Oxford in Bloom 2004
In 2004 Headington gardeners won eleven top awards in the residential section:
- Best-kept small front garden: Gold and Silver
- Best kept large front garden: Silver
- Best-kept small back garden: Bronze (two awards)
- Best-kept large back garden: Silver
- Most beautiful hanging basket: Silver
- Most beautiful balcony: Silver
- Environmentally friendly garden: Silver
- Residential winners of 2003: Bronze
- First time entrant: Gold
The only prize for businesses went to the Six Bells, which won the Gold for the best-kept public house section. The colleges and guest houses of Headington won no prizes at all. |
Old quarry to be community space?
Magdalen Quarry off Gladstone Road is now a nature reserve, but suffers from anti-social behaviour. City councillor Dee Sinclair suggested it should become a community space, protected by key holders.
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Security guards for charity shop
The Marie Curie Cancer Care shop in Headington has been using prisoners on licence as security guards:
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New bus and cycle lane
The County Council has installed a new east-bound bus lane on the London Road near the Green Road roundabout. As this makes the road very much narrower, the cycle lane going in the opposite direction on the other side of the road has to go up on to the pavement.
Cyclox had as the first item on their agenda at its public meeting on 1 December 2004: "London Road: a cycle route is being moved on to the pavement so it goes through a bus stop and past the entrance to a retirement home. Brainstorm: how does Cyclox further the protests?"
A copy of the Oxfordshire County Council (Bus Lanes and Cycle Lanes) Amendment Order 2004, which includes a map of this part of the London Road and the reasons for making the order, can be inspected during office hours at County Hall.
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New Delicatessen
La Plaza delicatessen is now open at the former Chef's Pantry shop at 113 London Road. The city council refused to certify that the use of this shop for the sale of fast food was lawful: application 04/0094.
La Patisserie Imperial at 148 London Road gained permission to change from A1 to A3 status (applications 03/00489 and 04/00022), as it is outside the primary frontage area of the Headington shopping centre. It reopened as Yummy, a Chinese, Thai, and Malaysian café and take-away, bringing the total number of restaurants, cafés and hot-food take-aways in the centre of Headington to seventeen. |
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Headington Poetry Competition 2004
Adult winners:
• 1st Prize: Susanna Reece
• 2nd Prize: Janet Stansfeld
• 3rd Prize: Ralph Lewin
Honourable mention: Richard Jeffery, Mary Parke, A.J. Miller, Stephen Tall
Child winners:
• 1st Prize: Katie Honey
• 2nd Prize: Katie Neal
• 3rd Prize: Zoe Cheung
Honourable mention: Kate Ellis-Sawyer, Bethan Morris, Zora Newsome, Ellie Kay
Entries were judged by the poet Bernard O’Donoghue (Fellow in English at Wadham College, Oxford).
A booklet containing all the entries is available for purchase from Time & Elegance in Windmill Road (proceeds to Headington Christmas lights).
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Former W.H. Smith shop
W.H. Smith have sold nine stores nationwide, including the one in Headington (which when it opened in 1999 was their smallest UK store at 800sq.ft ). It has office and staff facilities on two floors above and an 80ft garden at the rear.
It was bought by Mukesh Amin, who owns retail stores in the London area, in 2004. The shop (to be known as "Premier") has been granted a licence to sell intoxicating liquor (to be consumed off the premises). |
Warneford Meadow
This meadow has been earmarked for development in the Draft Oxford Local Plan for 2001–2016.
A public meeting chaired by Bill Heine was held on 18 June 2004 about the proposed development.
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Shark comes of age
The Headington Shark was 18 years old on Monday 9 August 2004. The shark was much admired by Bernard Levin, who in 1992 wrote a long article in The Times about it, describing it as a "splendid lark" and adding:
"There is nothing about smiling in the analects of the planning committee of the Oxford city council, and that august body ruled that it must come down, giving as the reason that it had been put up without planning permission, or more likely just because it was delightful, innocent, fresh and amusing — all qualities abhorred by such committees."
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New entrance to Headington Hill Hall
A new gate through the listed back wall of Headington Hill Hall was installed by Oxford Brookes University in 2004. It provides access from Cuckoo Lane for students living in John Garne Way. At the moment it is usually kept locked. |
Cyclist mugger
A youth on a bike tried to mug a woman in Old High Street after she had withdrawn money from Barclays cash machine between 2.30pm and 3pm on Thursday 1 April 2004.
