Thirsty Meeples Board Game Cafe

We have a lot of coffee cafe's in Oxford from the large international and national chains to local independent cafes.  Now in Gloucester Green we have a cafe that specialises in Board Games, over 1700 I have been told.  Now I am not sure what exactly how it all works, but it looks like a very interesting place to visit before catching your bus to your next destination, why are you leaving Oxford? 

Sunny Spring Morning At Gloucester Green

What a great way to spend a sunny Sunday morning, enjoying a the Sunday papers and a coffee in the centre of Oxford.  Gloucester Green bus station is right behind this building, if you are coming to Oxford by coach from London or National Express services you will arrive here.

Bonn Week In Oxford

This week is Bonn Week in Oxford, Bonn in Germany is one of Oxford's sister cites and every uear there is a celebration of this twinning in the city.  The celebrations happen in Bonn Square and this there there was a market and live music at Gloucester Green.  Nice day for it as I think it was going to be the warmest day of the year, and the sun was out!  Had a nice Curry Wurst!

Early Morning Coach To London Heathrow

Oxford is very well connected to all the major London Airports, this morning I was up early to take a friend to the Gloucester Green Coach station to get a very early flight from London Heathrow.  With a 24 hour service no matter what time your flight is, you can get a coach from Oxford.

Oxford Street Food Festival

Not a large festival, the Oxford Street Food Festival in Gloucester Green has a couple of interesting food vendors that I have not seen before. The Hungarian Chimney Cake was a new one for me, so I had to try it and it was very nice, sweet, a variation on the donut I am sure. Have a look at the making of pages here for more photo's

Happy Silver Anniversary Oxford Tube

The Oxford Tube is 25 today, as the notice on all of the buses say. The Oxford Tube is one of the bus company's that operate between Oxford and London. Reading the press release on the company's website they say the company operate 87 buses on the Oxford to London route, running 24 hours a day, up to every 10 minutes during the busy peek times. As a special promotion if it is your birthday today you can use the Oxford Tube today for free..

Thursday Market Day In Oxford

We have two markets in Gloucester Green, a fruit and vegetable market on Wednesdays, and on Thursday we have the Antiques and Craft Market. On Thursday's you can see a diverse range of goods being sold from coins and bank notes to beads and vintage clothing. Not a big market, however it is worth a look if you are in Oxford on a Thursday, it's just behind the main bus terminus .

Off To Heathrow

I have had enough of all this cold weather, I am on this coach to Heathrow to get my flight to warmer parts, oh I am looking forward seeing the sun. However don't worry while I am away we will have three guest photographers keeping us up to date with great views of Oxford. So look out for Tim, Christi and Alex's photos while I am away.

The Red Lion Closed

One of Oxfords largest central pubs, The Red Lion has been closed since the weekend. When I walked past this afternoon I saw a sign say this, The Red Lion: Closed due to Badger infestation. I am not sure how true this is, I was under the impression that it was closed for a short period while it is refurbished. I understand that when reopened it will have a larger dinning menu. Not sure, anyone have anymore information.

Oxford To Cambridge Bike Ride 2010

Bit of a wet and windy start to this years Oxford to Cambridge bike ride this morning. I was not aware that this event was today, as had I know I would have entered I think, I must plan ahead next year and get a team together. I was in the city centre early this morning and noticed all the cyclist gathering in Gloucester Green, everyone was pumped up getting ready to start the ride. It is not a race, and you can leave over a two hour period between 7am and 9am for the ride on country roads to Cambridge. I was told that it would be about a 4-6hour ride to Cambridge. There was arrangements in place to bus the riders back to Oxford with there bikes should they need it, and I think that the money raised was going to the British Heart Foundation. Pity the weather was not that great today, but a big well done to all those to rode in the ride today! Congratulations!

Last sunny Saturday of summer?

Compared to the last couple of days we've had some pretty good weather yesterday and today. With a bank holiday on Monday everyone is enjoying a long weekend, which might be one of the last periods with nice summer weather since autumn is slowly getting closer to us. I saw this man with probably his daughter on Gloucester Green, feeding the pigeons - which is officially not allowed according to some prohibitory signs in one of the corners of the square. But they where laughing and really enjoying some time together in the sun and the pigeons didn't seem to mind. So who cares......

