

The hole in my road is letting in water

Britain is getting both hotter and wetter. Cars are getting heavier. And so roads are getting more potholed. It’s that simple. But fixing them isn’t – especially when Government funding to Oxfordshire has dropped by 13% in ten years, yet social care and special educational needs are swallowing up

Clarion Weekend, 17 April 2026

The pound signs are appearing all over Oxfordshire: Government handouts, a Singapore company buying Oxford’s other football club, venture capitalists and a solar farm share offer. Cheque-books at the ready for this week’s newsletter… This week’s long reads You can tell a lot about a person by

Solar power to the people

The headline-grabbing Botley West Solar Farm might lead you to think that solar power is all about big-money investors – but in a corner of Oxfordshire near Bicester, a community project is proving the opposite. Now, Oxfordshire residents are being invited to invest in Britain’s first community-owned solar energy battery,

Political pets

You might have received a leaflet through your letterbox castigating your local council for wasting money on “pet projects”. We thought that was too good to pass up. Politicians all have their pet projects, and many of them have four legs. Because, much though social media might tell you otherwise,

The Clarion, 14 April 2026 (the Morris edition)

Welcome to the Morris edition. With bells on. This week's long read Did the recent burst of spring-like weather turn your thoughts to the garden? Or perhaps one eye on the global stage made you gently reconsider future grocery bills? Today we reshare our recent article on growing

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

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

Clarion Weekend, 3 April 2026

Start your Easter weekend with our round-up of what’s been happening in Oxfordshire – from greyhounds to grocers, pastries to pedestrian crossings, plus books, events, indie media and a selection of April Fools. And speaking of fools… This week’s top stories National Raise the Colours founder, Ryan Bridge, was

The Clarion, 31 March 2026

Action on flags! A donkey! New whisky! New trains! A new forest! Renewables cheaper than fossil fuels! So much good news this week. Read on... This week’s top stories Raise the Colours has been ordered to stop erecting flags by Oxfordshire County Council. On Monday, the council issued a

Clarion Weekend, 27 March 2026

Abingdon Road flags, council cheese, congestion charge latest, Botley West solar farm, and Banbury – Town of Culture? All your Oxfordshire reading in another packed weekend edition… This week’s long read On Tuesday, activists from ‘Raise the Colours’ erected flags along Abingdon Road in broad daylight. In a special investigation,

The dark side of Raise the Colours

Early on Tuesday evening, amid rush-hour traffic, a ‘Highway Maintenance’-branded van was openly stationed on Abingdon Road affixing St George’s flags to lamp-posts. We ask who is behind it – and why the campaign is so controversial. The group, who call themselves Raise the Colours, worked their way along

The Clarion, 24 March 2026

It’s the end of the phoney war and the start of election season proper. But can Oxford learn from Paris? Plus: Magdalen Choir goes co-ed, new towns, college cats, ring road cycling, and mystery varnish-wielding vandals. This week’s long reads We’ve been looking forward to this. When

A century of muddy boots: Hill End celebrates 100 years

One of Oxford’s favourite outdoor education spaces is blowing out one hundred candles this year.  Since 1926, the Hill End Centre has welcomed an estimated one million visitors to its 67-acre site just four miles from the city centre, running outdoor activities that connect people with nature. The centre

Clarion Weekend, 20 March 2026

It’s a busy weekend for the city with Indie Oxford Day and the start of the Oxford Literary Festival. We have all this, plus city and county news, a feast of walking and cycling updates, and most importantly: a baby binturong… This week’s long reads We’ve opened

In celebration of indie retailers

“I left my phone alone for one hour and you lot have eaten the entirety of Oxford!” So went the Clarion WhatsApp chat when we started discussing our favourite independent retailers in Oxford. 21 March is the first ever Indie Oxford Day, a new annual event launched by tireless indie

Two Councils – the Goldilocks choice

Oxfordshire’s councils are to be combined – and there are competing visions for how to do this, and a Government consultation seeks your input.  In the third article of our short series, Councillor Maggie Filipova-Rivers, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, writes for the Clarion on why she believes the

The Clarion, 17 March 2026

Library-worrying AI bots, church roofs, ultrasonic hedgehogs, school wars, outspoken MPs, dog breeders and golden train tickets. Plus your old favourites of Thames Water, East West Rail and Oxford buses. Welcome to Tuesday’s Oxford Clarion – Oxfordshire’s most varied news update! This week’s long read Oxfordshire’s councils

