98-457: The Oxford to London coach route is an express coach route between Oxford and London along the M40 motorway . Operated by Stagecoach West under the brand name Oxford Tube , there are up to five coaches an hour via Lewknor , High Wycombe Coachway , Hillingdon , Shepherd's Bush and Baker Street terminating on Buckingham Palace Road , Victoria . The former X90 route, which was operated by
196-593: A cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire , England, of which it is the county town. Founded in the 8th century, it was granted city status in 1542. The city is located at the confluence of the rivers Thames (locally known as the Isis ) and Cherwell . It had a population of 163,257 in 2022. It is 56 miles (90 km) north-west of London , 64 miles (103 km) south-east of Birmingham and 61 miles (98 km) north-east of Bristol . The city
294-483: A combined capacity of 1,695 seats. Hybrid buses began to be used in Oxford in 2010, and their usage has been expanded. In 2014 Oxford Bus introduced a fleet of 20 new buses with flywheel energy storage on the services it operates under contract for Oxford Brookes University . Most buses in the city now use a smartcard to pay for journeys and have free WiFi installed. The Oxford to London coach route offers
392-566: A considerable proportion of scheduled bus operators outside the major cities, having obtained the Tilling Group companies in 1948 as a consequence of nationalising the railways, all of which had substantial shareholdings in the Tilling Group, having previously merged into it their own bus operations. The Tilling Group was subsequently placed under the ownership of the nationalised Transport Holding Company (THC). London Transport
490-547: A few small towns. The NBC inherited from the Transport Holding Company 75% shareholdings in chassis manufacturer Bristol Commercial Vehicles and body builder Eastern Coach Works . In 1969 NBC formed a joint venture with British Leyland (who owned the other 25% of Bristol and ECW), by means of which British Leyland became a 50% owner of the NBC's manufacturing companies. The joint venture designed and built
588-693: A frequent coach service to London. The Oxford Tube is operated by Stagecoach West and the Oxford Bus Company runs the Airline services to Heathrow and Gatwick airports. There is a bus station at Gloucester Green , used mainly by the London and airport buses, National Express coaches and other long-distance buses including route X5 to Milton Keynes and Bedford and Stagecoach Gold route S6. Among cities in England and Wales, Oxford has
686-547: A joint operation with Green Line , passed entirely by the 1990s to Green Line, who operated the route only between High Wycombe and London and ceased it altogether by 2003. The Henley service (390) originally went all the way from Witney to central London via Henley and Heathrow. It was eventually curtailed at Heathrow Airport, but even then Thames Transit could not make it pay and in 1996 replaced coaches with minibuses and renumbered it X39. Stagecoach in Oxfordshire later cut
784-498: A mistake. In November 2022, Mogford announced that his hospitality group The Oxford Collection had joined up with Oxford Business Action Group (OBAG), Oxford High Street Association (OHSA), ROX (Backing Oxford Business), Reconnecting Oxford, Jericho Traders, and Summertown traders to launch a legal challenge to the new bus gates. The city is served by the M40 motorway , which connects London to Birmingham . The M40 approached Oxford in 1974, leading from London to Waterstock , where
882-494: A new company, Morrells of Oxford. The new owners sold most of the pubs on to Greene King in 2002. The Lion Brewery was converted into luxury apartments in 2002. Oxford's first legal distillery , the Oxford Artisan Distillery , was established in 2017 in historic farm buildings at the top of South Park . The Taylor family of Loughborough had a bell-foundry in Oxford between 1786 and 1854. This
980-505: A new logo, since replaced in 2007. Most local companies passed from state control to management buyouts . The independence of many however, was short lived, as they were acquired by the emerging large private bus groups, represented today by: The original bus and coach operating subsidiaries of the National Bus Company in 1969 and 1970 were: In addition, another NBC subsidiary Amalgamated Passenger Transport Ltd. inherited
1078-501: A new research annexe; its staff have been involved with the teaching of anthropology at Oxford since its foundation, when as part of his donation General Augustus Pitt Rivers stipulated that the university establish a lectureship in anthropology. National Bus Company (UK) The National Bus Company (NBC) was a nationalised bus company that operated in England and Wales between 1969 and 1988. NBC did not run buses itself, but
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#17327723370151176-599: A new single-deck bus, the Leyland National . The first was delivered in 1972, and it remained in production until 1986. The National was also available to other bus operators. In 1982 NBC sold its 50% interest in the joint venture (including Bristol and ECW) to British Leyland. In the late 1970s and early 1980s services were reviewed under a process known within instigator Midland Red as the Viable Network Project and subsequently more generally as
1274-412: A pristine Stradivarius violin, regarded by some as one of the finest examples in existence. The University Museum of Natural History holds the university's zoological , entomological and geological specimens. It is housed in a large neo-Gothic building on Parks Road , in the university's Science Area . Among its collection are the skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops , and
