The Stuff We Can't Fit In Somewhere Else in Oxford, Oxfordshire*

The things which can't be categorised

You can tell us more about Oxford.

The Stuff We Can't Fit In Somewhere Else

• On the whole Oxford is a fun place to live, but there are many problems. Main one is too much contrast between rich spoiled kids living it up on parental money and flashing their posh accents and bad behaviour around, contrasting with scruffy and deprived beggars, dossers and yobs who infest town centre. Surprising levels of violence and agression ensue for a small city. Northern part of city is opulent, southern pleasant or squalid by turns. People over-estimate horrors of Cowley Road, which is mostly quite pleasant and has some nice restaraunts. Most students are hard working and decent though, and the foreign tourists are more of a hassle than them on the whole. House prices and rentals are absurdly high, boosted even more in recent years by growing tendancy of wealthy parents to buy nice pads for their indulged student offspring as well as flash cars and designer clothing. Oxford is living proof that 19 year olds from todays elite families have a ten times better lifestyle than hard working 40 year old grunts. Vive la difference!
• It's like Cambridge, only further south and west!
• Overall, one of the better towns I've been to. Good nightlife, easy on the eye and generally pretty friendly.
• Aloe Awarness evening presented by distributor for Forever Living Products.Venue is Mornese Centre,Our Ladys Convent Near Original Swan.Start Time 19:00. 10% of the proceeds will go to Helen House Hospice
• The best place for a scenic, short walk is to start at the Folly Bridge and walk west up the river, stopping at Osney Island for a pint before heading up to Jericho. The best place to kiss is along the Magalden Deer Park path inside Magdalen College (during the summer, non-students can get in for a small charge). It's especially nice at dusk, when the mist turns blue.
• Yes, there's lots of beggars in Oxford, even though the level of street crime is pretty low. I wonder if they come from London 'cause it's safer here for them. I think the reason people are hard on them is a) Because there's so many and because Oxford's such a small place you bump into one every ten minutes or so walking around. Have you ever tried buying a Big Issue outside the Natwest at the top of Cornmarket Street and then walking up St Giles towards Little Clarendon Street while reading it? Every homeless person on St Giles thinks you're a soft touch and starts following you up the street. b) You can spend your money on them and then the next day see where it went by walking up to the Westgate Centre and observing behind the dark green baguette van (next to the monument).
• March 10th.2002Automatic Ticket gates are now a feature of Oxford Central Railway Station.Fare dodging days are over for undergraduates? Outside in the station "car park"are about 2,000 rubbish bikes. No kidding.This is scuzzy bike paradise.More bikes here than anywhere next to Holland? The Saudi Business School is finished and open. Cornmarket is now bus free and pedestrianised. Meanwhile the cold wind still blows down it and the Covered Market is as scuzzy as ever with piles of sausages, dead animals with fur but no heads hanging on hooks everywhere and really bad dodgy meat pies all over the places.Yug!

• I really hate Oxford. I lived outside for about 18 years. Getting in was ALWAYS a huge hassle. The usual teenage saga of last buses-if they turned up-at 10.30pm, freezing cold mopeds,cold as ice discos,fanatically cliquey little pubs full of very different types-non locals-who would NEVER speak to you, problems galore in obtaining even the basic necessities like bike repair parts etc. And all the time hard nuts loking to beat you up. Yuk!
• There's a good event on the last weekend of September called St Giles Fair with stalls and fun fair attractions right in the city centre. It marks the end of the harvest season and was traditionally when people bought grain for the cold months. As we say hereabouts 'When St Giles Fair is out, winter comes up St Aldates'(another city centre street).
• Theres a real hard on attitude in Oxford against "scroungers""alternatives"etc. The other side is there is a lot of them! Why cant people just live and let live ....for free?!
• look out for a up and coming grunge rock band called zygote you are me(jimi),ed,gayness who is actually straight
• To the pratts who think all students are kids of millionaires who snort coke- no we're not you wankers. some of us come from council estates too you know - and it goes on cleverness these days, not 'who you know'.
• Under point number six, the guide indicates that it costs 3.00 and one hour to get to London, By bus, it takes about two hours, and is about 7 pounds on the 'Oxford Tube' (bus service). Picks up at the bus depot, and drops off at Victoria station and runs every 10mins 24 hours, seven days. Cheers, Tim.
• If you are a rich toff spending three years at University from a leading public school with a rich daddy behind you you will have the time of your life in your wooden panelled apartment with your name painted in gold leaf on the door as you drink college port and screw beautiful rich student beauties whilst snorting cocaine or travelling to exotic locations inbetween time. but if you aint then its a miserable hell hole-get on the next train for London!

