The urban guide to the countryside -

Well, hello!

I'm Hero, editor of Muddy Bucks & Oxon, here to bring you the quirky, cool and downright unmissable in the area.

Gotta Have It

Vote for the local businesses you love!

The Muddy Awards 2018 are LIVE!!Nominate the most unique, quirky and utterly brilliant businesses in Bucks & Oxon in our prestigious Awards until Sun 6 May
Superflashy newsflash!News so hot it needs its own SPF.
Gastro Heaven!30 of the best cookery courses to tantalise your taste buds (and impress your dinner guests).
The Insider Guide to OxfordWant to visit but have no idea what to see, do and try? I do! I do!

FRI 20 - SUN 22 APRIL 2018

MON 23 - SUN 30 APRIL 2018

APRIL 2018

The Red Lion, Cholsey

A stylish revamp, liberal sprinkling of fairy lights and four new enthusiastic owners in this historic pub in Cholsey, where Agatha Christie once lived. Who dunnit? The locals!
- Nom Nom Nomada
  
  Nomada chef Ruben has cooked at St John & Ottolenghi. Now he's cooking up a storm around Oxfordshire.
- Snuggly Cotswolds pubs
  
  Day tripping across the borders? Well, you'll need a steer on the best places for a classy pit stop then!
- The Beetle & Wedge
  
  Here's one for when the sunshine finally appears - a South Oxon former boathouse in the prettiest location.
- The Angel, Long Crendon
  
  The Angel in Long Crendon has a big reputation for food. Will five courses and a vat of wine win over Muddy's Kerry Potter?

Our honest reviews of the UK’s best schools

Our curated A-Z of the grooviest local businesses

The best bluebell hotspots

Our local woodlands will be carpeted in brilliant blue blooms shortly, so here’s where to catch them while they last – with nearby pit stops thrown in for good measure!
- The Porch House, Stow
  
  We came, we ate, and we loved the romantic nooks and roomy spaces of The Porch House, Stow-on-the-wold, just over the Glos border.
- Want to take over Stoke Place?
  
  An attractive Queen Anne country hotel in South Bucks with Capability Brown grounds (ooooh!) and good value conference and wedding facilities.

The latest handpicked businesses we think you’ll love

5 new season trends you can actually wear

If your wintry-weary wardrobe needs an urgent update, there’s help on hand.
Beauty
- Facial acupuncture – would you?
  
  It has a big celeb following but can a face full of needles really perk up the Muddy visage? We visit Thame Therapy Clinic to try it out.
- Ooh, new hair?
  
  Novelist Clover Stroud is highly promiscuous when it comes to hairdressers. Will an eco-friendly, super-stylish Faringdon salon win her heart?

Get ready for Gig Theatre

This genre-busting new cultural mash-up is coming to Oxford next month at the North Wall Theatre. Here’s what to expect…
- Need something to read in the sunshine?
  
  Muddy's pro-bookworm Kerry Potter picks this month's best books. Ignore your family and friends, and get stuck in!
- How to take a great selfie
  
  If I can do it, you can! And maybe you'll even end up in the new Museum Of Selfies (yes, really) one day.

Your careers advisor will see you now…

Job driving you mental? Or maybe it’s a lack of job that’s the problem? We put your work dilemmas to our clever new careers coach. Here’s what she had to say.
Kids
- Ashfold School, Dorton, Mid Bucks
  
  This bucolic prep school offers new Come and Play sessions for prospective parents on 9 May and an Open Day on 12 May.
- The Abbey School, Reading, Berkshire
  
  One of the top day prep and secondary girls' schools in the UK, The Abbey School in Reading is unusual for its central city location.

Real 2018 Resolutions

Did your New Year Resolutions die in February? I’ve waited until Spring to start my Real Resolutions – wanna join me?
- Where Clover goes
  
  Oxfordshire-based Clover Stroud, author of bestselling memoir Wild Other, lets us in on her coolest local hangouts.
- Inside the head of Samantha Baines
  
  The actress and pun-tastic comedian comes to Oxford this month with her sell-out Edinburgh show on women and science. We've nobbled her in her lab coat to tell all.