1372-600: A regular basis, Oxford Tube renews its entire fleet at once, every five years. Tickets are also sold via the Megabus network. As of September 2017, it was the highest frequency long-distance coach service in the United Kingdom. The Oxford Bus Company operated the X90 service every 15 minutes at peak times, using eight Plaxton Elite bodied Volvo B11Rs . From October 2018, the service was reduced to every 30 minutes, and
1470-515: A service between London and Eastern Counties' base at Cambridge). In 1934, the Tilling Group (Eastern Counties' parent) moved the Oxford service of Varsity Express to a closer group company, United Counties Omnibus . In 1934, South Midland was running seven journeys a day, and Varsity Express ran eight journeys a day. The day return fare was 6/- (30p). In 1942 the Government compelled coach operators to suspend operations. In 1945 South Midland
1568-463: A third route, also to Paddington, running via Thame , High Wycombe and Maidenhead , was provided; this was shortened in 1906 by the opening of a direct route between High Wycombe and London Paddington by way of Denham . The distance from Oxford to London was 78 miles (125.5 km) via Bletchley; 63.5 miles (102.2 km) via Didcot and Reading; 63.25 miles (101.8 km) via Thame and Maidenhead; and 55.75 miles (89.7 km) via Denham. Only
1666-601: A total of 58 coach services between Oxford and London every day. After the Road Traffic Act 1930 , the competitors quickly reduced to two: South Midland and Varsity Express. Varsity Express used the A40 via High Wycombe and Uxbridge , South Midland ran via Henley-on-Thames , Maidenhead and Slough . In 1933 the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company acquired Varsity Express (which also ran
1764-407: A uniform design under Norman Wilson's corporate identity scheme, generally in either leaf green or poppy red, with white relief. All vehicles bore the local company fleetname in white in the bespoke National lettering/Wilson National typeface designed by Wilson and based on Akzidenz-Grotesk. The fleetname was aligned with Wilson's new NBC symbol, an italicised 'N' and its shadow forming an arrow, with
1862-555: A wide number of UK holiday services under the banner "National Holidays". This brand and its travel agent booking offices existed until the mid-1990s, when the coach holiday division closed. The National Express overseas travel business was re-launched under the name Eurolines : this brand now operates services from the UK across Europe, booked through the main National Express website. In the 1970s all local service buses adopted
1960-500: Is 2014, with an average of 11.8 °C (53 °F) and the coldest is 1879, with a mean temperature of 7.7 °C (46 °F). The sunniest month on record is May 2020, with 331.7 hours and December 1890 is the least sunny, with 5.0 hours. The greatest one-day rainfall occurred on 10 July 1968, with a total of 87.9 mm (3.46 in). The greatest known snow depth was 61.0 cm (24.0 in) in February 1888. The city centre
2058-477: Is a small selection of the many notable buildings in Oxford. Oxford is a very green city, with several parks and nature walks within the ring road , as well as several sites just outside the ring road. In total, 28 nature reserves exist within or just outside the ring road, including: In addition to the larger airports in the region, Oxford is served by nearby Oxford Airport , in Kidlington . The airport
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#17327723370152156-706: Is also home to CAE Oxford Aviation Academy and Airways Aviation airline pilot flight training centres, and several private jet companies. The airport is also home to Airbus Helicopters UK headquarters. Direct trains run from Oxford station to London Paddington where there is an interchange with the Heathrow Express train links serving Heathrow Airport . Passengers can change at Reading for connecting trains to Gatwick Airport . Some CrossCountry trains run direct services to Birmingham International , as well as to Southampton Airport Parkway further afield. Bus services in Oxford and its suburbs are run by
2254-634: Is home to the University of Oxford , the oldest university in the English-speaking world ; it has buildings in every style of English architecture since late Anglo-Saxon . Oxford's industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing, science, and information technologies. The history of Oxford in England dates back to its original settlement in the Saxon period . Originally of strategic significance due to its controlling location on
2352-466: Is just outside the city, at the park and ride site near Kidlington . The present railway station opened in 1852. Oxford is the junction for a short branch line to Bicester , a remnant of the former Varsity line to Cambridge . This Oxford–Bicester line was upgraded to 100 mph (161 km/h) running during an 18-month closure in 2014/2015 – and is scheduled to be extended to form the planned East West Rail line to Milton Keynes. East West Rail
2450-505: Is now strongly discouraged, and largely prevented, from using the city centre. The Oxford Ring Road or A4142 (southern part) surrounds the city centre and close suburbs Marston , Iffley , Cowley and Headington ; it consists of the A34 to the west, a 330-yard section of the A44 , the A40 north and north-east, A4142/ A423 to the east. It is a dual carriageway , except for a 330-yard section of
