Dragonwyke Cottage, Blewbury

Blewbury is a village in southern Oxfordshire. It is about a mile or so north of the Ridgeway, has quite a few thatched cottages and has largely survived the ravages of development elsewhere. Away from the busy main road, you can walk around relatively quiet lanes and walkways, perhaps taking in the clear water streams […]

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Sketching by the canal

On a dull weekend I made a short trip to the local Oxford canal to do some sketching. Here is my view of one of several narrow boats moored along this particular sketch of the canal on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Choosing a spot tucked in by the reeds, here is my sketch, below. Looking […]

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The Oxford Building Supplies Store

Kidlington is a village just north of Oxford and it is home to Oxford Building Supplies. This is one of those endangered species of shops – a bits and pieces hardware shop. I have to admit I have a soft spot for this kind of store – whether it is a ‘bits and pieces’ car […]

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The Oxford Yarn Store

North Parade is a narrow street in North Oxford with two pubs, various eateries and this, a new shop; the Oxford Yarn Store. This building used to house a hairdressers and it is quite impressive what a good job they’ve done over the past few months converting it to the new store. On a rather […]

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Going back to Stonesfield

On the shortest day of the year the sun decided that it was going to come out and the rain stopped for a while. Well, we don’t get that many good days this time of year so I decided to skip the consumerist frenzy that is Christmas shopping for the day and go out to […]

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