About a decade ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in honour of Shakespeare's birthday, here's what I found.

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Oxford’s Cowley Rd has shops where you can buy international foods v. unusual in a city this size.

One of my favourite snacks is goat Labneh from Tahmid stores rolled in Jordanian Za’atar from Zaid. I think you can only buy these ingredients at these specific shops. Amazing.

Our latest survey shows fewer vacant shops on Cowley Road - outperforming national trends again.
Vacancies over 173 units surveyed are down to 9 (vs. 12 in 2018).
They would have been 15-16 if national trends had been followed.
cohsat.org.uk/cowley-road-re…

It's local elections on Thursday next week, so here's why I think you should vote for my fellow St. Mary's ward councillor Chris Jarvis if you live here.
Map of St. Mary's below; Oxford elects in 'halves' so Chris is up this year, and I'm up in 2026.
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10 minutes later and this room would have been full of children and nursery staff. Can't quite get my head around this 🤯

Cancelling Big Yellow: 'sure, you cancelled today so we've refunded you the rest of the month, thanks for your custom.'
Cancelling Virgin Media 🐐 'you have to pay us 30 days and btw this whole thing will take 10 WEEKS before we no longer have to speak again'

Delighted to go and speak on how to get stuff done at Oxford Uni's OxfordSDGLab, which equips graduate students with the skills and experience to help deliver the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. The cohort were great - motivated, good questions, excellent case study game. 💖

V proud of my husband for finishing London uninjured and for the fabulous Sobell House Hospice hospice who do such great work for so many Oxford residents.

I discovered another of their runners, wine expert Tom Gilbey, did a blind taste test every mile. Now you’re talking.

The biggest obstacle to climate action is the fossil fuel industry. The second biggest are the Serious People who accept climate science but say it's unrealistic to cut emissions at the pace experts say is needed.

Why we should beware of the 'grown-ups': ft.com/content/07dae7…

Fantastic climate charity Possible is fund-raising and for this week only, any donation you make will be doubled!