2548-508: Is proposed to continue through Bletchley (for Milton Keynes Central ) to Bedford , Cambridge, and ultimately Ipswich and Norwich , thus providing alternative route to East Anglia without needing to travel via, and connect between, the London mainline terminals. Chiltern Railways operates from Oxford to London Marylebone via Bicester Village , having sponsored the building of about 400 metres of new track between Bicester Village and
2646-519: Is relatively small and is centred on Carfax , a crossroads which forms the junction of Cornmarket Street (pedestrianised), Queen Street (mainly pedestrianised ), St Aldate's and the High Street ("the High"; blocked for through traffic). Cornmarket Street and Queen Street are home to Oxford's chain stores, as well as a small number of independent retailers, one of the longest established of which
2744-1093: The Castle Mill Stream . The rapid expansion of Oxford and the development of its railway links after the 1840s facilitated expansion of the brewing trade. As well as expanding the market for Oxford's brewers, railways enabled brewers further from the city to compete for a share of its market. By 1874 there were nine breweries in Oxford and 13 brewers' agents in Oxford shipping beer in from elsewhere. The nine breweries were: Flowers & Co in Cowley Road , Hall's St Giles Brewery, Hall's Swan Brewery (see below), Hanley's City Brewery in Queen Street , Le Mills's Brewery in St. Ebbes , Morrell's Lion Brewery in St Thomas Street (see below), Simonds's Brewery in Queen Street, Weaving's Eagle Brewery (by 1869
2842-557: The Chiltern Main Line southwards in 2014. The route serves High Wycombe and London Marylebone, avoiding London Paddington and Didcot Parkway . In 1844, the Great Western Railway linked Oxford with London Paddington via Didcot and Reading ; in 1851, the London & North Western Railway opened its own route from Oxford to London Euston , via Bicester , Bletchley and Watford ; and in 1864
2940-429: The Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach West as well as other operators including Arriva Shires & Essex and Thames Travel . Oxford has one of the largest urban park and ride networks in the United Kingdom. Its five sites, at Pear Tree, Redbridge , Seacourt , Thornhill, Water Eaton and Oxford Parkway have a combined capacity of 4,930 car parking spaces, served by 20 Oxford Bus Company double decker buses with
3038-513: The Oxford Bus Company , ran up to two coaches an hour via Baker Street , also terminating on Buckingham Palace Road. This service was withdrawn in January 2020, with the reasons stated being reducing passenger numbers, traffic congestion, and competition from railway services. The Oxford Tube , launched by Thames Transit in 1987, operates a fleet of Plaxton Panorama bodied Volvo B11RLE double-decker coaches. Rather than turn over its fleet on
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3136-461: The Oxford Star (tabloid; free and delivered), and Oxford Journal (tabloid; weekly free pick-up). Oxford is also home to several advertising agencies . Daily Information (known locally as "Daily Info") is an event information and advertising news sheet which has been published since 1964 and now provides a connected website. Nightshift is a monthly local free magazine that has covered
3234-477: The Oxford Tube . The Oxford Bus Company branded its service Oxford Citylink . Competition on the non-stop routes became fierce. Both companies were taken over: Oxford Bus Company by Go-Ahead Group in 1994 and Thames Transit by Stagecoach in 1997. Both companies continued to innovate, with better coaches, more frequent services, Wifi on board, and all-night services. The Oxford Tube brand has endured, whereas
3332-529: The Westgate Oxford . The Westgate Centre is named for the original West Gate in the city wall, and is at the west end of Queen Street . A major redevelopment and expansion to 750,000 sq ft (70,000 m ), with a new 230,000 sq ft (21,000 m ) John Lewis department store and a number of new homes, was completed in October 2017. Blackwell's Bookshop is a bookshop which claims
3430-739: The "Market Analysis Project" (MAP). This followed on from the West Oxfordshire Market Analysis Project conducted in 1975 by the newly formed Public Transport Unit of Oxfordshire County Council. With an all-county remit Oxfordshire included services from the Banbury area running into the West Oxfordshire survey area. Having assisted in the programme and been fully informed as to the findings, the Midland Red Area Manager (Brian Barrett)
3528-815: The 1970s and 1980s, leaving behind a city which had developed far beyond the university town of the past. Oxford's latitude and longitude are 51°45′07″N 1°15′28″W / 51.75194°N 1.25778°W / 51.75194; -1.25778 , with Ordnance Survey grid reference SP513061 (at Carfax Tower , which is usually considered the centre). Oxford is 24 miles (39 km) north-west of Reading , 26 miles (42 km) north-east of Swindon , 36 miles (58 km) east of Cheltenham , 43 miles (69 km) east of Gloucester , 29 miles (47 km) south-west of Milton Keynes , 38 miles (61 km) south-east of Evesham , 43 miles (69 km) south of Rugby and 51 miles (82 km) west-north-west of London . The rivers Cherwell and Thames (also sometimes known as
3626-542: The A40 continued to Oxford. When the M40 extension to Birmingham was completed in January 1991, it curved sharply north, and a mile of the old motorway became a spur. The M40 comes no closer than 6 miles (10 km) away from the city centre, curving to pass to the east of Otmoor . The M40 meets the A34 to the north of Oxford. There are two universities in Oxford, the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University , as well as
