Click here for Oxford Christmas Theatre listings and reviews
There are a lot of them! We'll keep this page updated throughout the Christmas period, but you can also check out our events pages to see everything that's on in Oxford on a specific day. If you know of anything Christmassy that we've missed out, send us an email and let us know!
Click here to find Christmas carol concerts / services / joining-in opportunities.
Oxford Christmas Market, Oxford Castle. Seasonal food & drink, carols, carousel
Charity Christmas Tree Sale: Oxford Sea Cadets, Donnington Bridge
A Christmas Carol, North Wall Arts Centre. Creation Theatre conjure up Dickensian London in this schools' matinee
Children's Christmas Craft Workshop, O3 Gallery. Get creative with recycled materials
Letters To Father Christmas, Cafe 1071, Oxford Castle. Families, write your letter to Santa
Christmas Craft Sale, Bampton. High quality handmade gifts for sale
The increasingly popular Nordmann has thickish dark green needles, and is non-drop. Blue and White Spruce have very pretty, thick, blunt needles but tend to shed them a little. Scots Pine holds its needles well, and its strong branches can cope with heavy decorations. Small Fraser Firs can be bought potted, rather than cut, meaning they don't shed and have a rather pleasant fruity smell. Norway Spruce, while the most satisfyingly traditional-looking of all, is a dedicated shedder. If you choose a tree that makes free with its needles, the best thing to do is to give it plenty of water and try to keep it in the coolest part of the room. You can also purchase anti-drop chemicals from places like B&Q.
This environmental site has some interesting information about the benefits of a living rather than a plastic tree, which, if memorised, may enable you to astound your friends and confound your relations.
Kingston Fruiterers (01865 552812) 14 Kingston Road, OX2 6RQ - entrance just round the corner in Longworth Road. They have trees at all sorts of heights. Opening hours: 10am - 3pm, Sat 10am - 4pm.
Waterperry Garden Centre at Wheatley (01844 339226) have a range of species - 4ft Norways live in pots, Nordmann firs,3ft - 8ft, Noble Firs, 6ft, and Fraser Fir, 3ft - 6ft.
Blenheim Palace ([email protected] / 01993 813196) has Norway Spruce, Fraser Fir and Nordmann Fir for sale at the Palace, 10am - 5pm until 22nd December. Or you can go to the fountainhead at the Blenheim Sawmill at Combe: 8am - 4pm daily until 22nd December.
The Garden, 99-100 Covered Market, OX1 3DY, 240709, have Lodge pole pines (5 -8ft), Premium Nordman (3 - 8ft) and Premium Norway Spruce (4 - 6ft) and pot grown trees, i.e. living ones with roots and everything.
The Sea Cadets (01865 249158) have trees for sale in Meadow Lane, off Donnington Bridge Road, from 8am - late (between 8 and 9pm, usually), every day. Norwegian Spruces, 3.7 - 8.2ft.
Oxford City Council says: "There will be 17 Oxford tree collection points open from Tue 3 to Sun 15 Jan. The trees will be turned into
wood chips and used in the city's parks and open spaces."
The collection points are:
Alexandra Tennis Courts, Middle Way, Summertown
Atkyns Road,Wood Farm
Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre car park
Blackbird Leys Park car park
Bury Knowle Park, North Place car park
Cutteslowe Park, Harbord Road car park
Elizabeth Green, Northway
Florence Park, Cowley
Green Road, Risinghurst
Hinksey Park, Abingdon Road
Long Lane, Littlemore
Manzil Way Gardens, Cowley Road
Margaret Road Recreation Ground
Meadow Lane Recreation Ground, Jackdaw Lane
Oatlands Recreation Ground, Ferry Hinksey Road (car park)
South Park, Morrell Avenue
Sunnymead Recreation Ground, by play area
For all this and more (eg. Christmas bin collections, etc.), visit http://www.oxford.gov.uk/christmasrecycling
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Here is the distilled [ho ho ho] wisdom of the staff at Daily Info on the subject of warming winter beverages. If anyone has any suggestions for further exploration in this area, do let us know.