There’s only one Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire’s councils are to be combined – and there are competing visions for how to do this, and a Government consultation seeks your input. Oxfordshire County Council leader Liz Leffman writes for the Clarion on why she believes the right way forward is for one unitary council to manage the

Clarion Weekend, 13 March 2026

Friday 13th or Mother’s Day? We opted out of theming our weekend newsletter because, frankly, there is too much real news: the Ultimate Picture Palace, Jericho Wharf, hundreds of new houses, council by-elections and blow-torched hot chocolate. Read on… This week’s top stories The derelict Jericho Wharf looks

The Clarion, 10 March 2026

The most dramatic change to Oxford city centre this century broke cover this week. Plus thousands of new homes around Oxfordshire, politics, university news, electric go-karts, and buses. So many buses. This week’s top stories Oxford could get a new city centre public square as part of ambitious plans

Clarion Weekend, 6 March 2026

Water, water, everywhere… and not a drop to drink. If you’re in West Oxfordshire, that is. Also this week: new tourist attractions at Oxford Castle, another Larry Ellison endeavour in Littlemore, pubs, walking, cycling, and our curated selection of events and weekend reading. Read on! This week’s long

A beginner's guide to growing your own food

Have you ever thought about growing your own food? To reduce food bills, or for the joy of using a few fresh basil leaves or a tomato that has real tomato flavour? We asked the Clarion's resident horticulturist, Amandine Lepers-Thornton for her tips on starting out, whether you

The Clarion, 3 March 2026

Spring is in the air, temperatures are rising and Oxford is stretching its legs – as shown in this wonderful picture of Port Meadow sent to us by Nick Thorn. This week we have new homes (…but are there enough?), carbon savings, the future of streets in Oxfordshire, OUFC’s Great

Oxfordshire’s maternity care

Many Clarion readers will have passed through the maternity ward of the John Radcliffe Hospital, whether as an infant or a parent. It is a place with which Oxfordshire, literally, has a familial bond. But recently it hasn’t all been happy families. On Thursday, Baroness Amos published her Interim

Clariwn Rhydychen*, 27 February 2026

* That’s ‘Oxford Clarion’ in Welsh. It’s St David’s Day on Sunday! Scroll down for our suggestions. Plus a bumper batch of city news, walking and cycling, the best events, election musings and your weekend indie reading. This week’s long reads Oxfordshire’s councils are being reorganised

Oxfordshire councils: the power of three

Oxfordshire’s councils are to be combined – and there are competing visions for how to do this. Oxford City Council leader Susan Brown writes for the Clarion on why it believes a three council setup is the best solution. Most people in Oxfordshire have asked the same question at some

The Clarion, 24 February 2026

In this edition, we pitch a TV show for the county's politicians, celebrate an award-winning midwife and an award-winning wine merchant, tackle the City's budget shenanigans, meet VIP pets, and bring you the best dirt from Vale of White Horse. Welcome to the midweek Clarion, always

House prices in Oxfordshire 2025

Who among us doesn’t sneak a quick look at house prices now and then – whether it’s to eye up your dream home or just to find out what’s happening where you currently live? Where to live, where to work, where to shop and where the kids go

Clarion Weekend, 20 February 2026

Have you been watching the Winter Olympics? Or merely doing the Olympic juggle that is half term? Put the kettle on: here is Oxfordshire's best curated news feed. More homes! More labs! More SEND support! More police? Along with a cracking selection of events and perhaps the most

The Clarion, 17 February 2026

It is (in no particular order) Shrove Tuesday, Chinese New Year, and starting tonight, Ramadan. Which is a pretty wonderful representation of our gloriously diverse city. We hope you enjoy whatever you're celebrating. Crispy (vegan?) duck pancakes after dark? See you at the (newly reopened) Red Star. This

Clarion Weekend, 13 February 2026

It might be Friday 13th today, but tomorrow is Valentine's Day. We could have gone with horror or love; we choose love. So here’s our roundup of Valentine’s events complete with heart-shaped cheese – oh, and city and county news, places to walk, books and more! This