3724-421: The A40 where two residential service roads adjoin, and was completed in 1966. The main roads to/from Oxford are: On 28 February 2022 a zero-emission pilot area became operational in Oxford city centre. Zero-emission vehicles can be used without incurring a charge but all petrol and diesel vehicles (including hybrids) incur a daily charge if they are driven in the zone between 7am and 7pm. A consultation on
3822-724: The Eagle Steam Brewery) in Park End Street and Wootten and Cole's St. Clement's Brewery. The Swan's Nest Brewery, later the Swan Brewery, was established by the early 18th century in Paradise Street , and in 1795 was acquired by William Hall. The brewery became known as Hall's Oxford Brewery, which acquired other local breweries. Hall's Brewery was acquired by Samuel Allsopp & Sons in 1926, after which it ceased brewing in Oxford. Morrell's
3920-525: The High Wycombe and Henley routes. Non-stop coaches started in 1963, reducing the journey time to 2 hours 15 minutes. In 1968 the City of Oxford Motor Services (COMS, nowadays trading as Oxford Bus Company), the company which ran local bus services in and around Oxford, became state-owned when British Electric Traction sold its UK bus interests to the government's Transport Holding Company . The result
4018-555: The Isis locally, supposedly from the Latinised name Thamesis ) run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre. These rivers and their flood plains constrain the size of the city centre. Oxford has a maritime temperate climate ( Köppen : Cfb ). Precipitation is uniformly distributed throughout the year and is provided mostly by weather systems that arrive from the Atlantic . The lowest temperature ever recorded in Oxford
Oxford to London coach route - Misplaced Pages Continue
4116-475: The M40. Seventeen passengers and the driver were taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital with five people needing surgery for broken bones. The driver was convicted of driving without due care and attention having been charged but acquitted of dangerous driving; he was fined £750 and banned from driving for 12 months. Oxford Oxford ( / ˈ ɒ k s f ər d / ) is
4214-415: The NBC logo and the 'NATIONAL' name in alternate red & blue letters using a bespoke typeface. The 'white coach' played a prominent part in changing the image of coach travel, taking advantage of the new national motorway network to offer a consistent national service. The services were rebranded as National Express soon afterwards. The addition of blue and white stripes appeared in 1978. National Travel
4312-847: The Oxford Bus Company's London route was rebranded the Oxford Express in 2000, espress in 2004, and X90 Oxford-London in 2012. The Heathrow service was rebranded the Airline in 2001. In 2003, Stagecoach introduced Megabus to the route, using different termini in both Oxford and London. However, in November 2004 the Megabus service was replaced by dedicated seats on the Oxford Tube. The stopping services to London declined. The High Wycombe service (290), which had become
4410-466: The Oxford music scene since 1991. Oxford is home to many museums , galleries , and collections, most of which are free of admission charges and are major tourist attractions . The majority are departments of the University of Oxford . The first of these to be established was the Ashmolean Museum , the world's first university museum , and the oldest museum in the UK. Its first building
4508-642: The Transport Holding Company, NBC took over the municipal bus operations in Exeter and Luton during 1970, with these operations being absorbed by Devon General and United Counties respectively, while the country area services of London Transport also passed to NBC in 1970 as London Country. Notable independent operators acquired during this period included Jones of Aberbeeg, Venture of Consett, Provincial of Fareham, and Wessex of Bristol which were (at least initially) retained as subsidiaries. 1974 saw
4606-809: The United Kingdom, after the British Library . The Bodleian Library is a legal deposit library, which means that it is entitled to request a free copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. As such, its collection is growing at a rate of over three miles (five kilometres) of shelving every year. As well as the BBC national radio stations , Oxford and the surrounding area has several local stations, including BBC Radio Oxford , Heart South , Destiny 105 , Greatest Hits Radio and Hits Radio Oxfordshire , along with Oxide: Oxford Student Radio (which went on terrestrial radio at 87.7 MHz FM in late May 2005). A local TV station , Six TV : The Oxford Channel,
4704-476: The appointment of Fred Wood as chairman in 1972, the National Bus Company introduced a corporate identity designed by Norman Wilson , who had previously worked with Wood to reshape the identity of the Croda International chemical company. The company's coaches, which previously carried the traditional colours of local subsidiaries, were re-branded as 'National' and painted in unrelieved white, with
4802-528: The area is often used by film and TV crews. Aside from the city centre, there are several suburbs and neighbourhoods within the borders of the city of Oxford, including: Oxford is at the centre of the Oxford Green Belt , which is an environmental and planning policy that regulates the rural space in Oxfordshire surrounding the city, aiming to prevent urban sprawl and minimize convergence with nearby settlements. The policy has been blamed for
