pubs

Headington Headlines #145

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 6 – 12 January.

The White Hart in Old Headington was voted CAMRA’s City of Oxford Pub of the Year.

@OxfordBusCo announced changes to their Route 4 services effective from 26 January. Part of the change will affect Wood Farm.

A new B&B Guest House, The Oxford Guest House, opened at 228 London Road.

A power cut hit parts of Headington on Sunday evening (yesterday).

Latimer Road is closed all this week for resurfacing.

Headington School is recruiting: Director of Sport, Deputy Head of Co-Curriculum, Head of Boarding – Residential and Housemistress – Residential (link via @jjhutchings).

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

  • Barton – opinions
  • Its Headington powered its own future
  • The Cavalier pub
I 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 #141

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 9 – 15 December.

The owner of the Fairview Inn in Glebelands is retiring after being given three weeks notice to quit following the sale of the pub to an unknown buyer. Although the current owners say the new owners will continue to run it as a pub the future is uncertain until the new owners reveal themselves. There was a farewell party in the pub on Thursday.

A new bench celebrating C S Lewis’ character Reepicheep from the Narnia stories has been installed in Bury Knowle Park.

LibDem Councillors @DavidRundle, @RuthWilk and @RosalindRogers wrote a letter published in the Oxford Mail asking the City Council to extend Christmas cheap parking to Headington car park to help local businesses.

A letter in the Oxford Mail from Councillor Mick Haines says that Tesco will start building on the site of the Friar pub in February.

Slade House, the care home and other services run by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, which closed to new admissions three weeks ago (see HH 139) is under investigation by health regulator Monitor.

The red phone box next to the Baptist Church in Old High Street is under threat of removal by BT. Locals led by Cllr @RuthWilk have mounted a last-minute attempt to save it. It’s the last surviving red phone box in Oxford outside the city centre. See these links for more on this story.

The Shark House in New High Street is back on the rental market again. For only £2300 pcm you can live under a landmark.

The Guardian published a long interview/article with Headington-resident author Brian Aldiss.

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

  • London Road proposed cycle lane consultation
  • Noise in Quarry
  • Kebab shop in Headington – article in the Oxford Mail today
  • Chain stores in Headington
  • Is our red phone box worth fighting for?
  • Nationality-based shopping at Headington Coop?
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 #138

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 18 – 24 November.

There might soon be a Friends of Headington Hill Park group. It’s been trailed on the e-democracy forum (link below) and The Oxford Mail picked up the story.

Also on the e-democracy forum there was another blow to @BartonPark_‘s claim that ‘Barton Park’ was chosen after widespread consultation when @AlexLalvani discovered that Grosvenor had registered the domain name bartonparkoxford.com back in May 2011.

The freehold of Kennett House, the block of shops and offices on the corner of Kennett Road, including HSBC Bank, Iceland, two charity shops and Brookes’ offices above, is being sold by auction on 3 December. The guide price is £2.25m – £2.5m. It doesn’t necessarily mean any changes in the immedite future though. The agents’ details are here – go to the online catalogue for 3 December and look for Lot 99. I expect the details will vanish once the auction is over.

More on the refurbishment of tower blocks in Northway and Wood Farm: they may be getting bright stripy tiles! Consultation details in last week’s HH.

Local councillors @laurencepbaxter, @redmikerowley and @delia_sinclair kept up the campaign for a light-controlled crossing on the A40 at Risinghurst. A review is due to finish by April but lack of funds may mean nothing gets done.

PCSOs mounted an anti-speeding campaign in Lime Walk (20mph zone) on Wednesday evening. Five vehicles caught speeding and one stopped for faulty lights and cannabis use.

Bury Knowle Park is to get an outdoor chess table like this thanks to @RuthWilk and @DavidRundle‘s ward budget. You’ll have to bring your own chessmen though.

C S Lewis’ former house in Holyoake Road is under offer (link via @headingtonnews). Earlier report.

Highfield Residents’ Association took over @ButchersArmsOxf on Saturday night for an evening of folk and other fun.

The church of St Anthony of Padua held its Christmas Bazaar on Sunday.

Headington’s Christmas tree is in its traditional place outside Barclays on the corner of Old High Street.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Headington event tomorrow 1-3pm – Silver Star Society Christmas Party, John Radcliffe Hospital
  • The Local Plan: What is it? Why do we have it? How can it change?
  • Changes to the Britannia Inn
  • Host Families required
  • St Anthony of Padua Church Christmas Bazaar this Sunday
  • Who would like to be a friend of Headington Hill Park?
  • New Headington bus routes
  • Auction of block of shops and offices in central Headington
  • Events in Headington
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.