Reviews

Being new in town the City Sightseeing Tour by bus was the perfect experience for me to discover the city and to find some wonderful sights of Oxford!

Even if the tickets are valid for 24 hours or 48 hours it is nice to start the sightseeing tour in the morning to make sure you have lots of time to explore the city. After being introduced to a very friendly bus driver a tour map will be provided when hopping on the bus. The map illustrates the routes of the red and the green double-decker bus – that’s everything you need to plan your individual day in Oxford!

Choose the red route for “City & University” and the green route for “Meadows & Bridges”. And after that: Sit down, lay back, plug in the free offered earphones, listen and enjoy!

In 10 languages City Sightseeing will let you know about important buildings and places you will pass on your way. On some departures you will also have a live guide who will give you additional information and – in my case – have a nice chat with you. For the younger ones an exciting kids’ commentary is given.

From Oxford Castle Unlocked to Christ Church, Radcliffe Camera or Ashmolean Museum – you won’t miss any attraction in Oxford. As well as current and historical facts City Sightseeing will also tell you some interesting anecdotes – even where the singer of the band Radiohead lives or where Alice Liddell bought her sweets…

The red route takes 1 hour but you can hop off at any stop you like. My first stop, the Carfax Tower, was a perfect choice as it is considered to be the centre of Oxford. At the top of around 100 very narrow steps the view is amazing! You can see all the way down to the architectural High Street and overlook the roofs of beautiful Oxford.

Hopped on again as there were so many more stops to see – depending on the weather you can have a walk in the Botanic Gardens and Christ Church Meadow to see the place where the first English Aeronaut successfully took off in a hot air balloon, visit the dinosaurs in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, see the big dining hall at Christ Church where amongst others Harry Potter was eating … or do something totally different you like!

A few hours later you will recognise that you won’t be “new in town” anymore… A big “Thank you” to City Sightseeing for the great, enriching experience! – And thanks to the English weather for a perfect sunny day on top of the bus!

It was threatening rain when I arrived at Kirtlington on an overcast May evening to play golf against the Golf and Pro Shop Manager of the club, Gary Quainton. As Gary plays off 5 and I struggle to play off 19, a good old thrashing looked even more threatening.

Kirtlington Golf Club is celebrating it’s 21st birthday this October and they have plenty to celebrate.

In addition to the 6107 yard Par 70, 18 hole course that we played, they have also recently opened a 1535 yard Par 30, 9 hole course. The latter is of course aimed more at the beginner but also caters for those that want a quick nine holes at any time of day.

The club have a thriving membership and are a favourite of many golfing societies for their away days. On the evening we played, the clubhouse and dining room was full of members of a local police federation golf day, who seemed to be having a great time.

The main course has two par fives, both of which are nearly 500 yards, but even more testing are the 5 par 4’s of around 400 yards.

One of the par 3’s is over 200 yards!

There is not a lot of water , which I managed to find of course, but there are a good number of bunkers and the rough, as we go through the summer, gets more of a problem. Like most courses, staying on the fairway is the key and I certainly gained from having Gary’s local knowledge to call on.

Unbelievably I managed to halve our match on the 18th green and even more unbelievable was the fact that the 18 holes had taken us under 3and 1/2 hours! Mind you I think Gary went easy on me but as he said, I played to my handicap so you must have played to yours!

Afterwards we retired to the bar and had a refreshing pint. There is a fantastic atmosphere at the club, they do great food and drink and the staff are amazing.

There is a well stocked professionals shop, where coaching is available from a PGA professional, driving range and short game practice area.

If you are looking for a progressive golf club with a challenging course you could not find better.

They have many very interesting packages available, both personal and corporate, which can be seen on their website.

Frilford Heath Golf Club is one of the few Golf Clubs in Southern England to boast three separate 18 hole courses, each with its own character. It is located just off the A34 South of Oxford making it easily accessible whilst driving from any direction and when you get there it is always well worth the journey.

My friends and I played the Green Course: Although the shortest of the courses on offer from Frilford, still requires you to plot your way round to ensure a good score. After the enormous amount of rain we have had this Winter you would expect a lot of water and mud, but thanks to the sandy subsoil the course was dry and very playable.

The fairways and greens were immaculate as they always are. The outward nine is the easier and starts with the only par five, but the 7th is a long par four which is quite rightly stroke index 1! Coming home there are four particularly tough par fours, the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th which really gives the course some teeth! They are followed by a long par three and to end with a tricky short par four.