4900-795: The city of Oxford was a county borough , independent from the county council. Oxford City Council meets at the Town Hall on the street called St Aldate's in the city centre. The current building was completed in 1897, on a site which had been occupied by Oxford's guildhall since the 13th century. Most of Oxford is an unparished area , but there are four civil parishes within the city's boundaries: Blackbird Leys , Littlemore , Old Marston , and Risinghurst and Sandhills . Oxford's economy includes manufacturing, publishing and science-based industries as well as education, sports, entertainment, breweries, research and tourism. Oxford has been an important centre of motor manufacturing since Morris Motors
4998-499: The coach-only subsidiaries consolidated into four "National Travel" companies, while a fifth was established to take over another independent coach operator, Don Everall of Wolverhampton. On the other hand, the NBC shareholdings in Huddersfield and Sheffield JOCs were sold to the respective local authorities in 1969, and most of Hebble's bus operations passed to the jointly owned Halifax JOC during 1970. The 1968 Transport Act gave
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#17327723370155096-789: The dimensions and positions precisely defined in Wilson's corporate identity manuals of 1972 and 1976. Though around 95 per cent of the company's buses appeared in one of the two standard colours, there were exceptions. Buses operating in the area of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive used yellow in a similar fashion to the PTE's own fleet but to the NBC specifications for layout and colour; some buses operating within West Yorkshire were liveried in WYPTE verona green and cream; Jones (Aberbeeg)
5194-407: The early years of the company, there was some rationalisation, generally leading to the amalgamation of operators into larger units and the transfer of areas between them. One was the merging of Aldershot & District with Thames Valley on 1 January 1972. Another example was the transfer of the 'land-locked' Trowbridge operations from Western National to Bristol Omnibus in 1970. Following
5292-557: The former British Railways/THC shareholdings in several further Joint Omnibus Committees in Yorkshire, comprising Halifax JOC and Todmorden JOC (merged to form Calderdale JOC in 1971), Huddersfield JOC and Sheffield JOC. During its early years, NBC pursued a policy of merging smaller subsidiaries to form larger regional companies. At the same time, some depots were transferred between subsidiaries to reduce overlap between operating territories. In addition to those businesses inherited from
5390-400: The introduction of a wider zero-emission zone is expected in the future, at a date to be confirmed. Oxford has eight bus gates, short sections of road where only buses and other authorised vehicles can pass. Six further bus gates are currently proposed. A council-led consultation on the traffic filters ended on 13 October 2022. On 29 November 2022, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet approved
5488-494: The introduction on a trial basis, for a minimum period of six months. The trial will begin after improvement works to Oxford railway station are complete, which is expected to be by October 2024. The additional bus gates have been controversial; Oxford University and Oxford Bus Company support the proposals but more than 3,700 people have signed an online petition opposing the new traffic filters for Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way, and hotelier Jeremy Mogford has argued they would be
5586-493: The large rise in house prices in Oxford, making it the least affordable city in the United Kingdom outside of London, with estate agents calling for brownfield land inside the green belt to be released for new housing. The vast majority of the area covered is outside of the city, but there are some green spaces within that which are covered by the designation, such as much of the Thames and river Cherwell flood-meadows , and
5684-548: The largest single room devoted to book sales in the whole of Europe, the Norrington Room (10,000 sq ft). There is a long history of brewing in Oxford. Several of the colleges had private breweries, one of which, at Brasenose , survived until 1889. In the 16th century brewing and malting appear to have been the most popular trades in the city. There were breweries in Brewer Street and Paradise Street , near
5782-678: The most complete remains of a dodo found anywhere in the world. It also hosts the Simonyi Professorship of the Public Understanding of Science , currently held by Marcus du Sautoy . Adjoining the Museum of Natural History is the Pitt Rivers Museum , founded in 1884, which displays the university's archaeological and anthropological collections, currently holding over 500,000 items. It recently built
5880-619: The new passenger transport executives the right to purchase any bus operations within their territories, including those of the National Bus Company. Not all of the PTEs chose to exercise this power, but on 1 January 1972 SELNEC PTE purchased the majority of North Western Road Car, and in 1973 the services of Midland Red within the West Midlands PTE passed to that executive. In 1974 the remaining NBC interest in Calderdale JOC
5978-416: The original ( Didcot ) route is still in use for its full length, portions of the others remain. There were also routes to the north and west. The line to Banbury was opened in 1850, and was extended to Birmingham Snow Hill in 1852; a route to Worcester opened in 1853. A branch to Witney was opened in 1862, which was extended to Fairford in 1873. The line to Witney and Fairford closed in 1962, but