After a few hours staring at a string of code, you need something to take the edge off life. [I know I could do with a drink.]
Boil 1 ½ half pints of water and dissolve in it 4 heaped tablespoons of the darkest brown sugar you can find.
Add 1-2 cinnamon sticks, about 5-10 cloves, star anise, a few cardamon pods.
Stir and simmer for 15 - 30 mins, depending on patience.
Roughly chop 3 oranges, 1 lemon, apple if you like that sort of thing.
Turn down heat to a low simmer. Add fruit, simmer 5 - 10 mins.
Remove all fruit & spices through a sieve, returning the syrup to the pan (spices can be retained & reused).
Turn heat down low, add wine (1 bottle, red).
Stir, warm wine through but do not boil (loses alcohol).
Can add dark rum (or brandy) at the last minute. Serve immediately.
A non-alcoholic alternative to your usual seasonal mulled beverage, this bottle is based on a traditional recipe made by Benedictine monks no less and contains all sorts of wild and wonderful herbs and spices. The office tee-totaller gave this 9/10 for its sheer proximity to mulled booze, and others felt similarly until asked to consider its resemblance to warm cola. Available from Holland and Barrett (£3.19), Uhuru (Cowley Rd), etc.
Quick version
Ingredients: Half a lemon, tablespoon of honey, shot of whisky per person.
- Squeeze lemon into a cup
- Add boiling water, melt the honey in it
- (Stop here if you don't want the whisky, or) add whisky and drink
Slow, loving version
- Grate some root giner into a saucepan, about 1tbsp per person
- Add however many cups of water you want, dark brown sugar to tast, an orange (or an apple) stuck with cloves
- Bring to the boil once, then simmer for about 15 minutes
- Drain into cups and add whisky and the juice of half a lemon for each person.
A useful tip if you have a disastrous toddy-making enterprise: you can salvage a cup of it for a very cold person by adding a slosh of Rochester's ginger wine (£3.19 from Holland and Barrett).
If you are lucky enough to live in an area and a household which allows you to have fires, you will be able to luxuriate in front of blazes as Dickensian as your ecological conscience will allow.
You can get FSC(Forest Stewardship Council)-approved hardwood logs fairly easily: A.W. Mobbs, London Road, Wheatley do it, as do many more local suppliers.
You can buy log offcuts from Eynsham Park Sawmills, Cuckoo Lane, North Leigh (off the A40 to Witney). Their softwood is £18 a 'box' (cubic metre/car bootload) - this doesn't last as long as hardwood, which costs £88, and might be better in proper woodburning stoves.
Salvaged wood (old pallets, furniture, etc.) - the cheapest option - should be put beside your stove to dry it out before burning. Wood that isn't kiln-dried or well-seasoned is going to burn at lower temperatures and will therefore produce more particulates. Beware of burning treated or varnished wood and the resultant fumes.
A. W. Mobbs, Wheatley: Mon - Fri: 7.30am - 5pm, Sat: 7.30am - 12pm. 01865 872691
Eynsham Park Sawmill: Mon-Fri: 8am-4.30pm, Sat: 8am-12.30pm. 01993 881391
Blenheim Sawmills: Mon-Fri: 8am-5pm, Sat: 9am-12pm. 01993 881206. Closed: 23rd - 3rd.
