Local voices, Strange Things and the guides, written by people who live here.
58 stories
Story · Strange Things · 6 minute read
A king who would rule England if he could see Long Compton, a witch who turned him and his army to stone, and stones that go down to drink at midnight. The Rollright legend was written down from local people in the 1890s, and Long Compton's belief in witches was no joke.
Story · Guides · 13 minute read
Things to do in Banbury: the Cross and the Fine Lady, the Thursday and Saturday market, the free museum and Tooley's boatyard on the canal, then Broughton Castle, Upton House and the brewery at Hook Norton, with what it costs and what to skip.
Story · Guides · 8 minute read
Things to do in Bicester: St Edburg's Church, the Market Square and the Friday market, the town trail and Garth Park, Bicester Village, the Scramble days at Bicester Heritage, then the Cold War tours at Heyford Park and Rousham's garden, with what to skip.
Story · Guides · 8 minute read
The villages between Banbury and Bicester, group by group: the Cherwell valley from Somerton to Kirtlington, the plateau villages of Souldern, Fritwell and Middleton Stoney, and the quiet country north-east of Bicester. Which are worth a stop, what each has, which have no pub.
Story · Guides · 14 minute read
The villages near Banbury, group by group: ironstone, canal, the Edge, the Cherwell valley, the North Oxfordshire Cotswolds and South Northamptonshire. The prettiest are Great Tew and Wroxton. The best to live in are bigger, and they are not the same villages.
Story · Guides · 8 minute read
Walks near Banbury: the towpath to Cropredy, the Ironstone Heritage Walk from the station, short circles round Wroxton and Adderbury, the Edgehill ridge, Badby's bluebell wood and the parish walks at Great Tew, Hook Norton and Kings Sutton, with distances, stiles and parking.
Story · Guides · 6 minute read
Walks near Bicester: the Historic Town Trail and the West Health Route in the town, the Oxfordshire Way from Kirtlington and a circle over the Cherwell meadows to Somerton Mill, with distances, stiles, buses and the walks we are holding back.
Story · Guides · 6 minute read
Where to eat in Bicester: a hotel Sunday lunch, a Wetherspoon and a Japanese izakaya in the town, three restaurants at Bicester Village, then the village pubs within 15 minutes that are worth the drive, at Caulcott, Hethe, Souldern, Kirtlington and Steeple Aston.
Story · Guides · 5 minute read
Where to stay in Bicester: a family hotel and a Travelodge in town, a Premier Inn on its edge, rooms at Bicester Heritage, a Travelodge at the M40, a hotel on the Banbury road, rooms over a pub at Souldern, a narrowboat at Lower Heyford, and why Banbury is often the better base.
Story · Strange Things · 5 minute read
Wroxton Abbey was never an abbey, its owners only ever leased it, and the prime minister who lost America lies blind and buried in the village church. Add a Gothic dovecote, a monument to three wives and a thatched Catholic church built by a man who changed his name.
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