Oxford's Story Museum re-opens tomorrow after a short break for maintenance. Scaffolding has been put in place for roof repairs, thanks to grants from the FCC Communities Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Headley Trust, Theatres Trust, Foyle Foundation, and private supporters.

A new school-based nursery has opened at St Mary’s C of E Primary School in Chipping Norton. The nursery is part of a £37m government investment in new or enlarged nurseries to meet an expansion of funded childcare. MP Sean Woodcock celebrated the policy at the nursery in Chipping Norton this week.

Wychwood School in North Oxford has been nominated for the award for Outstanding Engagement in the Community by the Independent Schools Association. The nomination is in recognition of the outreach work including Wychwood Inspires Saturdays, and work with local primary schools.

We were delighted to be mentioned in this powerful Guardian article by George Monbiot about the state of British journalism. “You cannot speak truth to power if power controls your words… but perhaps the ground is shifting.” #wearealltheclarion www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“Britain is fractured. The only way to rectify this is to reorganise.” Oxford trade union activist Toby James writes for the Clarion on the power of collective action in a world of remote work and self-employment – and how Oxford can lead the way. oxfordclarion.uk/time-for-oxf...

International “ice-cream boutique” Amorino is heading for Oxford. It plans to take on the former Burger King unit at 24 Cornmarket, and has lodged a planning application with Oxford City Council. Founded in Paris in 2002, the company has more than 250 stores.

Plans to move Oxfordshire County Council’s HQ to Speedwell House, just off St Aldates, could be rethought after “a potentially significant archaeological find” at the site. OCC has recently sold County Hall for redevelopment as a hotel, meaning the council will need a new home from spring 2027.

Henley’s River & Rowing Museum closed its doors for the final time yesterday, after 27 years operating beside the banks of the Thames. Its trustees said the museum was “ultimately just too ambitious” and the award-winning modernist building too expensive to maintain.

Kids reclaimed the streets of Oxford in Kidical Mass, a family bike ride, around the city centre earlier today. Our special report and photo gallery 👇 oxfordclarion.uk/kids-claim-t...

An Oxfordshire blue plaque to the artist Sir Muirhead Bone was unveiled yesterday (20 September 2025) at Grayflete in Vernon Avenue off Harcourt Hill. He designed this house and lived in it from 1931 to 1953 [via @oxblueplaques.bsky.social ] www.oxonblueplaques.org.uk/plaques/bone...

Earlier this week, US chip-maker Nvidia announced intention to invest £2 billion in UK Artifical Intelligence (AI) startup companies. Oxa, the Culham, Oxfordshire autonomous vehicle technology company was one of 8 named recipients. AI applications are big users of Nvidia chips.

Once more for the weekend long read crowd 👇

Demonstrators faced each other outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Oxford today. Pro immigration protesters numbered around 100 and bore placards saying ‘Hope not Hate’, ‘Everyone is welcome here’ and ‘The only minority destroying the country are billionaires.’

Somerville College’s proposed new Ratan Tata Building, in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, has been given planning permission by Oxford City Council. The building will be mostly teaching and learning space with tutor offices, study space and seminar rooms.

Good to see the entirely volunteer-run, no-ad, free-to-read @oxfordclarion.bsky.social included in @georgemonbiot.bsky.social’s list of proper local journalists. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Once more for the weekend long read crowd 👇

Labour’s deputy group leader on Cherwell District Council has crossed the floor to the Conservatives, making the Conservatives the new official opposition to the Liberal Democrats who control the council. Dr Chukwudi Okeke is councillor for Banbury Cross and Neithrop.

Oxford University tutors will have to get used to being told “You’re absolutely right!” with a liberal sprinkling of em-dashes as the university rolls out ChatGPT free to staff+students. An AI Competency Centre and “enterprise-level security” are part of the initiative. www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-09...

Oxford’s George Street Social bar has been snapped up by Morgan Pub Co, who run the nearby Grapes and the Oranges & Lemons on St Clements. They are aiming to open from Saturday evening. Previous owner Young’s had ended their lease because it didn’t fit with their pub portfolio.

Oxfordshire’s weekly news in one informative/variety-packed/occasionally snarky roundup. This week: 🌁 Oxpens bridge challenge rejected ⛪️ Beautiful stained glass window 🍺 Irascible innkeeper 👑 Game of Thrones, Didcot edition 🐈‍⬛ Obligatory cat Read online or by email: oxfordclarion.uk/clarion-week...

Very last call for content as we finalise tomorrow's newsletter. Events and local media still welcome. We have the BEST contributors. #wearealltheclarion (oh, and sign up if you want it in your inbox tomorrow lunchtime. Its free). oxfordclarion.uk

Billionaire Oxford donor Stephen Schwarzman sat next to the Prime Minister at the state banquet for Donald Trump. Schwarzman gave £150m for Oxford University's Humanities Centre, a further £3m to restore the adjacent Radcliffe Observatory, and an undisclosed amount to Trump's presidential campaign.

Could you be the face of OUFC's fans? The club is looking for models for retail photo shoots in and around Oxford and say no previous modelling experience is necessary.👇 www.oufc.co.uk/news/models-...

The Chabad Jewish community building at 75 Cowley Road, established in 1988 and with a resident rabbi, is proposed for rebuilding to “address all their communal and personal requirements”.

Five new businesses have taken space in Oxford’s Covered Market over the summer, according to the City Council. They include Lula’s Ethiopian Café, opening a second outlet after a first on Frideswide Square, and Cowley Road’s Arbequina, taking on the former Blueblood premises.