Farmer Gow's, near Faringdon: daily: 10am - 5pm. 01795 780555. Environmentally sensitive hardwood saved from local ancient woodlands, including Wytham Woods
The Westgate Centre8th December: 9am – 8pm |
The Clarendon Centre 19th - 23rd December: 8am – 8pm |
Bicester Village Shopping Outlet 1st – 23rd December: 10am - 8pm (not Thursdays, weekends) 24th December: 9am - 6pm |
Hartwell Ford BP Petrol StationMon - Fri: 7am - 9pm |
Blenheim Service Station
Christmas Eve: 6am - 10pm |
Woodstock Rd Chemist, no. 59Christmas and New Year's Day: 4pm - 7.30pm |
Boots, Cornmarket (01865 247461)12th - 23rd December: 8am - 10pm
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Boots, Cowley Rd (01865 243633)19th - 23rd December: 9am - 7pm
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This is by no means a comprehensive listing of restaurants open on Christmas Day, but we've tried to give you a range of options. To browse for other possibilities, look at our Oxford restaurants page. If you'd like us to list your Christmas Day opening here, please contact us. A surprising number of Chinese, Indian and Thai restaurants are closed on the 25th, so don't count on being able to find something by wandering hopefully up and down the Cowley Road. We advise booking as far in advance as possible! Most places require a deposit for Christmas Day lunch, often refundable if there's a cancellation up to 48 hours in advance.
Open Christmas Day: midday - 9.30pm. Free bottle of wine for all bookings on Christmas Day.
Open midday - 5pm. Set Christmas menu: £40
Open midday - 11pm. Set menu: £15 / £20 with coffee and desert.
Set lunch menu, 11.30am - 3.30pm: £52.50. Booking required. Open 6 - 9pm for a la carte menu.
Open midday - 3pm. Bar open from 11am. Set Christmas menu: £60. Booking required.
Here are the last Christmas posting dates for letters and parcels for destinations within the UK. Royal Mail advises you to post in advance of these if possible.
Standard Parcels: Wed 14th December
Second Class: Sat 17th December
First Class: Tue 20th December
Parcelforce Express 48: Wed 21st December
Parcelforce Express 24 / Special Delivery: Thu 22nd December
Special Delivery with Saturday Guarantee: Fri 23rd December
For more details, and international deliveries, click here for the Royal Mail's handy Last Posting Calendar, which shows you when you should post (/have posted) your Christmas presents. The usual answer is “last Wednesday” - it pays to be prepared!
Public transport over the Christmas period will be slower, more crowded and less frequent than usual - and that's before we get any snow! Expect delays and, if the weather is anything like the last two years, plan for road and rail transport to be subject to unforeseen cancellation.
For full details of Oxford Bus Company services, including the Oxford Espress London service and the Airline to Heathrow & Gatwick, click here.
For full details of Stagecoach bus and coach services, including the Oxford Tube London service and super-cheap national Megabus service, click here.
For other national locations and direct services to Stansted and Luton airports, visit National Express.
Oxford Bus Company: Last buses leave from 7-8pm
Stagecoach: Last buses leave from 5-8pm
Oxford Bus Company: No services
Stagecoach: N1 & N2 city services (Blackbird Leys/Kidlington - City Centre) hourly 9.30am – 5.30pm
Oxford Bus Company: Most bus routes run Sunday or hourly services.
Stagecoach: Restricted routes, running Sunday services, on Boxing Day. Normal service on the 27th.
Coaches to London and Airports: See here for Christmas schedules for Oxford Espress. See here for Christmas schedules for Oxford Tube.
Last Oxford Espress to London on Christmas Eve leaves Gloucester Green, Oxford centre 6.30pm.
Last Oxford Espress to Oxford on Christmas Eve leaves London Victoria 8.30pm.
Last Oxford Tube leaves Oxford on Christmas Eve 7.50pm, leaves London 9.55pm.
The Oxford Tube also runs on Christmas Day (shock, horror): hourly from 6am-5pm from Oxford to London (via Heathrow), and 8am – 7pm from London to Oxford (also via Heathrow), special cost of £25.
Early last trains run through Oxford train station on Christmas Eve, and severely reduced services run on Boxing Day; for details of how your journey will be affected, I suggest using National Rail's Journey Planner.
There are no trains visiting Oxford station on Christmas Day.