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#17327723370156076-755: The others remain open. Oxford was historically an important port on the River Thames , with this section of the river being called the Isis ; the Oxford-Burcot Commission in the 17th century attempted to improve navigation to Oxford. Iffley Lock and Osney Lock lie within the bounds of the city. In the 18th century the Oxford Canal was built to connect Oxford with the Midlands . Commercial traffic has given way to recreational use of
6174-399: The pool of Oxford University students and graduates, and, especially for EFL education , use their Oxford location as a selling point. Oxford has numerous major tourist attractions, many belonging to the university and colleges. As well as several famous institutions, the town centre is home to Carfax Tower and the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, both of which offer views over
6272-462: The power to acquire private bus operators. However, in November 1967 British Electric Traction (BET) unexpectedly offered to sell its bus operations to the government. BET, who had been the only major private bus operating group, received £35 million for its 25 provincial bus companies and 11,300 vehicles. The deal meant that the state or municipal bus operators now operated some 90% of scheduled bus services in England and Wales. Instead of forming
6370-402: The regional authorities, the government published a white paper proposing the merger of the THC and BET organisations into a single National Bus Company. The recommendations of the White Paper formed part of the Transport Act 1968 . The 1968 Act also reorganised the already nationalised bus operation in Scotland, where subsidiaries formed the Scottish Bus Group . The National Bus Company
6468-446: The results, indicating to local authorities those services requiring subsidy. As part of the MAP local area identities were invariably introduced, with new fleet names applied to buses, bus stops, timetables and publicity. The process culminated in the splitting of several larger NBC subsidiaries. From 1986, bus services in the UK were deregulated and progressively privatised, with the remaining larger companies forcibly broken up. NBC
6566-457: The river and canal. Oxford was the original base of Salters Steamers (founded in 1858), which was a leading racing-boatbuilder that played an important role in popularising pleasure boating on the Upper Thames. The firm runs a regular service from Folly Bridge downstream to Abingdon and beyond. Oxford's central location on several transport routes means that it has long been a crossroads city with many coaching inns , although road traffic
6664-482: The route at Henley, and in 1999 it was taken over by Thames Travel . In 2021, operation of the Oxford Tube was transferred to Stagecoach West as part of its merger with Stagecoach in Oxfordshire. On 30 August 2010, a drunken 21-year-old grabbed hold of the steering wheel of an Oxford Tube coach and caused it to overturn on an embankment on the M40. The offender was sentenced to 12 months in prison. On 11 December 2010 at 23:00, an Oxford Tube coach overturned on leaving
6762-458: The second highest percentage of people cycling to work. Oxford railway station is half a mile (about 1 km) west of the city centre. The station is served by CrossCountry services to Bournemouth and Manchester Piccadilly ; Great Western Railway (who manage the station) services to London Paddington , Banbury and Hereford ; and Chiltern Railways services to London Marylebone . Oxford has had three main railway stations. The first
6860-509: The specialist further and higher education institution Ruskin College that is part of the University of West London in Oxford. The Islamic Azad University also has a campus near Oxford. The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and one of the most prestigious higher education institutions of the world, averaging nine applications to every available place, and attracting 40% of its academic staff and 17% of undergraduates from overseas. In September 2016, it
6958-411: The spires of the city. Many tourists shop at the historic Covered Market . In the summer, punting on the Thames / Isis and the Cherwell is a common practice. As well as being a major draw for tourists (9.1 million in 2008, similar in 2009) , Oxford city centre has many shops, several theatres and an ice rink. There are two small shopping malls in the city centre: the Clarendon Centre and
7056-660: The town. A heavily ecclesiastical town, Oxford was greatly affected by the changes of the English Reformation , emerging as the seat of a bishopric and a full-fledged city. During the English Civil War , Oxford housed the court of Charles I and stood at the heart of national affairs. The city began to grow industrially during the 19th century, and had an industrial boom in the early 20th century, with major printing and car-manufacturing industries. These declined, along with other British heavy industry, in
7154-615: The upper reaches of the River Thames at its confluence with the River Cherwell , the town grew in national importance during the early Norman period , and in the late 12th century became home to the fledgling University of Oxford . The city was besieged during The Anarchy in 1142. During the Middle Ages Oxford had an important Jewish community, of which David of Oxford and his wife Licoricia of Winchester were prominent members. The university rose to dominate
