Bomd Squad relocates to Bicester

Plans are afoot to move the bomb squad from Kent to Bicester. This may mean more traffic, at least in the short term, but it will mean more jobs locally. That is surely good for Bicester folk.

Why do you think Jeff Halsey died on the towpath

According to Jean Fooks it seems that he was a person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that is the end of the matter. The drive for this comment seems to be to save expenditure on towpath and riverside repairs. Whatever your opinion, if you have an opinion about towpaths and river banks in general or about this fatal accident down the River Thames then check out the debate on the OxfordMail website and add your thoughts.

Gosford Hill School gets £2m scientific facelift

Gosford Hill is getting a substantial facelift to its science labs. When the £2m injection is completed it will have ten science laboratories under one roof. Much as this is good for Kidlington students this is rolling out in a year when Peers School is being closed and reopened as an Academy. Is the closure of in Littlemore Peers paying for Kidlington laboratories?

Grouply, a better way to use Yahoo groups

For anyone who uses a freecycling group they should check out grouply - a new interface for Yahoo Group users. It has a friendlier interface and soon to come are features for freecycling users. To check it out click here. Also if you want to read some tips on the service then I have launched a new group just for that - grouply-faq.

Taxi drivers voting on strike...

According to a report today on the BBC website, Cherwell valley taxi drivers are voting tonight on whether to go on strike or not.

GEO who manage Campsfield are closed down

According to Indymedia (a website focusing on political activists) a group of people successfully closed down GEO for a day. GEO is the company who run Campsfield detention centre.

Alternative jewellery presents?

Okay Christmas comes and you are really stuck for something different. Is the one you want to buy for into Music? Instead of buying them a CD why not buy them a guitar string! The interesting thing is I am not just talking any old guitar string, I am talking about ones as used by the superstars of the stage. For example you can get an ex Keith Richard's string for a snip at $500. It's all up for grabs on WearYourMusic! News just in you could even have a bit of Roger Waters around your wrist!

Shipton on Cherwell Quarry development

You may or may not be aware there are plans to turn the Quarry at Shipton on Cherwell into a housing estate for 5,0000 homes. If you want to read all about it then there is a full website at shiptonquarry.co.uk.

Homes without power

Homes in Kidlington and beyond were without power from 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon. Read more at the Oxford Mail.

Where the Thames meets the River Cherwell

There is an interesting background of the Isis Lock, the southernmost lock on the Oxford Canal just out on the waymarking site. Very interesting stuff.

Blow & Separate

One confusing thing about recycling is that we are all encouraged to put metal, paper and plastic together into our blue bins. The principle behind this is that it is simpler for us householders, and there is a claim that by doing this there is a greater success rate in the amount of household waste so collected. I am to privvy the actual technique used for separation but this image is one that may apply and give you some insights into the technology that is used to split apart items as they head for recycling.

Walking off those Christmas blues

When planning for Christmas you really should plan to get out, get some fresh air and walk off any excess food & drink. But also you don't want to drive anywhere, right? So this is a great time to think of doing all or part of the Kidlington Circular Walk (pdf), as published by Oxfordshire County Council. They have in fact a wide range of circular walks across Oxfordshire, see their North Oxfordshire Walks page for more details.

Taking a walk down the ecology street!

A new company that is worthy of your support is Eco-St. They stock a range of ecological products. Great news is they do Ecover refills so at last Kidlington ecover fans can reuse their plastic bottles time and time again... The best news is they are very local - you can find them in Yarnton Garden Centre.

A keystone example to us all

Recently the Bowood House Hotel (did I get that name right?) was knocked down and is now being rebuilt. Prior to the closure a clearance notice was put up to help dispose of goods. I wonder how successful that was, and how much concern there was for the environment. Without any knowledge I am not going to cast aspersions in any direction. What I will say however is that those with a concern for the environment can achieve a lot. Take the Inn at Keystone which has become a model for recycling in the hotel business. Even the beds are either sold or given on to employees, other even disassembled into metal and other materials suitable for recycling and then sent on to suitable recycling places. There is a message here, I hope that local businesses pick it up.