Mother Goose, Oxford Playhouse / Panto-maker Peter Duncan brings us Christmas 'Eggs Factor'! /£12-£22.50, 11am & 3pm / Oxford Playhouse, 11-12 Beaumont Street
7th December until 15th January. Tickets from oxfordplayhouse.com or 01865 305305
New Year's Eve Party / Buffet & a glass of bubbly provided / www.achurchnearyou.com/cowley-st-francis / [email protected] / Tel. 01865 747680 / 765199 or 07980 618836 / 8.00pm - 12.30am, £10 / £12 / St Francis Church, Hollow Way, Oxford OX3 7JF
Lost Chihuahua / Rock Covers Played With Verve Volume & Passion and New Year's Eve Party / [email protected] / Tel. 07899876064 / 9pm, free / The Strickland Arms, Ducklington Nr Witney
Propaganda New Years Eve Spectacular / Propaganda Space Shuttle, Trashy Observatory, Room: 101 Alien Bar / 9.30pm. £10 / O2 Academy Oxford, 190 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1UE; Tel. Box Office: 0844 477 2000 / Info: 0905 020 3999 (25p/min).
A Sparkling Celebration / Masquerade Ball in aid of Nordoff Robbins New Year's Eve Party / The Living Room, Oxford Castle, OX1 1AY
Nameless - Classic Rock Covers / New Year's Eve Party with Oxfordshire's favourite rock covers band / Tel. 07941 815625 / 9.00pm - Free / The Tandem, Kennington, Oxford OX1 5PG
New Year's Eve Party / Buffet and glass of bubbly provided / St Francis Church, Hollow Way, Oxford, OX3 7JF
Peye Fryer Band, Simon Walters, Jeremy Hughes / New Year's Eve party and buffet / 8pm-late. £10 / 19 Chester Street, Oxford OX4 1SN; Tel. 01865 243203.
The Glee Clubs NYE comedy / Andrew Bird, Rob Collins, Charlie Baker, Dave Fulton / 7.15pm, £25 / The Glee Club, 3 Hythe Bridge St.
Oxford Bus & Morris Museums / Tired of being indoors? Enjoy a fascinating day with FREE BUS RIDES! / oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk / Tel. 01993 883617 Ad £4 Ch £2 Families £9 Sen/Dis £3 / Oxford Bus Museum/Morris Motors Experience, Station Yard, Long Hanborough, Witney, Oxfordshire OX29 8LA
Now is a really good time to put out water for your garden birds, as this can actually be harder for them to find than food in this weather.
Get a shallow dish (you don't want to risk drowning them!) and fill it with tap water and put it outside on a highish surface, ideally near a bush so that the birds can come and check it out from somewhere they feel safe. You may have to break the ice on it (or crack the ice out of it and refill it with water) each morning. If you have a pond, leave a tennis (or other buoyant) ball in it - this should create an un-iced breathing hole for any frogs taking refuge in your pond, and birds may be able to drink there too.
The RSPB has a fabulous page (actually, two - one just on scraps and one of general advice) all about how not to kill birds with the wrong sorts of edible kindness. In summary:
Yes:
Seeds
Nuts
PURE lard or suet (not salted or mixed with meat juices)
Fresh coconut
Peanuts (make sure you get them certified aflatoxin-free)
Cooked rice
Dried oats
Bread
Pastry (cooked or uncooked, as long as it's not heavily seasoned)
Fresh or dried fruit
Potatoes (open up baked ones so the birds can get at them)
No:
Milk products (a bit of mild cheese is OK though)
Anything salty (salt is very toxic to small birds)
Anything starchy and dried, eg biscuits, dessicated coconut (it can swell up inside the stomach and kill them). Large birds can handle dried lentils, but small birds can't and they won't necessarily know this themselves. Strange but true.
Anything mouldy (can lead to respiratory problems)
Dried rice
Cooked oats
