Oxford News
Oxford Oriel College chapel choir welcomes new bees
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.”
The Thames Valley Police Abingdon unit arrested a man for “breaching court bail conditions” on Saturday, August 29.
A spokesperson said: “On Saturday, PC Hackett attended reports of a male breaching court bail conditions.
READ MORE: Public told ‘DO NOT APPROACH’ as wanted man sighted in Oxford centre
“With assistance from PC Ellingworth and PC Harvey, the male was arrested. Following a search, a knife was recovered from his possession.”
In a wide ranging update, the force also revealed it had supported in a “concern for welfare incident linked to the night-time economy.
In addition, it had carried out licensing checks across Abingdon with drug wipes used and sent off for testing
OXFORD Mail Camera Club members have been taking photos of their dogs
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The collision happened on the southbound carriageway between Junction 6 for Lewknor and Junction 5 for Watlington in the late morning on Saturday, August 29.
The emergency services attended the scene and closed the road,
National Highways said lanes two and three of the three-lane motorway were shut as a result while crews dealt with the incident, leading to delays of around 40 minutes.
Congestion was worsened by separate lane closures between Junctions 4 and 5 in both directions following damage to the central reservation from an earlier incident.
Traffic built up on approaches to the crash, with nearby areas including Stokenchurch and Lewknor also affected.
Images from traffic cameras showed long queues of vehicles and emergency workers at the scene throughout the afternoon.
AA Travel also reported that one lane was closed on the northbound carriageway between Handy Cross and Stokenchurch due to emergency repairs.
National Highways later confirmed that all southbound lanes between Junctions 6 and 5 had reopened and that the lane closures linked to the earlier incident were also being removed.
Despite the reopening, delays of around 40 minutes remained on the approach as traffic slowly returned to normal.
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