The volunteers helping children find their voice through books

“It’s three minutes past one,” announced B, as we walked from his Year 4 classroom, down the corridor and to our normal reading space outside of the school library.  “So it is B, you did a super job telling the time,” I replied encouragingly. “But you’re meant to

Patrolling toads on Oxfordshire’s roads

The weather is warm(ish) and it’s nearly Valentine’s Day. Which means, for the Oxfordshire toad population, at least, it’s baby-making time.  Toad migrations You’d be forgiven for thinking that toads just hang out around their ponds doing amphibious things forever. But once they’ve completed

The Clarion, 10 February 2026

Let joy be unconfined! The trains are back. We have everything you need to know about county and city budgets, plus toilets, a furore over a Chinese university and a grave situation in Banbury. Happy Tuesday. This week’s long reads Today is Budget Day for Oxfordshire. Right now, the

Budgets 2026: deckchairs on the Titanic?

Oxfordshire’s councils’ days might be numbered – but the cheques still have to be signed, bills paid, and council tax collected. As connoisseurs of Clarion cheese will know, the county, city and district councils are all set to be replaced by ‘unitary’ councils of as yet undetermined shape. So although

Clarion Weekend, 6 February 2026

Will this rain ever stop? Here is a boatload (geddit?) of news, including buskers, bridges and beer, dukes and dogs, pubs and phone boxes. And cheese. Put the kettle on. This week’s top stories The new Botley Road rail bridge is in. The concrete walkways have been manoeuvred into

The Clarion, 3 February 2026

Botley Road, choral music, flags, pubs (award-winning and political), disgraced alumni and a train toilet nightmare. Happy Tuesday! This week’s long reads This week is Oxford Living Wage Week. In a collaboration with Oxford City Council we took a look at why Oxford needs a living wage, and celebrate

Oxford’s trailblazing living wage

Today marks the first day of Oxford Living Wage Week, an annual event celebrating our city’s belief that everyone deserves a decent wage. The Oxford Living Wage was launched in 2018 after a campaign began in 2017. A living wage represents the true cost of living; according to the

Clarion Weekend, 30 January 2026

Congratulations! You’re nearly through January. The weekend is coming. We have news for you to read, and new coffee shops for you to read it in. Plus the latest on the County Hall hotel, a reprieve for Banbury Museum, and more. This week’s long read There are 250

Holding hands in the dark

Protests outside asylum hotels; calls in the national media to “stop the boats”; a polarisation of national discourse, headlines sometimes more for clickbait than facts. What is the real story of refugees and asylum seekers in our county? We asked Sushila Dhall of local charity Refugee Resource to tell us

The Clarion, 27 January 2026

Lots of protests, even more politics, utopian trains, our first ever political cartoon, and the kids are all right. This week’s long reads £10m of Government funding for Oxford was sent back. Could it have paid for the cancelled Dutch-style cycleway on Woodstock Road? In a deep dive, we

Why the Park & Ride should remain free

Luke Marion, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Company, on why providing the free Park & Ride is integral to the future success of Oxford’s congestion charge. Oxford is a city steeped in history and tradition, and we are all fortunate to live and work in such a wonderful place.

Exclusive: £10m of Government funding for Oxford was sent back

A £10m grant for infrastructure in north Oxford was returned to Government unspent – just as a safe cycleway on Woodstock Road, to be funded by a very similar Government grant, was cancelled due to a £10m shortfall. The Government is funding road schemes across Oxfordshire including the A40 to Witney,

Clarion Weekend, 23 January 2026

Come for the potholes if you like. But there's also election, local plan and Oxpens Bridge news, plus Oxfordshire food producers in Parliament, and the most incredible selection of events to inspire your weekend. Long reads Two articles for your weekend reading if you didn't catch

The Oxford roads where most traffic is speeding

Roads outside schools, residential streets, and city centre arteries are among the ten worst roads for speeding in Oxford, according to new data. Speed is the single biggest factor in road deaths, cited as a factor in 950 (59%) of Britain’s fatal collisions in 2024. Researchers at the University

10 ways to make your garden wildlife-friendly

One of the things I get asked the most in garden consultations is how to make gardens more attractive to wildlife, writes Oxford gardener Amandine Lepers-Thornton. I help people I visit as a garden coach to pick plants suitable for their setting (e.g. small urban gardens) or to extend