7252-591: The village of Binsey , along with several smaller portions on the fringes. Other landscape features and places of interest covered include Cutteslowe Park and the mini railway attraction, the University Parks , Hogacre Common Eco Park, numerous sports grounds, Aston's Eyot , St Margaret 's Church and well, and Wolvercote Common and community orchard. There are two tiers of local government covering Oxford, at district and county level: Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council . From 1889 to 1974
7350-426: Was Boswell's , founded in 1738. The store closed in 2020. St Aldate's has few shops but several local government buildings, including the town hall , the city police station and local council offices. The High (the word street is traditionally omitted) is the longest of the four streets and has a number of independent and high-end chain stores, but mostly university and college buildings. The historic buildings mean
7448-570: Was deregulated by the Transport Act 1980 and the UK bus market by the Transport Act 1985 . In 1983, COMS was split into two in preparation for deregulation. Whilst most of the services outside Oxford itself were transferred to a new company, South Midland Limited, the London services remained with COMS, which was sold in a management buyout in January 1987. Competition appeared in 1987 when Thames Transit , commenced operating in Oxford and started its own express service to London, branded
7546-412: Was 1788, with 336.7 mm (13.26 in) of rainfall. The wettest year was 2012, with 979.5 mm (38.56 in). The wettest month on record was September 1774, with a total fall of 223.9 mm (8.81 in). The warmest month on record is July 1983, with an average of 21.1 °C (70 °F) and the coldest is January 1963, with an average of −3.0 °C (27 °F). The warmest year on record
7644-402: Was able to recommend that the programme should be extended elsewhere within National Bus Company. Conscious of the very limited information on their market (their passengers), NBC extended the programme throughout the areas served by the subsidiary Companies. Each company carefully considered its existing and potential new demands, surveyed both on and off bus, and recast local networks to reflect
7742-551: Was acquired by the newly-formed West Yorkshire PTE . By 1978 the following bus-operating companies existed: In 1981 Midland Red , weakened by losing its core area, was broken into six smaller operating companies. Most of the National Travel companies were closed down in the mid-1980s, with coaches mainly going to local bus companies. Wessex National was formed from part of National Travel South West, and Pilgrim Coaches from part of National Travel West. In preparation for
7840-607: Was also available but closed in April 2009; a service operated by That's TV , originally called That's Oxford (now That's Oxfordshire), took to the airwaves in 2015. The city is home to a BBC Television newsroom which produces an opt-out from the main South Today programme broadcast from Southampton . Local papers include The Oxford Times (compact; weekly), its sister papers the Oxford Mail ( tabloid ; daily) and
7938-573: Was also nationalised in 1948 and others voluntarily acquiesced, the last being Red & White in 1950. When the Labour Party suddenly lost power to the Conservatives in 1951, the nationalization programme remained unfinished. Castle proposed forming regional transport authorities, which would take over the THC subsidiaries and municipal transport undertakings in their area, and would also have
8036-468: Was divided into 70 units, with the first sale being of National Holidays to Pleasurama in July 1986. The last sale was completed in April 1988. The sales spawned a renewed interest in individual liveries and the "double-N" logo disappeared. However, it was kept by National Express when it was sold to their management and continued to be used until 2003, when the NBC logo finally disappeared in favour of
8134-678: Was erected in 1678–1683 to house a cabinet of curiosities given to the University of Oxford in 1677. The museum reopened in 2009 after a major redevelopment. It holds significant collections of art and archaeology, including works by Michelangelo , Leonardo da Vinci , Turner , and Picasso , as well as treasures such as the Scorpion Macehead , the Parian Marble and the Alfred Jewel . It also contains " The Messiah ",
8232-529: Was established in 1990, and the Begbroke Science Park , owned by the university, lies north of the city. Oxford increasingly has a reputation for being a centre of digital innovation, as epitomized by Digital Oxford. Several startups including Passle, Brainomix, Labstep, and more, are based in Oxford. The presence of the university has also led to Oxford becoming a centre for the education industry. Companies often draw their teaching staff from
8330-527: Was established in the city in 1910. The principal production site for Mini cars, owned by BMW since 2000, is in the Oxford suburb of Cowley . The plant, which survived the turbulent years of British Leyland in the 1970s and was threatened with closure in the early 1990s, also produced cars under the Austin and Rover brands following the demise of the Morris brand in 1984, although the last Morris-badged car
8428-480: Was formed on 1 January 1969. In 1970, the company was enlarged when it acquired the country area buses of London Transport (as London Country Bus Services ), the bus operations of the county boroughs of Exeter and Luton , and the Gosport & Fareham Omnibus Company, trading under the name of Provincial. Buses were operated by locally managed subsidiary companies, with their own fleetnames and liveries. In
