Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 16 – 22 December.
@Headingtonnews has compiled a handy list of the Christmas and New Year opening times of the local food shops.
The quickly-mounted camapign to stop BT removing the red phone box in Old Headington has been successful. @RuthWilk, who played a big part herself, paid tribute to the others involved. The story made the Oxford Mail on Wednesday. The start of the story and links to background are in HH 141. Finally, Ruth announced on Friday that BT have agreed to sell the phone box to Headington Action for £1 subject to conditions on its future use which don’t seem to onerous. Ruth’s summary of the campaign and its outcome is here.
Oxford Brookes Community Liaison team @BrookesCLO put up Christmas decorations in Headington, all made out of recycled materials.
Six places in Headington are listed as possibly going on the City Council’s Heritage Assets register: All Saints Church, Lime Walk; Coach House to Dorset House, London Road; 58 Old Road (All Saints Vicarage); Wall of Warnford Hospital fronting Warnford Lane; Hillsboro, 14 Holyoake Road (Formerly the home of C.S. Lewis and his landlady Mrs. Moore); and Cuckoo Lane.
The Stansfeld Education Centre, at the end of Douglas Downes Close off Quarry Road is owned by Birmingham City Council. It is losing money and Birmingham City is consulting on its future. The Centre, also known as The Forest School, is also used by local groups including schools, scouts and guides. The whole site covers 17 acres. More information on these links:
Friends of Quarry have drawn up a comprehensive set of proposals for tackling the traffic problems in Quarry. Worth reading!
In a confusion of several myths (King Alfred, Father Christmas, Narnia ….?) the Fire Services were called to an incident in Kiln Lane, Risinghurst when a batch of mince pies caught fire in the Community Centre oven.
Active topics on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week:
- Nationality-based shopping at Headington Coop?
- Consultation on the future of Stansfield Education Centre
- Is our red phone box worth fighting for?
- Kebab shop in Headington – article in the Oxford Mail today
- Eastern Bypass – broken water main today