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Toucan ...
The former pelican crossing at Latimer Road is now a toucan crossing, where pedestrians and cyclists share a wide and unsegregated crossing area, and there is no flashing amber light.
The pavement cycle lane on the south side of the London Road has been improved, with the loss of the grass verge. The final part connecting the two sections across the top part of Latimer Road was completed on 4 March. It has been officially confirmed that these narrow cycle lanes are two-way, so pedestrians need to watch out.
The county council consulted on the idea, but only had eleven representations: five in favour, five against, and one uncertain. They have been back twice to change the track at the top of Latimer Road, but it is not working well
... and Pelicans
- The first of three crossings to be installed in Headley Way was opened just before Christmas
- In April/May 2004 a new pelican crossing will be installed in Old Road near Lime Walk.
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Mason's Arms Oxford Pub of the Year
The Masons Arms was voted Oxford City CAMRA's City Pub of the Year 2004. They have also started trial brewing at their own Old Bog Brewery. |
London Road pollution
Central Headington was not included in Oxford City Council's local air quality management assessment, but local residents, traders, and councillors are urging that it should be.
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Headington dentist allowed to continue working
Hamid Mozneb of the Manor Dental Surgery in Osler Road is to be allowed to continue working, following a disciplinary inquiry by the General Dental Council on 17 September 2004.
In November 2002 Mozneb was found guilty of serous professional misconduct relating to his work at the Marston Dental Practice, and in August this year a Sky News reporter posing as a patient in an undercover investigation was told that all his fillings needed replacing.
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Manor Hospital
Solicitors have confirmed that no planning law is being broken by the White Horse pub, which is allowing about 20 workers at the Manor Hospital to use its car park for £20 a week each. Nuffield Hospitals were only granted planning permission for the hospital (which opened on 25 October 2004) subject to parking restrictions designed to reduce traffic chaos in Headington.
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Eighth estate agent for Headington
The former Bristol & West office near the main Headington crossroads reopened asAndrew's Estate Agents in 2004. The other seven estate agents are:
- Adkin
- Allen & Harris
- Buckell & Ballard
- Chancellor's
- Charles Lawson
- Connell's
- Lee & Lindars
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Lanes too dark for Brookes students
Brookes students organized a candlelit march down Pullens Lane on 25 November 2004 to emphasize how dangerous it was for women at night. This lane has an uncertain status, as the part behind the white gate was traditionally a private road. The section of Cuckoo Lane that runs down the back of Headington Hill Hall received similar criticisms in May 2004.
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No foundation status for NOC
The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre has failed in its bid to gain foundation status.
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Fireworks
Fireworks continue to go off each night in Headington, although they do now seem to stop at 11pm, complying with the new restrictions banning fireworks in public places between 11pm and 7am. The exceptions are:
- 5 November, when fireworks can be let off until midnight
- New Year and the Hindu festival of Diwali, when they can be set off until 1am.
- Oxford Mail, 29 October 2004
"Restrictions hit fireworks"
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Planning meeting abandoned
The meeting of the North-East Area Committee on Tuesday 29 September 2004 had to be abandoned because only five of the twelve councillors on the committee turned up.
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Olan Mills
Olan Mills Photography Studios now occupies the former Moben kitchen and bathroom shop on the London Road. This is their 72nd portrait studio.
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Richard Doll Building
Sir Richard Doll performed the topping out ceremony on the Richard Doll Building in Old Road on 23 March 2004. This building will house:
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Bus attacks
Stones have been thrown through bus windows on the London Road, in Warneford Lane, and in Barton.
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New name for NOC?
The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre was considering changing its name.
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New buildings in Old Road
Retrospective planning permission was granted at the beginning of 2004 for a 20m-long electricity sub-station with a sprinkler pump house and telecom data building at the Institute of Health Sciences in Old Road. The University of Oxford started work on the buildings without planning permission, and local residents are not happy with their appearance. |
Headington mail
Mail deliveries in Headington were poor in January 2004, because out of the required staff of 68, there were 13 people off sick and another 13 unfilled vacancies.
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Oxford Tube catches fire
An Oxford Tube bus caught fire on reaching Headington on the night of Sunday 27 June 2004.
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