Running In Oxford

I once read an article about how business people try to keep fit on a business trip. Hotel gyms are normally boring affairs. Usually you are the only person there, and there isn't much to raise the heart rate except for those mind-numbingly boring running machines. So the article went on to talk about going for a run in a strange city. There were a few do's and don'ts, like not taking your shirt off in case the locals were offended, but the main part consisted of suggested jogging routes for various cities. I remember Singapore was one - it told you that everybody goes to the MacRitchie Reservoirs and to avoid running on public streets (of course I ignored that when I was there).

Oxford was unsurprisingly not included in the article, but it is an especially good place to go running, almost wherever you are, or wherever your hotel or host family is located. It's not too big, and has plenty of green spaces. Some might say it's a little lacking in hills, but others will be glad to potter along on the level.....

Let's take some of the key areas:

CENTRAL OXFORD.
Although there's no park right in the city centre, there are two fantastic running places within very easy reach of even the unfittest jogger. But first I suppose we need to decide what's the difference between a runner and a jogger. Some years ago when they used to have the 'Sunday Times Fun Run' in Hyde Park in London, I heard it said that anyone who couldn't complete a marathon in under 3 hours 40 minutes could consider themselves a mere jogger. I'm definitely a 'mere' jogger then - especially nowadays! All the suggested routes in this article suit the jogger as well as more serious runners.

Back to the two fantastic places. First there is the University Parks. This lies between the Banbury Road and the River Cherwell; you can't do a lap (about 10 mins at my pace) without seeing stacks of other runners - mostly female, whether in term or out. Very scenic and safe, and you can run on the grass as well as the paths; in this respect the Parks differs from the other popular run, which is around Christ Church Meadow , and where you do stick to the paths. It's slightly shorter than the Parks, but you get tremendous views of both of Oxford's rivers: in fact the Cherwell (famous for punting) meets the Thames (famous for rowing and motor boats) in the Meadow. The Parks at the moment close at 9.30pm while the Meadow just says 'dusk' - about the same time, I suppose. Both of them give instructions to the runner who accidentally gets locked in - you needn't worry - you won't have to spend a night there clad only in your sweaty shorts.

NORTH OXFORD
For those of you lucky enough to live amongst the so-called 'North Oxford Toffs' there are two areas where you can go for quite decent runs. First there's Port Meadow: this has access points from lots of places such as Wolvercote or Jericho. It's a lovely run along the Thames north-west of Oxford. But be warned - it's quite far and there aren't many bridges, so don't try to be too ambitious! Then there is Cutteslowe Park, the largest public park in Oxford, located just outside the ring road, to the north of the city. You can get there easily from the Banbury Road roundabout. Cutteslowe Park also hosts Oxford's Parkrun, an international organisation which puts on 5k runs; these are free and start at 9am every Saturday morning: it's just a case of getting out of bed on time!

Horse Chestnuts for the Chop

By Kit Villiers, OISE Oxford tutor and Chairman of the Friends of Cutteslowe and Sunnymead Park.

Another of England's classic trees is under threat. The horse chestnut, better known to hordes of English schoolboys down the ages as the conker tree, has developed a deadly disease. Will it go the same way as the elm, which has virtually disappeared from our countryside?

Cutteslowe Park, Oxford's largest public park, has over 100 of these beautiful trees, many of them in three large avenues. Some trees are more badly infected than others, so one possibility that has been put forward is to remove the worst ones and replace them. However, at a well attended AGM recently, the Friends of Cutteslowe and Sunnymead Park were told that the problem with that solution is that new trees find it hard to get established against existing ones. The Council's tree officers therefore would prefer to fell a whole avenue at a time, and replace the chestnuts with something else. The denuding effect of this suggestion appalled some worthy locals in the audience, who in a questionnaire generally inclined to the view that if filling the gaps was not acceptable, at least we should spread out the felling as long as possible, perhaps over nine years. It was also suggested that after the first avenue has gone, we should take stock of the situation before demolishing any more. Unfortunately it would appear that all the chestnuts will go in time. The Council can't take the risk of a diseased limb falling and injuring someone - a distinct possibility in this very popular park - so they are not keen on delaying the felling and replacement process too long.

Luckily the news isn't all bad. There are 119 chestnuts altogether, 69 of which are in the three avenues, but this is out of a total of 1,711 trees in the Park as a whole. Also we can be quite imaginative in what replaces them. Here we have some choices, and nothing has been definitely decided. Should we retain the avenues with one species? Or perhaps a different type for each avenue, or even alternating types within the avenues? One possible replacement which has been suggested is liquid ambers. We've got one at home, and it looks lovely in the autumn, so I'll be supporting that as at least one replacement possibility. Let either Oxford City Council or the Friends of Cutteslowe and sunnymead Park know if you've got other ideas.

The other mitigating factor is that replacement saplings are likely to be be at least two metres tall even when first planted, so hopefully the Park won't look totally bare even if a whole avenue is taken out at a time.

What I want to know is what will schoolchildren do for conkers when all the conker trees disappear?

Kip at my house, friend!

Fact: the internet is the most powerful tool in the world. ‘The first Google index in 1998 had 26 million pages’1 and now ‘the Indexed Web contains at least 12.72 billion pages (Wednesday, 06 February, 2013).’2  

You can do virtually anything with it and the list is increasing at a mind-boggling rate. 
Some of the more obvious things that we use the internet for are:

• Booking a flight
• Paying your bills
• Doing your Christmas shopping
• Finding quality English courses

Of course, it goes without saying that internet users must be careful and aware of the possible dangers involved when making payments online. Also, if you’re buying goods from a website, you can never guarantee that the quality will be as hoped for. 

However, with tighter internet controls and more access to customer reviews and feedback, things are improving. Now there is a noticeable power shift from the companies selling the goods to the consumers.

Ebay is a prime example. If a seller has a bad rating, a buyer will look elsewhere. Just like if a hotel has a bad review, people will choose to stay in another hotel. This review-driven generation (AKA the ‘Share Economy’) that we are born into has not only given power to the consumer but added fierce competition to many industries. 

Take airport parking as an example. One of the main reasons people chose to take the bus to the airport instead of driving is because airports charge an absolute fortune for parking. People have clocked on to this and a number of websites now advertise private parking at hotels nearby, driveways and garages for a fraction of the price (eg. www.parkatmyhouse.com, www.parkonmydrive.com). After using the site, users are asked to rate the parking space and overall service provided by owner.

There are also websites that are advertising rooms in people’s private homes, and even entire apartments and houses directly from the owner on a nightly and/or weekly basis. On Airbnb.com you can find private rooms in central London for as little as £10/night, and it also provides deluxe accommodation. Again, once people have stayed, they leave a review. If the review is not good, it deters others from staying there. While on the one hand, the concept of letting a stranger into your home goes against the old saying ‘don’t talk to strangers’, it also provides affordable accommodation for tourists and travelers alike.

Its effect on the local economy is supposed to be positive, too! ‘Airbnb commissioned a study of its economic impact on San Francisco last year and found a “spillover effect.” Because an Airbnb rental tends to be cheaper than a hotel, people stay longer and spent $1,100 in the city, compared with $840 for hotel guests; 14% of their customers said they would not have visited the city at all without Airbnb.’3

In today’s news, Airbnb are currently under fire by the authorities in Amsterdam and New York as they are accused of facilitating "illegal hotels". Click here to read more

What are your thoughts? Would you let a stranger into your house? Is this getting out of control or is this the way forward?