churches

Headington Headlines #48

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 30 January – 5 February —

Strong feelings about traffic signs in cycle lanes and the design of road ‘improvements’ in the Lime Walk and Highfield areas continued to be expressed on the e-democracy forum.

Costa Coffee were refused planning permission for a change of use to open a coffee shop where Cartridge World used to be.

The Russian Orthodox Church of St Nicholas The Wonderworker in Ferry Road, Marston was given planning permission to ring its bells. The bells are a gift to the Church from Voronezh in Russia.

There was a robbery in Barton Lane last Friday. @TVP_Oxford appealed for witnesses or information.

Retired Headington dentist Raymond Read has died at the age of 89. He had a surgery in Windmill Road.

A ferret called Chaos has gone missing from his home in Lime Walk.

This map shows the location of some of the places mentioned in this report.

My favorite Headington-related tweet this week:

Active topics on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week:

  • Road signs in cycle lanes
  • Latimer Rd London Rd Jct
  • New Lime Walk and All Saints junction “improvements”
  • Church Bells in Ferry Rd, Marston

I try to cover news from the OX3 postcode in Headington and out as far as Barton, Sandhills and Risinghurst (see map). To feed into next week’s summary you can comment on this article, or tweet either with the hashtag #ox3 or @mentioning @TonyOX3.

Headington Headlines #46

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 16 – 22 January —

Posh Fish suffered a fire on Friday. They had one before in 2008, and before that when it was the Mediterranean Fish Bar another in 2002. History (near bottom of page, LH column) | Photo on Friday.

Sandhills Community Primary School was closed on Monday and Tuesday because they had no heating.

The base of the ‘Storybook’ Tree in Bury Knowle Park is rotting away. Article | Original picture

The new junction at All Saints’ Road/Lime Walk is proving unpopular.

The Oxford Book Fair (@OxfordBookFair) was held at @Oxford_Brookes‘ Gipsy Lane Campus on Saturday and Sunday.

It was announced that Dee Sinclair, City Councillor for Quarry & Risinghurst, to be Sheriff of Oxford from May.

The Russian Orthodox Church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker in New Marston celebrated the baptism of Christ with a blessing of the waters at Parson’s Pleasure on the Cherwell on Friday. Pictures.

Two Headington-related tweets I liked this week. The first echoes a common theme:


and this one I liked as an example of the problems middle-class residents face:


Active topics on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week:

  • Lack of seating in Bury Knowle Park
  • Shocking acknowledgement of the extent of the housing crisis in Oxford
  • New Lime Walk and All Saints junction “improvements”
  • Thornhill Park and Ride….again
  • Cycling bottleneck through Headington, junction of London Road with Windmill Road
  • Peacocks
  • Thornhill park and ride and morning rush hour queueing
  • Royal Mail customer services

I try to cover news from the OX3 postcode in Headington and out as far as Barton, Sandhills and Risinghurst (see map). To feed into next week’s summary you can comment on this article, or tweet either with the hashtag #ox3 or @mentioning @TonyOX3.

Headington Headlines #36

TonyOX3

Here is my round-up of local news for the week 31 October – 6 November —

As world leaders at the G20 summit in Cannes struggled to keep the Eurozone intact, here in Headington we seem to be having a spate of burglaries. There was a series of them over the last two weeks of October and @TVP_Oxford has issued a request for information and set out advice to householders to help prevent their property being targeted.

Churches have also been hit. Burglars broke through a window into the United Reform Church in Collingwood Road, Risinghurst and damaged cupboards inside the church, stealing money and The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal collection pot, totalling £11. Again, @TVP_Oxford are appealing for information.

Another church, St Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Russian Orthodox Church in Ferry Road, Marston was burgled on two consecutive nights. A brass-plated steel cross from the church’s roof was stolen on Saturday, October 22, and irreplaceable religious relics were taken the following night. Members of the congregation have started sleeping in the church to prevent further intrusions.

On a lighter note, members of St Nicholas’ are getting together for informal social evenings on the first Tuesday of each month in the Victoria Arms, Old Marston, and Headington Baptist Church celebrated the fifth anniversary of its new building on Saturday with coffee, cakes, games & fun.

Four men (from Wembley & High Wycombe) were charged with robbing a taxi driver in Headington early on Sunday morning and a woman had her handbag snatched in Gardiner Street in the early hours of Thursday morning.

In other news (as they say) the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre merged to become the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Oxford Ink (@OxfordInk) opened a new tattoo studio on Roundway (by Headington Roundabout), but Caffé Toscano on the London Road closed.

The Masons Arms (@TheMasonsArmsHQ) launched their shiny new website and @BigBangMax (aka @BigBangPopup) re-emerged as a pop-up sausagery at @Oxford_Brookes‘ Gypsy Lane Restaurant, open from Thursdays to Saturdays.

The campaign to recognise the “Final Turn” into the JR Hospital was reported in the Oxford Mail.

The postponed Barton Bash, a mix of facepainting, bouncy castles, and a host of arts and crafts workshops, will be held in the refurbished Neighbourhood Centre, due to be completed in time for the event on Saturday, November 19.

And finally (as they also say) the Internet and twitter triumphed in identifying the location of ‘the stinky’ in Marston, which was mentioned in one of the police reports. It turns out to be the copse/nature reserve just off Copse Lane opposite the old Cavalier pub. It only remains to know why it earned that name, and whether the developers building flats on the Cavalier site will recognise this local tradition in the name of their development.

My favorite Headington-related tweet this week:

Active topics on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week:

  • Disused Cricket Ground Barton Road.
  • Road works at Rock Edge
  • Bus Defiance Clogs Headington
  • Smoking at JR Hospital
  • Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Headington & Barton bus service
  • Quarry Gate Pub
  • Thames Valley Police messages
I try to cover news from the OX3 postcode in Headington and out as far as Barton, Sandhills and Risinghurst (see map). To feed into next week’s summary you can comment on this article, or tweet either with the hashtag #ox3 or @mentioning @TonyOX3.