Oxford News
Oxford University 19th century art building to be restored
The main premises of the Ruskin School of Art in the High Street in Oxford has been closed since October 2024 for a major refurbishment.
The listed building dates back to the 19th century, built in 1888 and designed by T G Jackson, and the university’s art department moved in to the High Street building in 1975.
It details a refurbishment which include the removal of a 1970s era mezzanine in the main studio space, as well as 20th century partitions and building services, the installation of a platform lift to make most of the building accessible, and the creation of a new library and seminar teaching spaces.
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The latter remodelling is partly envisioned to house 16 new students on the premises, adding to the ‘intimately-scaled’ department of 130 students for a new postgraduate Master’s programme in Contemporary Art History and Theory, due to launch in October this year.
Another key reason is to restore the building’s core spaces to their ‘original 19th century splendour’, partly by removing the ‘unsightly’ 1970s mezzanine from the drawing studio to maximise its natural light and ceiling height.
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The renovations are also sought to improve the building’s energy performance and the ‘poor air quality and damp damage’ in the basement level, which was revealed when the building was stripped back during ‘enabling works’ earlier this year.
Finally, it would establish a more ‘flexible and efficient design’ for varied studio spaces through use of removable partitions to provide different teaching and studio space configurations depending on the department’s needs.
The application is open for consultation on the Oxford City Council planning portal and is due to be decided this month.
Initially debuting back in 2021, Jeremy Clarkson’s farming documentary has found global success.
Fans all over the world have tuned in via Amazon’s streaming service to watch the former Top Gear and Grand Tour presenter’s agricultural adventures.
Set at his own Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire, the series also covers his Cotswolds pub, The Farmer’s Dog, which opened in Asthall back in 2024.
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The start of series five is out tomorrow (Wednesday, June 3), with further episodes to follow in the weeks following.
Alongside the usual faces appearing in the episodes, the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir will also star.
The group, made up of real farmers, was put together by Mr Clarkson last year to help advertise his alcohol brand, Hawkstone.
Sticking together, the group went on to compete in Britain’s Got Talent 2026, seeing them win the whole competition on Saturday night (May 30).
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The Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir pipped drone act Celestial to first place, but Mr Clarkson has now revealed the runners-up will also be in the new Clarkson’s Farm.
On the social media site X, he said: “Amazingly, the drone guys are in series five of Clarkson’s Farm.”
Discussing what series five is about, an Amazon statement said: “Amid a government budget that sends the UK farming community into uproar, Jeremy decides some big changes are needed to make the farm run more smoothly.
“But while the farm tries to go high-tech, resulting in Kaleb’s first-ever trip abroad, even bigger developments are heading for Diddly Squat that are going to prove much more of a challenge.”
Since the former Grand Tour presenter invited cameras onto his 1,000-acre farm in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, he has been praised for educating viewers about the British farming industry.
From the genuine financial and bureaucratic struggles to adjusting to climate change, the 66-year-old former Top Gear presenter and farm manager, Kaleb Cooper, 27, who is Clarkson’s trusted agricultural advisor, has also sparked a massive surge in young people joining agricultural groups.
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In May 2024, Clarkson – also the host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? –challenged government planning reforms, to allow more farmers to convert agricultural buildings into homes and shops.
In series five of Clarkson’s Farm, Clarkson has a major health scare and is instructed to take a step back from work on the farm. But with the farming community marching in protest of the government’s budget, this proves to be very difficult.
Clarkson also decides to welcome EasyCare sheep, a new breed which require minimal shepherding and veterinary care and even shed their own fleece in the summer, and upgrade Diddly Squat Farm with hi-tech gear, and takes a rather baffled Cooper on his first-ever trip abroad to see how it’s done.
Leaving robot tractors in charge, all is well for a while, until things turn dark, chaos erupts, and bad luck strikes from every direction.
The show’s first four episodes will debut globally on the streaming platform on Wednesday, June 4.
Episodes on Amazon Prime typically are released at either midnight or 1am – meaning there is not long to go.
And then two more episodes will be launched on June 10 followed by the final two another week later on June 17.
US – 12am PT / 3am ET
Canada – 12am PT / 3am ET
India – 12:30pm IST
Singapore – 3pm SGT
Australia – 6pm AEST
New Zealand – 8pm NZDT
Saj Malik, who is a taxi driver by day, was caught speeding in a Toyota Corolla on the Oxford Road through Tiddington near Thame on January 14.
The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to the offence at a hearing at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Friday, May 29, the court said.
Malik, of Mary Price Close in Headington, was issued with a £660 fine and his driver’s licence was endorsed with five penalty points, the court confirmed.
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He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £264.
The taxi driver is a county councillor for Cowley and retained his Temple Cowley seat at this year’s city council elections.
He is also the shadow cabinet member for resources with the Oxfordshire Alliance.
Malik has been contacted for a response.
The court fine is not the first time the councillor has found himself in trouble, having been ‘formally censured’ by Oxford City Council for his behaviour in a debate about traffic filters.
Alongside fellow Cowley councillor Amar Latif, he was found to have behaved in an “intimidating, insulting, undermining and denigrating way” to officers and councillors by a standards committee in November.
The complaints both came from the Labour leader of the city council Susan Brown and deputy leader Ed Turner, and related to a full council meeting on March 18, 2024.
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