An Oxford writer, Mark Piesing, has won The Best Un-Manned Systems Submission in the global Aerospace Media Awards 2025. His winning article, The Secret History of Drones, was published in the Smithsonian's Air and Space Magazine. www.aerospacemediadinner.com

Pioneering folk band Fairport Convention will play Banbury’s Mill Arts Centre as part of their UK tour. Creators of Fairport Cropredy Convention, 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.

The latest plans for Witney’s High Street, where traffic has been largely restricted to buses, taxis and Blue Badge holders, have been put out to consultation. The mini roundabout with Welch Way will be replaced with a corner junction, and a new zebra crossing installed.

A former community bus service in South Oxon has been taken on by Thames Travel. The Goring–Wallingford 134 was previously run by Going Forward Buses, the project of Goring resident Mike Ward. He said “We hope they will have as much fun operating the route as we have had for the past eight years.”

Blackwells’ bookshop will open early on Thursday 23 October for the publication of The Rose Field, the conclusion of Oxford author Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust trilogy. He will be speaking about it at an event at the Sheldonian that Saturday. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philip-pul...

The architect behind Oxford Ice Rink, Nicholas Grimshaw, has died at the age of 85. Built in 1984, the ice rink was one of his earlier projects before Waterloo International (1993) and the Eden Project (2001). Its distinctive masts are intended to “make reference to Oxford’s famous spires”.

A new bakery has opened in Abingdon. The Ock River Bakery on Ock Street offers artisan breads, pastries, sandwiches and other treats. There is coffee and a small outdoor seating area. It’s run by Maria, former Head Chef at the well regarded Eyston Arms in East Hendred.

Banbury’s Labour MP Sean Woodcock has called out roundabouts being painted with red and white flags as “vandalism”, saying “it doesn’t honour our nation, it disrespects it… we must reject racism and bigotry outright.” oxfordclarion.uk/we-must-neve...

The Dean of the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, Soumitra Dutta, has resigned. Bloomberg reported that a university investigation “upheld three allegations of breach of the university’s harassment policy by Dutta made by a female academic”.

The current owner of one of Oxfordshire’s most storied inns, the Spread Eagle in Thame, has been ordered to pay £29,000 after “a series of significant hygiene issues”. The Spread Eagle was owned by John Fothergill from 1922 to 1930, who wrote ‘The Innkeeper’s Diary’ about his time at the inn.

A company set up on 2 September, TNT Convenience Ltd, has applied for a licence to sell alcohol at 19 Park End Street (Frideswide Square). The licence of the current store at 19 Park End St, Uni Food & Wine, was revoked in March after “persistent & continued non-compliance with licensed conditions”.

Magdalen College School’s detailed plans for a new Science, Library & Partnerships Building on Iffley Road have gone live with a planning application submitted to Oxford City Council. Existing school buildings will be demolished to make room for the 4,000m² development.

Following an arrest yesterday, 30-year old Romario Qatja of Pipkin Way, Oxford, has been charged with attempted murder in connection with running over two people in St Clements on Saturday. One remains in hospital with potentially life-changing injuries. www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news/thames-...

The Oxfordshire County Council Parking Schemes and Traffic Orders Team won the Traffic Team Award in the prestigious British Parking Awards 2025 organised by Landor Links – “the Oscars of the UK parking sector”. The competition attracted over 180 entries in 26 categories.

Campaigners are seeking statements from anyone who has walked Electric Road, the path from Osney Mead to South Hinksey. The path is not yet formally a public right of way, meaning access could be withdrawn at any time; the campaign aims to apply for it to become one.

A plan for 450 new homes on the north-western edge of Witney, next to the Minster Lovell and Crawley roads, has been lodged with West Oxfordshire District Council. The Curbridge Downs development of mostly two-storey buildings would have 40% affordable homes, with half the site left as open space.

Researchers from the Oxford Centre for Microbiome Studies are inviting families to a Poo Trivia Quiz for Biology Week 2025. The online event is a free, family-friendly quiz created by poo scientists. They aim to help everyone learn more about what happens in the gut. pootriviaquiz.eventbrite.co.uk

Water quality at Wolvercote Mill Stream is the worst since records began, according to Environment Agency testing. As a designated bathing site, water is tested for e. coli and intestinal enterococci which usually get into water from sewage & animal manure. environment.data.gov.uk/bwq/profiles...

A 30-year old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after running over two men in their 20s in Oxford city centre. Police are still appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage. www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news/thames-...

Two people running a dog breeding business in the Banbury area have received custodial sentences and fines for unlicensed dog breeding and animal cruelty. They have also been banned from keeping dogs.

Plans for a new railfreight hub and warehousing site at Ardley, north Oxfordshire, are going out to consultation. The plans envisage an “intermodal rail terminal” between Heyford Airfield (itself proposed as the site of Heyford Park new town) and the Chiltern main line railway.

A new stained glass window by acclaimed artist Thomas Denny has been installed at Christ Church Cathedral, depicting the parable of the Prodigal Son. One of only a few UK stained glass painters, Denny has made some 50 windows for churches and cathedrals, including Hereford, Durham, and Gloucester.

A man has been left with “potentially life-changing injuries” after an assault with a motor vehicle in Oxford city centre last night. Thames Valley Police say “The driver of a grey Mercedes mounted the pavement and ran over two men in their twenties in St Clements at around 10.30pm.”

Former Banbury MP Victoria Prentis has announced a diagnosis of an aggressive cancer, though she says she has an “excellent prognosis”. Baroness Prentis of Banbury made the announcement as part of a Lords debate on assisted dying on Friday. hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-0...

96 families took part in a family triathlon this morning in aid of the South Oxford Family Room at Grandpont. Competitors completed 6 lengths of Hinksey Pool, 3 running laps of Dean's Ham (1.8 km), and 4 cycling laps of Grandpont Nature Park (6 km) in whole, part, or in relay. triathlon.sofr.org.uk