Are you proud of where you live?

to avoid the A34 /M40 j9 often gridlocked roads to Oxford/ Oxford ring road from Bicester, theres a b- road route via Ambrosden & Islip (lots of fields that way), which can either bring you to Oxford ring road at Marston flyover (via Woodeaton) or Wheatley (via Forest Hill), then through Horspath and eventually Garsington onto Garsington road ( with even more fields en route).... which gets you to the Breeze Block by avoiding the A roads.... scenic route it is too
Thank you Sarge. In truth there are some really spectacular villages in the area but before we can move in to one I might buy me a tent!
 
I’m not particularly proud of where I live, it’s okay but nothing special. But i am fiercely proud of where I’m from. Oxfordshire, God’s county!
 
I very much enjoy living where I do (quiet village location, decent proximity to three large-ish towns with rail links to London) albeit a bit far from Grenoble Road, but I wouldn't say I was 'proud' of it particularly.
 
Very proud of both Oxford, my City of birth, & Leicester where I live.

I have lived in places that I could never be proud of, nor think of as "home".
 
Born and bred in rural West Oxfordshire.

I’ve felt fortunate to have lived the vast majority of my life in this area, proud of my roots for sure.

I love living in the countryside, the space, freedom, nature etc. We have Blenheim on our doorstep, the rivers Windrush, Evenlode & Glyme, lots of wonderful walks and of course the Cotswolds. Oxford is a great City with enough going on culturally, and musically for my tastes. Plus Oxford United of course.

I used to travel to London quite a bit and couldn’t wait get home. City life is not for me, a cultural or sporting day out perhaps but that’s more than enough.


As an aside in West Oxfordshire alone the plan is to build 16,000 homes up until 2031. Witney, Carterton, Chippy are due to take the brunt. With major developments at Woodstock, Eynsham, Hanborough etc, and so the West Oxfordshire I have always known will change forever.
 
Born and bred in rural West Oxfordshire.

I’ve felt fortunate to have lived the vast majority of my life in this area, proud of my roots for sure.

I love living in the countryside, the space, freedom, nature etc. We have Blenheim on our doorstep, the rivers Windrush, Evenlode & Glyme, lots of wonderful walks and of course the Cotswolds. Oxford is a great City with enough going on culturally, and musically for my tastes. Plus Oxford United of course.

I used to travel to London quite a bit and couldn’t wait get home. City life is not for me, a cultural or sporting day out perhaps but that’s more than enough.


As an aside in West Oxfordshire alone the plan is to build 16,000 homes up until 2031. Witney, Carterton, Chippy are due to take the brunt. With major developments at Woodstock, Eynsham, Hanborough etc, and so the West Oxfordshire I have always known will change forever.


Same everywhere. I'm sure previous generations said the same thing too.
 
Born in Cowley, moved to Hinksey Hill, then Marcham. Moved to Essex 35 years ago with the Job.
Been living here in Heybridge Basin ever since. Its an attractive riverside village on the side of the Blackwater Estuary.
Two really good pubs ten minutes staggering distance. The only potential downside is high risk flood area. hence no
further house building allowed.
 
Same everywhere. I'm sure previous generations said the same thing too.


People I’ve spoken to often say that the boom in Council House building post war in the 1950s was mostly welcomed by those that lived in the villages.

Several reasons for that I suspect.
Population had been depleted by two world wars.
Villages were obviously smaller then and ‘new’ blood was needed to sustain local schools, shops and pubs.
Quality of existing village housing was pretty poor back then, mostly farm labourers cottages.
Council houses were well built, with a decent plot of land, & without the stigma of council housing today.
In general the road infrastructure that was already in place could cope with say a maximum of one car per household.

UK population in 1950 was approx 50 million, today, 66 million and projected to be 73 million by 2040, so absolutely we need to build more houses today but understandably nobody wants them in their backyard. Personally I think it would be fairer to communities if each village/town took an increase of new housing of say 10% which includes genuine council houses to rent.

I fail to see how the A40 west of Oxford is going to cope with the current proposals.

Anyway I’ve diverted away from the purposes of the opening post. Apologies.:)
 
......

As an aside in West Oxfordshire alone the plan is to build 16,000 homes up until 2031. Witney, Carterton, Chippy are due to take the brunt. With major developments at Woodstock, Eynsham, Hanborough etc, and so the West Oxfordshire I have always known will change forever.

I've been privileged to live in what was rural South Oxfordshire for 30-odd years for broadly the same reasons and Mr. River; also to be an Oxford supporter for 15 or so. But South Oxfordshire's becoming a commuter belt and I'll be off when I can shift the estate.