After the game we all had a refreshing shower where towels are always supplied and then went to the bar. There are a great range of both soft and alcoholic drinks available. We were just in time to catch the last of The Green Thai Chicken Curry which went down superbly with a pint of IPA! The food in my experience is without equal in Oxfordshire Golf Clubs, and on the many occasions I have been here I have never had a bad meal.

The Golf Club is hugely popular with Societies and host meetings with up to 200 players. It also caters for a number of Local, National and International Tournaments, which is well beyond the capabilities of the majority of Golf Clubs.

Due to there being three courses available you do not have to book a tee time, however the club will book a tee time if you take a group. The Courses are divided between accepting two, three and fourball games on a rotational basis. It is a very friendly club and a guest or new member would not have a problem linking up with different groups for a game.

As you would expect Frilford has a well stocked Golf Shop offering a large array of equipment and accessories for sale or hire. Golf lessons are available from Derek Craik, the Head Teaching professional. In the winter the club hope to open a new 6 hole par 3 course for its members and their guests – so Frilford will have 60 holes of golf that you can play!

For Membership enquiries please contact the Executive Chairman, Alistair Booth or the General Manager both of whom I have always found very approachable and keen to help prospective Members.

I have known that I needed help with my hearing for a number of years and had been on the point of buying a hearing aid quite a few times.

I had been approached numerous times by various organisations but it wasn’t until the specialist at a well-known national chain asked who I most annoyed with my inability to hear. Without hesitation I said my wife.

When she came in with me shortly afterwards and I had a test she was amazed what little I actually heard. My main problem is that I can’t differentiate consonants.

That sealed it and I purchased a pair of the latest Phonak models.

When they arrived and before they were fitted I was told my ears needed syringing as I tend to accumulate a lot of wax. I then developed an infection and needed ear drops.

After trying to get on with the hearing aid for several weeks the aids were continually getting blocked up which was most frustrating as I had started to rely on them.

It was then that the specialist suggested I contact Tara Tripp Hearing Care, previously my doctor had also recommended her.

Talk about a turning point!

The equipment they have at Tara Tripp Hearing Care is phenomenal. She put a camera down my ear and showed me a photo. What a mess and I immediately thought no wonder I am having problems. She then spent some time with her suction device to clean up both ears. What a difference that made. Tara also discovered I had some sort of eczema where I lost surface skin in the ear which contributed to the problem and advised seeing my doctor who prescribed Betnovate Scalp Application.

From then on there has been hardly any problems. Why on earth I didn’t see Tara earlier is a mystery as it seems only logical that anyone who is interested in a hearing aid should first of all visit Tara for inspection and treatment.

Tara Tripp Hearing Care not only has the most modern equipment for ear treatment but also provides hearing aids.

I can’t speak highly enough of her and her team and anyone that is remotely interested in a hearing aid their first stop should undoubtedly be Tara Tripp.

On a cold February evening my wife and I had been to a special showing of the Andy Warhol Collection at The Ashmolean Museum. From there we went to ‘Mezzeto’ the newly opened restaurant of Mel Tanyeri. Talk about a transportation to a different world, to a Mediterranean setting, in a dining room adorned with overpainted canvas prints by Picasso.

And what a joy it was! The restaurant is beautifully decorated with a soft gold finish and Tifanny lighting, creating an intimate and welcoming atmosphere.

The food was exceptional with an extensive ’tapas’ menu which originates from the Mediterranean to the Middle East.

We were served by Francisco and his team and what a feast we had. The thing about tapas are that you can share, and Mel plans to have even more larger sharing dishes in his new menu, which in addition to cold plates will have selections of grilled meats and fish platters. These will be especially suited for larger groups.

We had broad beans, artichokes, sun blushed tomatoes and goats cheese followed by beetroot borani, which is beetroot and Greek yoghurt dip with feta, dill and walnuts.

These were the vegetable and salad dishes and were absolutely stunning.

We then had the Chicken Tagine (Almonds, orange flower water and apricots) and my particular favourite ‘Chicharrones’, slow roasted pork belly from Cadiz. I have never tasted better pork in my life.

For dessert Francisco persuaded us to have the pomegranate and vodka sorbet, with Greek yoghurt ice cream which was different and refreshing.

The portions were much larger than I anticipated but so good that we finished (almost) everything.

Mel himself sources his wines and finds labels that you will struggle to see anywhere else. The Ramon Bilbao Tempranillo, a 2013 Rioja that Sue had, and thought was amazing. I had a Chardonnay from France, Domain Preignes Le Vieux, 2015 which was not acidic but just rounded and perfect.

Greek and Turkish beers are also served as well as Ouzo and Raki, and of course Turkish Coffee.

The service is impeccable and this is a must go to restaurant.

We thoroughly recommend it.