• Accommodation: No No No it's not true that all the guest houses on Iffley and Cowley Road are for the DSS some of the nicest, lovliest guest houses are on Iffley Road and mine is one of the best, and we're cheaper than those toffs in North Oxford, and Supergrass can be seen walking the streets.
• Best? Hard to define. There's loads of good things about Oxford, but skater-wise it's probably the amount of places to skate and the skaters you can find there. Me and some mates went to the ramp for the first time and we were really shit. But the other skaters were OK and didn't slag us off, and they encouraged us to practice more. The lamest thing is the people who don't like skaters. We got thrown off from seven places in one day. It's not just the Feds, you get slagged off and threatened by other people.
• And here's a more general-interest view: Those who are in Oxford for the first time must, and I mean must, visit the colleges of Oxford University. They are smashing (provided that you like old crumbling buildings) particularly Christ Church College and The University College. Try and visit the Christ Church Meadows and University Park during summer or spring. They are both very lovely parks where you can sit for hours sunning yourself.
  Some colleges require the visitors to pay admission fees but they are normally in the range of 1-3 depending on the size and popularity of the colleges and students can get discounts for the admission charges. All you need to do is to flash your student card.
  Oxford is a beautiful place and it has loads of shops in the city centre. Punting and rowing is a must for tourists during spring and summer. There are 40 Oxford University colleges and they are all within walking distances to each and everyone of the colleges. They surround the city centre of Oxford. That's all: come to Oxford and see the beauty of the colleges and the parks.
• Cowley Road is THE place in Oxford. Makes Camden look like a church social. TOO many excellent bands. TOO many trendy people. TOO much alcohol.
  When in Oxford... Pick up a copy of NIGHTSHIFT. It's a local free paper (get it in pubs, clubs, record shops and venues) It's extremely funny, well written and has everything that's worth seeing in it.
• The area east of Magdalen bridge is your best bet. There's no colleges and precious few Oxbridge toffs.
• Best & Worst? Don't feel you have to do the colleges - much the same as any other ancient city of learning established.. you know the story. Some of us like it, some not so much. Come to Oxford to see a friend, or make one; not just for the brickwork! HUGE WARNING: the cold in Oxford (like in Cambridge) can make any previous cold you have experience seem like actually quite a nice warm day. This cold is the cold of coldness. And I mean very cold. The wind doesn't come direct from Siberia, it starts in Oxford and then goes to Siberia, where it is warmer.
• Do come to Oxford, it is a beautiful city. However(!) there are some buts. Although the Cowley Road is a fascinating place, very cosmopolitan, extremely interesting, trendy, studenty etc, it can also be dangerous. Because of its cosmopolitan nature, not everybody lives harmoniously together - sometimes there are racially related fights/stabbings etc. If you are female don't wonder down there on your own at night.
  The other thing about Oxford which isn't mentioned to tourists is that the locals and the students don't always mix well. Some locals hold a grudge against students for some reasons best known to themselves. You will find some pubs are for locals and some for students.
  If you are staying in Oxford it is a good centre for touring. There are very regular buses to London, which take just over an hour to the centre of London and they cost under 3.00 for the day. If you are looking for a guest house to stay in in Oxford try to avoid the Iffley Road and Cowley Road areas. These are often 'DSS' guest houses and not really suitable for holiday stays. There are some nice, reasonably priced, guest houses on the Banbury Road/Woodstock Road or in Headington, or outside the city centre. If you like walking there are lots of places in and around the Oxford area and some beautiful scenery to be found.
  Colleges - my favorite is Christ Church, as it is set by the river and has Christ Church meadows surrounding it. It costs to go inside the building though. Most other colleges do not charge, but some bank holidays they are shut to visitors. Wolfson College, which is further out off the Banbury Road is also lovely. It is a 1960's graduate college - so a more modern building - but again set on the river. Take a punt down the river during the summer, these can be booked at Magdalen Bridge area. There is also a boat which goes down to Abingdon (5 miles south of Oxford) and back - a pretty journey!
  Shops - pay a visit to Little Clarendon Street off St Giles - again expensive but worth it. Some nice bars/restaurants there too.
• Some friends came to stay from the U.S and got a great deal renting a used car from Oxford Economy Hatchback Hire (01865 63615).
• Oxford is beautiful. In fact, it is at its best in the spring or the early autumn, let's say October. A perfect, cosy little hotel to stay at is the The Old Black Horse, just east of Magdalen Bridge. The floors are uneven, the ceiling is low, but the breakfast is adequate, prices are very reasonable and you are less than a minute's walk from High Street. When crossing the Magdalen Bridge in the morning you can enjoy the beautiful colours of early autumn and the magnificent scenary with the lime stone of Magdalen Tower flooded in orange sunlight. You can walk from there to all places of interest, but do visit the district east of the hotel as well. Not so many university items, but a friendly area with several nice and unexpensive little restaurants.
• Great browsing cheap! bookstores - Arcadia on St Michael's Lane next to The Nosebag Cafe. Waterfields - on Park End.
• Exeter College is the best college in Oxford by far, it has a beautiful fellows garden and really friendly students. Also it has a pretty good men's 1st VIII.

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