8526-592: Was founded in 1743 by Richard Tawney. He formed a partnership in 1782 with Mark and James Morrell, who eventually became the owners. After an acrimonious family dispute the brewery was closed in 1998. The beer brand names were taken over by the Thomas Hardy Burtonwood brewery, while the 132 tied pubs were bought by Michael Cannon, owner of the American hamburger chain Fuddruckers , through
8624-587: Was liveried in blue, while local subsidiaries East Yorkshire, Midland General and the Northern General subsidiary, Sunderland District, also retained blue for short periods. Although NBC operated throughout England and Wales, it was not a monopoly. Services were provided by London Transport in Greater London , the fleets of the municipal bus companies and passenger transport executives , and by independent operators in some rural areas and
8722-565: Was opened at Grandpont in 1844, but this was a terminus, inconvenient for routes to the north; it was replaced by the present station on Park End Street in 1852 with the opening of the Birmingham route. Another terminus, at Rewley Road , was opened in 1851 to serve the Bletchley route; this station closed in 1951. There have also been a number of local railway stations, all of which are now closed. A fourth station, Oxford Parkway ,
8820-454: Was opened in stages from 1967 to 1974. Occasional non-stop services used the motorway, but in 1977 a regular non-stop service was started as route 190, later renumbered X90. In the 1980s a non-stop service, the X70, was also started between Oxford and Heathrow Airport . In the 1980s the 290 stopping service was combined with Green Line's London to High Wycombe route. The UK express coach sector
8918-581: Was produced there in 1982. Oxford University Press , a department of the University of Oxford , is based in the city, although it no longer operates its own paper mill and printing house. The city is also home to the UK operations of Wiley-Blackwell , Elsevier and several smaller publishing houses. The presence of the university has given rise to many science and technology based businesses, including Oxford Instruments , Research Machines and Sophos . The university established Isis Innovation in 1987 to promote technology transfer. The Oxford Science Park
9016-586: Was ranked as the world's number one university, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings . Oxford is renowned for its tutorial -based method of teaching. The University of Oxford maintains the largest university library system in the United Kingdom, and, with over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles (190 km) of shelving, the Bodleian group is the second-largest library in
9114-616: Was sold to Red & White Services . Operations resumed in 1946, but by 1950 both Red & White and United Counties had been nationalised and were controlled by the British Transport Commission (BTC). The BTC transferred control of South Midland to Thames Valley Traction , and in 1952 transferred the United Counties service to South Midland. During the 1950s and 1960s, South Midland ran coaches between Oxford and London about every hour, alternating between
9212-584: Was that both South Midland and COMS became subsidiaries of the THC (to which BTC had transferred its South Midland shares in 1963). At the beginning of 1971 the state-owned National Bus Company (the THC's successor) merged South Midland with COMS, which adopted the trading name Oxford South Midland . The two South Midland routes were combined with COMS's bus routes from Oxford to High Wycombe and Henley, and given numbers: route 30 (Oxford-Henley-London) and route 70 (Oxford-High Wycombe-London), changed to 390 and 290 in 1975. The M40 motorway between London and Oxford
9310-415: Was the country's first attempt at a uniformly marketable express network, which superseded Associated Motorways and the plethora of other services provided by individual NBC subsidiaries. The coaches were managed by a few areas and included travel agent booking offices based at major bus stations. A hub and spoke system operated with the main hub at Cheltenham . Around the same time, the company launched
9408-574: Was the owner of a number of regional subsidiary bus operating companies. Following the Labour Party victory at the 1966 General Election , Barbara Castle was appointed Minister for Transport . Castle immediately ordered a review of public transport, with a view to formulating a new transport policy. Among the issues to be tackled were the ownership and operation of bus services, which were rapidly losing patronage and profitability due to increased prevalence of private motor cars. The state owned
9506-464: Was withdrawn from 4 January 2020, due to a 35% fall in passenger numbers since 2015 causing the route to be unprofitable. In 1919 William Beesley of Oxford formed a company called South Midland Motor Services and by 1924 offered excursions to London by charabanc . This became a daily service, and by 1928 it had become a regular coach service picking up and setting down passengers en route. South Midland had competitors. By 1930, 18 companies were running
9604-617: Was −17.8 °C (0.0 °F) on 24 December 1860. The highest temperature ever recorded in Oxford is 38.1 °C (101 °F) on 19 July 2022. The average conditions below are from the Radcliffe Meteorological Station . It has the longest series of temperature and rainfall records for one site in Britain . These records are continuous from January 1815. Irregular observations of rainfall, cloud cover, and temperature exist since 1767. The driest year on record
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