I can't see what's to be proud about living somewhere, but I've enjoyed living round here and Oxfordshire and it's people aren't at all bad for Southron bastards.
 
People I’ve spoken to often say that the boom in Council House building post war in the 1950s was mostly welcomed by those that lived in the villages.

Several reasons for that I suspect.
Population had been depleted by two world wars.
Villages were obviously smaller then and ‘new’ blood was needed to sustain local schools, shops and pubs.
Quality of existing village housing was pretty poor back then, mostly farm labourers cottages.
Council houses were well built, with a decent plot of land, & without the stigma of council housing today.
In general the road infrastructure that was already in place could cope with say a maximum of one car per household.

UK population in 1950 was approx 50 million, today, 66 million and projected to be 73 million by 2040, so absolutely we need to build more houses today but understandably nobody wants them in their backyard. Personally I think it would be fairer to communities if each village/town took an increase of new housing of say 10% which includes genuine council houses to rent.

I fail to see how the A40 west of Oxford is going to cope with the current proposals.

Anyway I’ve diverted away from the purposes of the opening post. Apologies.:)

I thought it was an interesting reflection. :)

It would be very interesting to see a local and national map showing house-building as a function of existing population.

My "same everywhere" point was an abrupt way of saying that I'm seeing exactly the same in VWH - a similarly rural area.
 
I have just moved to Bicester to live with my partner.I hate it (the town not my partner) and am finding adjusting from village life, I lived in Standlake, near impossible. I think Bicester is a soul less characterless dump and I long for the fields trees and lakes I left behind. I am probably being unfair but it's a very hard switch to make and fortunately we are not going to be here too long (I hope) and we're going to move to a nearby village away from the noise and concrete. And yes, there's a bloody co-op over the road, with two nasty take aways and more poxy coffee shops and hairdressers than is reasonable for any community.
One saving grace, Peter Goss the butcher and Andy's barbers (the latter I've not visited yet) who are always mentioned on Radio Oxford on Saturdays and is clearly an OUFC supporting establishment.
'The noise and concrete', you make it sound like inner city London. It is a medium sized market town surrounded by trees and fields, granted it doesn't have a lake! Plus as Steve Merritt says you have a wide choice for getting you hair cut!
 
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Bicester is awesome ? we have a big shopping centre on the outskirts which us locals never visit, but we do get to see lots of fancy cars when stuck in the traffic jams it causes every year around Christmas and New Year.

Oh, and we have LOADS of barbers in the town centre.
What is it with the amount of barbers in Bicester!
 
I moved to Ewelme a couple of years ago, having never lived in the county before but ardently following the Yellows (thanks to my Dad, who grew up on Iffley Rd) for 30 odd years. It’s a pretty area but the best thing is being within range of BBC Oxford when I can’t get to matches. I lived in High Wycombe for 12 years before then so I obviously count my blessings on a daily basis...
 
Proud of where I live? The country in which I spend most time voted for Trump. The country where I spend about a third of my time just voted for Bolsonaro. So I guess a resounding "NO!" would be in order--though if there's a deep blue wave next Tuesday I might think slightly better of one of those countries.
 
Proud of where I live? The country in which I spend most time voted for Trump. The country where I spend about a third of my time just voted for Bolsonaro. So I guess a resounding "NO!" would be in order--though if there's a deep blue wave next Tuesday I might think slightly better of one of those countries.
I can see a bit of a pattern there :LOL:
 
I've been privileged to live in what was rural South Oxfordshire for 30-odd years for broadly the same reasons and Mr. River; also to be an Oxford supporter for 15 or so. But South Oxfordshire's becoming a commuter belt and I'll be off when I can shift the estate.

I can't see what's to be proud about living somewhere, but I've enjoyed living round here and Oxfordshire and it's people aren't at all bad for Southron bastards.

Still going to attend games after you baggerorf?
 
Where I live, it's rather posh. All the cats still have their original tails. Amersham. Dear old Amersham. My early life was spent in Horspath village. Teenage rampage was in Temple Cowley. A little bit of my life was wasted in Barton. I've lived in Aylesbury, Milton f*****g Keynes, Norfuck and now in plastic Cockney land. I've also lived in Timuktu, 3 and 4! I call Amerbloodysham my home now, but my heart really belongs in that village in Horspath, I suppose. I was captain of the school football team, in 1968-69. I was centre forward. In one game, we lost heavily to a shool from Wheatley and I scored TWO own goals! (no bullshit!) Captain, centre forward and two own goals! Yes, my memories are from those days in the 1960's. Some good. Some great. Some..........well.
 
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