A lane closure is in place on the A40 near Cutteslowe due to the road works.

A message from Oxon Travel said: “Delays are being experienced on the A40 Northern Bypass Road westbound towards Cutteslowe due to Thames Water roadworks, with a lane closure in place.

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“Please allow extra time for your journey or consider alternative routes where possible.”

According to One Network, the works are described as utility repair and maintenance works.

According to the AA’s live traffic map, the works are causing delays of around 10 minutes on the westbound carriageway.

The pub, the Slow and Steady in Abingdon Road, was originally called the White House and behind it was the White House ground, where Oxford City played for many years.

City could not generate such large crowds as Oxford United, but they had a strong following of supporters who would cheer on the team in their home matches.

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However, one of the most memorable matches at the ground involved not Oxford City but Oxford Boys.

In 1966, the young team had a great run in the major national competition, the English Schools’ Trophy.

Fundraising for Oxford City FC

In the year that England won the World Cup, the Oxford under-15s fought their way through every round to the final.

They excited thousands of fans throughout the city in their finest season since 1908.

Those in the picture above were among 6,062 who packed into the White House ground to see Oxford defeat Luton 2-1 in an enthralling semi-final.

Led by team manager Michael Hammett, a teacher at Wheatley Park School, they had beaten High Wycombe, Swindon, Woking, Cambridge and Havant in the early rounds.

In the quarter finals, Oxford faced a long trip to Seaham in County Durham, where they triumphed again to earn the right to face Luton.

Everything looked lost when Luton broke away to take the lead early in the second half, but a calmly-taken penalty by skipper Tony Tompkins spurred Oxford into action.

With 10 minutes left, Stephen Whelan scored after the Luton goalkeeper dropped a cross and from then on, Oxford’s superiority was never in doubt.

The final whistle brought a huge roar from the crowd, who filled every side of the ground.

The first leg of the final at Oxford United’s Manor Ground at Headington attracted an even bigger crowd – 9,062.

Sadly, East London proved too strong for Oxford, winning the first game 3-2 and the return leg at Millwall 2-1.

But Oxford were not disgraced. The Oxford Mail, in an editorial, summed up the city’s feelings: “We have a team to be proud of.”

The Oxford Boys that year weren’t the only ones to enjoy playing at the White House ground – the club often welcomed junior sides to play competition matches.

However, all that changed in 1988 when City were evicted by their landlords, Brasenose College, which sold the site for housing.

They were forced to leave the Isthmian League, but after a spell of inactivity, they reformed in 1990 and, based at Cutteslowe Park in North Oxford, joined the South Midlands League, winning promotion in their first season.

There was further joy in 1993 when they moved to their current ground, Court Place Farm, in Marsh Lane, Marston.

The Slow and Steady pub, on the corner of Whitehouse Road, where former Lord Mayor John Tanner held his party (Memory Lane, March 9), is owned by Brasenose College and opened in 1897 as the White House Inn.

It was designed by architect Henry Thomas Hare, whose grandest Oxford building, the Town Hall, was completed the same year.

But these days, many smokers seem to have got the message and given up. Perhaps that is not surprising, given the threat to health and the high cost of buying a packet.

No Smoking Day continues to be an annual event. In the past, Oxford Mail photographers were always out and about recording those promoting the campaign.

Picture 1 shows Kerry Cole, 16, left, and Mary Glaspole, 12, encouraging everyone to ‘stub it out’ in Oxford in 1995.

Adam Baker, 10, had a similar message in Picture 2 in 1998. He had created a poster which had won him a prize in a competition.

He had a particular reason to spread the word. His mum apparently “smoked like a chimney!”. She refused to be in the picture for some reason!

Oxford United players were also happy to join in. In Picture 3, we see, left to right, Mike Ford, Phil Whitehead and Matt Elliott tying up a giant makeshift cigarette on the Manor Ground pitch in 1996.

Oxford United players campaign against smoking (Image: Oxford Mail)

Pupils at Rush Common School in Abingdon, in Picture 4, went to great lengths to say what they thought, encouraging everyone to ‘Take the Plunge, No Smoking Day’.

It must have taken some time to create the letters and make sure they were in the right order when they got in the pool.

Children at Hailey Primary School, near Witney, in Picture 5, were on safer ground, getting a lecture on the dangers of smoking from health visitors in 1991.

Members of SASH (Students for Action on Smoking and Health) in Oxford adopted a different approach in 2000, displaying 330 names and photographs of people who had given up smoking or died from its effects. Chairman Patrick Mackerras is seen in Picture 6.

The first No Smoking Day was on Ash Wednesday 1984 and now takes place on the second Wednesday in March.

Every year, the campaign is promoted with a short phrase. In 2010, this theme was ‘Break free’, encouraging smokers to break free from the chains of cigarettes and give up. The 2011 theme was ‘Time to quit?’

Research following the 2009 campaign found that one in 10 smokers quit on No Smoking Day. In 2011, Parliamentary notices for the campaign reported that almost 750,000 smokers attempted to quit.

The pictures were taken by Oxford Mail photographers Dave Fleming, George Reszeter, Damian Halliwell and Richard Cave.