The musical welcome took place at Bartlemas Sports Ground, where members of Oriel College’s chapel choir performed a unique madrigal.

It was held on Saturday, May 2, and included a performance of Melissomelos, a 17th-century piece by Charles Butler – often known as the ‘Father of English Beekeeping’ – that imitates the hum of bees.

The apiary, managed by the Oxford Beekeeping Society, was founded in 2025 by history doctoral student Spencer Drake.

Mr Drake said: “It was the bee’s knees to help celebrate Oriel’s 700th anniversary at the apiary this Saturday.”

He also highlighted the support from the college.

Adding: “All of the generous funding we’ve received towards kickstarting the apiary has been made available thanks to Oriel’s 700th, and in return we’ll be supplying bountiful pots of fresh honey for the college’s summer anniversary party.”

The beehives were funded by Oriel College as part of its 700th-anniversary celebrations.

During the inauguration, Mr Drake delivered a speech in a homemade, 16th-century-style beekeeping suit.

He spoke about the endangerment of wild bees, climate change, destruction of wildlands and use of pesticides, and called for greater appreciation and stewardship of the natural world.

Guests were invited to visit the hives and enjoy honey cake and mead as part of the day’s festivities.

Maggie Jones, treasurer at Oriel College, said: “It’s wonderful to be a part of reviving Oxford’s beekeeping heritage.”

New research by the University of Oxford has revealed that only 43 per cent of dishes on offer at the UK’s 21 highest-grossing restaurant chains met all their voluntary targets for sugar, salt, and calorie reduction, as set by the UK Government.

The targets for manufacturers, retailers, and restaurants were introduced from 2016 to reduce sugar, salt, and calorie content as foods high in energy, saturated fat, free sugars, and salt have been linked with an increased risk of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases.

The targets set different timelines: 2020 for sugar, 2024 for salt, and 2025 for calorie reductions.

Despite these targets, progress in the restaurant sector remains limited.

Alice O’Hagan, lead author of the study, from the University of Oxford, said: “Our findings demonstrate that there was low adherence to the UK Government’s sugar, salt, and calorie reduction targets in 2024.

“This is consistent with other research that finds limited effectiveness of voluntary regulation on reformulation, suggesting that mandatory regulation may be a more effective approach to improving the nutritional quality of out-of-home food.

“Food within the same subcategory varied in adherence to the targets, with salads and breakfast items having the highest overall adherence, and desserts and pizzas the lowest.

“However, there were examples of companies across all subcategories performing well, indicating that performance is not constrained by the type of cuisine being offered.”

Researchers gathered nutritional information from menus and restaurant websites from the 21 highest-grossing restaurant chains in the UK in 2024, analysing the proportion of dishes that met the targets.

Nine of the 21 had more than half of their menu items meet all applicable targets.

Papa John’s had the lowest compliance for calories and salt, at just 35 per cent for calories and 8 per cent for salt.

Burger King, KFC, Nando’s, and Vintage Inns had no menu items compliant with the sugar reduction target.

Ms O’Hagan said: “Our study shows that the UK Government’s voluntary sugar, salt, and calorie reduction targets were not being met consistently.

“Only 43 per cent of menu items met all of the targets they were eligible for, and adherence to the targets varied widely between restaurants and food categories, showing that healthier menus are achievable but are not yet the norm.”

Dr Lauren Bandy, a senior researcher in food policy and population health at Oxford and study co-author, said: “Voluntary targets alone are not delivering consistent improvements in the salt, sugar or calorie content of food items on offer in UK restaurants.

“Our findings highlight the potential value of stricter regulation in the out-of-home sector.”

The Yews, which is in Priory Lane in Burford, is a four-bed 18th century semi-detached house in the heart of the Cotswolds.

The kitchen in the house (Image: Harvey Holland)

Originally sold in April 2024 for £730,000, the current owners have spent 18 months restoring the house.

Now the house is on sale for £2.2 million after a huge scale renovation.

The renovations include two extra bedrooms, extension of the kitchen and conservatory, new kitchen, new bathrooms, new flooring and a sky light for the kitchen roof.

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The principal bathroom (Image: Harvey Holland)

On the ground floor there is a garden room, kitchen, dining room, pantry, sitting room, utility, and media room.

On the first floor there is the principal bedroom with its own dressing room and ensuite complete with a bath and double vanities. There is also a second bedroom with its own ensuite as well,

On the second floor there is a further two bedrooms with their own ensuites.

One of the bedrooms in the house (Image: Harvey Holland)

The house also boasts its own separate garage, as well as a separate outbuilding for a home office, hobbies room, or gym.

With the garage comes planning permission for a loft conversion.

The ground floor kitchen opens to a south-facing terraced garden.

The townhouse sits within the village of Burford, a market town within in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.