So there it was: ‘Merry Christmas, everybody having fun’ (according to Noddy Holder at least). Now it’s time to ‘look to the future; it’s only just begun’. (ibid)
As we take down the fairy lights and stare in shock at our credit card statements, let’s pause for a moment to reflect on the action-packed twelve months that made up 2025.
In January we ate, shot, and left. But where oh where did we insert the Oxford Comma?
In February we showcased the work of Stephanie Jenkins, Oxford’s most prodigious noticer of things hidden in Plain sight.
Our March Story was entitled Dead Animals and culminated with us staring into the snout of a stuffed boar …
… Which reminded us that on April 12th it had been five years since Dominic Cummings tested his eyesight – while Oxford was in Lockdown.
Remarkably, perhaps, we hadn’t yet written a Story specifically focusing on May Day. This year we made amends – with help from the twirling Ariel Dempsey.
June marked the 50th birthday of the Museum of Oxford. We took the opportunity to explore its treasures – together with some of the other fabulous collections on our lucky doorstep.
On 22 July it was exactly three years since we were assured that preliminary work on the Botley Road Bridge would take four days! The Feedback to this Story was incandescent.
August’s Story elegised the rural charms of the villages that once encircled Oxford, now submerged beneath an ever-rising sea of concrete.
If it’s September it must be St Giles’ Fair! 400 years of glorious mayhem – and a sighting of our beloved Lord Mayor on the dodgems.
In October we celebrated women’s under-recognised contribution to life in Oxford over the centuries, from St Frideswide to the only-slightly-less-remarkable Annie Rogers.
November’s theme took the form of a question: What’s Your Oxford? The photographic responses were as varied as they were compelling.
By December the Morris Oxford team had built up a mighty thirst, and thoughts naturally turned to hostelries past and present … No hint of a ‘Dry January’ in those happy days of Yule.
THANK YOU to all those Morris Oxford readers who, during the course of the past year, have sent in your comments, reflections, anecdotes, and photographs. Week by week the Feedback sections are growing into an ever richer archive of insight and information.
There really is no end to the number of remarkable Oxford stories. We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. So do, please, continue to get in touch. And encourage friends, family, and neighbours to get in touch too. We’d love to hear from you.
Onward and Oxford!
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