The Clarion, 20 January 2026

It is cold, yesterday was Blue Monday, but the news is hot, hot, hot. Right this way for a governmental slap on the wrist for Oxford City, life-saving Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and so much more… This week’s long read Are solar panels in space a real possibility, or just

Space Solar – power from above

We’ve written about the emerging climate crisis and the 250 years of Oxford science as evidence. We’ve written about its impact on our gardens. We’ve written how renewable solar energy, one part of the remedy, is planned on a large scale in Oxfordshire but is facing challenges

Clarion Weekend, 16 January 2026

This week’s top stories A legal bid to halt Oxford’s congestion charge has been turned down. The High Court yesterday refused an application for judicial review by Open Roads For Oxford Ltd, which had raised £60,000 “from private donations, transfers from aligned funds, and our GoFundMe campaign”

The Clarion, 13 January 2026

This week’s top stories Oxford’s Green Party have gained a ninth City Councillor, making them the joint second-placed party on the council. Independent Cllr Edward Mundy was elected for Labour in Holywell ward in 2021 and 2022, but had left Labour along with nine other councillors over Keir

Clarion Weekend, 9 January 2026

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

New Year Clarion, 6 January 2026

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

A year in Oxfordshire, 2025

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

A Christmas Clarion, 23 December 2025

This week’s top stories Ian Hudspeth, former leader of Oxfordshire County Council, has died. He was awarded an OBE in 2021 for services to local government. First elected in 2005 as Conservative councillor for Woodstock, including his home village of Bladon, he was swiftly elevated to the Cabinet under

Clarion Weekend, 19 December 2025

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

Oxford’s new billionaires

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

The Clarion, 16 December 2025

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

Clarion Weekend, 12 December 2025

Happy Friday to all our readers. Take a break from your week and your festive preparations with the weekend Clarion. We have the latest on the congestion charge and Kidlington dump (of course) but also two excellent long reads, important Lego news, and good news for mouth cancer patients at

Oxford’s hidden food emergency – and the community filling the gaps

“What are your plans for next week?” asks Dave. Maria tells him that it's her birthday.  As a volunteer for Oxford Mutual Aid (OMA), which delivers food to people across the city, Dave calls Maria every week to check on any food needs or preferences and signpost her

Wolsey, Maxwell, and Morris: the curious philanthropists who made Oxford

Rich donors are nothing new to this venerable city. Oxford's reputation makes for an attractive place for philanthropists from across the globe to leave a legacy. Barely a week goes by without another announcement of a new foundation. A rash of shiny new buildings (Blavatnik, Schwarzman, Ellison, Tata)

The Clarion, 9 December 2025

This week’s top stories Plans to reorganise Oxfordshire’s fire service, which could see the closure of Eynsham, Woodstock and Henley fire stations, have provoked anger from firefighters. The Fire Brigades Union organised a rally outside County Hall this morning to coincide with the monthly council meeting. John Shuker,

Clarion Weekend, 5 December 2025

Less than three weeks until Christmas yet the news shows no signs of relenting. This week we have breaking news about Oxford–Bristol trains, the latest on Campsfield House, a new Oxford restaurant, and reusing heat from AI data centres. Read on… Top stories Outline plans have been unveiled for

Right town, wrong place?

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

The Clarion, 2 December 2025

Today’s Clarion is an eclectic mix of festive joy, budget commentary and Morris dancers. Pretty sure you don’t get this anywhere else. This week’s top stories The Hong Kong-based landowners of Jericho Wharf have “finally conceded they have no new scheme” for the site, according to the

Clarion Weekend, 28 November 2025

Is this our Black Friday edition? Accidentally, perhaps so. Oxford has the most incredible independent retailers – so we've rounded up some festive inspiration if you're shopping over the weekend. And keep reading to the bottom of the newsletter for our roundup of Christmas markets this weekend.

Shop local this Christmas

We love this city every day of the year, but at Christmas it is extra special. The Christmas lights; the way the frost sparkles on the Corallian limestone of the colleges; people from city, county, college and (much) further afield thronging the shops; pubs with log fires and mulled wine;

The Clarion, 25 November 2025

Welcome to our news and politics edition where we round up the very best city, county and university news, plus what our MPs have been up to. After the craziness of our much-shared little article on college cats last week, this edition is a cat-free zone. There is a rather