It's International Sculpture Day. Surely one of Oxford's most striking examples of this art form is the Shelley Memorial statue (by Edward Onslow Ford)? Discuss!

The Thames is a tremendous asset for Oxford but is becoming blighted by wrecks - see video for examples. OCS believes that more co-ordinated management of the river and the towpath is vital. Canal & River Trust Oxford City Council River Thames Society Environment AgencySE

The Thames is a tremendous asset for Oxford but is becoming blighted by wrecks - see video for examples. OCS believes that more co-ordinated management of the river and the towpath is vital. Canal & River Trust Oxford City Council Environment AgencySE

April 23rd marks the UN's English Language Day plus World Book and Copyright Day. Two things we should definitely be celebrating in Oxford, which is a centre for publishing of all kinds, particularly of books and journals of the science, technology and medical variety.

Nikolaas Tinbergen was born on this day in 1907. He won a Nobel prize for his work on animal behaviour (uniquely his brother was a Nobel winner too). The building named in his honour was demolished in 2020 - the replacement Life and Mind Building is nearing completion.

It's the 100th anniversary of the sporty MG brand created by Morris Garages and on this day in 1888 the designer behind this innovation, Cecil Kimber, was born. There was an MG factory in Abingdon until 1980 and here's what led to Old Speckled Hen beer: mgcc.co.uk/articles/the-s…

Oxford Civic Society and Oxford Neighbourhood Watch have teamed up to organise a litter pick as part of The Great British Spring Clean and to celebrate the life of a local legend.
Details of how to get involved in this wonderful community event are below 👇
Oxford Civic Society

Herbert Asquith took office as prime minister on this day in 1908. Educated at Oxford University (one of 30 of our 57 PMs to have been), he ended his days in Sutton Courtenay. Title of his peerage was lengthened to pacify the De Veres who were Earls of Oxford from 1141-1703.

Tickets for our summer season of visits for members are starting to sell out. Go to our website now to sign up for the 14th May visit to the beautiful Broughton Grange gardens near Banbury. Tkts cost £29 - that gets you a tour by one of the gardeners plus tea/coffee and cake!

Come along to Rewley House at 6pm on Wednesday 27th March to hear Simon Bradley talk about the revised version of the Pevsner guide to the buildings of Oxford and South-East Oxfordshire. Free to all! (Members are encouraged to remain for our AGM at 7pm. We need your feedback.)

Our summer season of walks and tours for members is booking up. There's a guided tour of a wonderful modern garden at Broughton Grange, a tour of Green Templeton College and the Radcliffe Observatory and an Abingdon guided walk. If you're not yet a member, subscribe online!

The Sustainability Exhibition was another good excuse to help keep our beautiful area clean with another litter pick!

A thank you to OBU Sustainability Brookes Union for organising the event, and of course to our volunteers who got involved today!

Ox_Clean Oxford Civic Society

Oxford Civic Society members enjoyed hearing about the history of Somerville College and seeing its wide range of architectural styles on a guided tour yesterday. (The rapidly growing Humanities building is seen in the background to this picture.)

It’s World Poetry Day! Oxford has hosted an array of poets including Dr Seuss. Though it’s probably not true that his first book was to be called 'And to Think That I Saw it On Magdalen Street'. And 'Horton-cum-Studley Hears a Who!' just didn't scan...

William Buckland, whose description of the Great Lizard of Stonesfield was the first full account of a dinosaur, was born on 12 March 1784. He was quite the eccentric - he ate as many animals as possible (mole and bluebottle fly tasted the worst) & owned a bear that roamed Islip.

Kenneth Grahame was born on this day in 1859. The Wind in the Willows author is recognized by a blue plaque at Boham’s House, Blewbury, where he lived for 10 years. He is buried at Holywell Cemetery, with his son Alistair, for whom the tales of the riverbank were created.

Tonight! Mark Davies will be telling the story of the first English aeronaut, James Sadler, and the sad death of his son Windham. Come and hear about Oxford's 'King of all Balloons' - 6pm at Rewley House. Free to all, no booking needed.

Good luck Anna and all the OxClean litter pickers this weekend and next! Looks like the rain will hold off.

Happy 100th birthday to the History of Science Museum in Oxford. Housed in the original Ashmolean Museum building, it contains such treasures as an original penicillin culture from 1941, Einstein's blackboard and Lewis Carroll's photo equipment.
And this is just a side doorway!

Happy St David's Day! Did you know that Oxford includes an area that came to be known as 'Little Rhondda'? The Florence Park estate was built by a Welsh developer to house those coming from the valleys of South Wales to work at the Morris car factory in the 1930s.