Empty shops at Gloucester Green

Some of us are lucky to have a view on the countryside from their living room, others have a major high street or a busy pub at the front door. I don't know about yours, but mine is quite nice: a busy square with a food market on Wednesday and an antiques market on Thursday. During the day tourists and locals drink coffee, have lunch or just sit down, relax and watch young children chasing the pigeons. In the evenings we get to see and hear the people coming out of the pubs. Somehow they always make sure that everyone hears they had a good evening with lots of beer. Also, the young folks who are too young to buy and drink alcohol in the pubs hang around on the benches at the square with some cans of beer or some bottles of wine, bought in the supermarket by someone else who is old enough to buy alcohol. Earlier during the evening, somewhere between 7 and 8, I often see people on the square just sitting down and doing nothing. You don't hear them, they don't drink, they don't eat, they just sit, that's it. Now by that time the coffee shops at the square have already closed. Knowing that at least three shops are empty and available to let at the moment, why isn't there someone who opens up a business with a nice terrace at the square which is open until at least 10 or 11 pm? With the summer coming up, surely there most be enough people who like to sit at that terrace, enjoy a nice drink and have some fun during a nice summer evening? Interesting to see how long it will take before some new businesses open at Gloucester Green....

Busy Oxford Kebab Kid

Kebab Kid just off Gloucester Green is always open and more than not always busy. Not a big Kebab fan myself but found myself at this all night take away in the early hours and managed to be served very quickly with a nice Chicken Burger Chips, lucky I had a friend with me who paid for me as I did not have the funds to complete the transaction, very embarrassing.

French Market In Oxford This Weekend

Oh, I love it when the French Market is in Oxford for a couple of days. It is in Gloucester Green for the weekend, and I managed to get a nice bit of French Cheese. This time around not only did they have French produce but also Italian, Dutch and German.

Gloucester Green Wednesday Market

Good evening everybody, Percy has asked me to help him out this week and of course I said yes to his request. This evening I took a picture at Gloucester Green. As you can see everything is ready for Wednesday's food market. I always buy my fruits and vegetables at this market for the whole week. I'll probably be thinking tonight about what to eat this week so that I'll know what to buy tomorrow. The stalls will stay at the square for another day after tomorrow because there will be an antiques market on Thursday. As I will be posting a couple of times this week, is there anyone who has suggestions or requests for some of my next posts?

Sunny French Market

There is a travelling French Market in Oxford this weekend, this time it is in Gloucester Green, very close to the bus station.  I had a look this afternoon, not a lot of interesting stalls, I really like to fresh fruit and veg stall along with the cheese stall, the rest I could leave.  

Markets At Gloucester Green

What a nice Autumn day to have the antiques market in Gloucester Green.  I just wondered around enjoying the sun, didn't buy anything, the credit crunch is on so I have to watch my pennys.

Place of Mixed Emotions

If you are leaving the UK from Heathrow or Gatwick from Oxford the chances are you will be getting on one of these coaches from Gloucester Green Bus Station. Getting on the coach at Gloucester Green can be a mix of emotions, exciting if you are about to leave for holidays or sad if you are saying good bye to an old friend or a relative.

The Airline leaves for Heathrow and Gatwick up to every 20 min in the peak times, which is a great service from Oxford.

See you Sal and Clint.

Looking Down On To Gloucester Green

This is a different view of Gloucester Green, which is the main bus station in Oxford. From here you can catch buses to all parts of the UK including the major London Airports which is what I am going to do this afternoon. While I am away you are still going to get a Photo from Oxford, however we are going to get a treat as for the next month the photo's will be taken by a visitor to Oxford from the USA, Emily. I am looking forward to logging on and seeing Oxford thought the eyes of a visitor for the next month and would like to Thank Emily for keeping this alive while I am away, have a look at Emily’s Great Blog!

Freshly Baked French Bread in Oxford

In April this year we had a very nice French Market set up in Broad Street, well today that same market is in Gloucester Green. I like visiting these markets which sell lots of different French foods, this morning I popped out early to get a few freshly baked pain-au-chocolat for breakfast, not sure if they have them for breakfast in France, but I enjoyed them.