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Bucks & Oxon

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Well, hello!

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

Don’t leave it to chance! Choose from our handpicked selection of the best businesses near you.

FRI 22- SUN 24 SEP 2017

MON 18 - SUN 24 SEP 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017

Muddy Eats: Rossini at the Leatherne Bottel, Goring

Looking for an exquisite riverside setting for dinner? They don’t get prettier than at this traditional Italian restaurant, in rural South Oxfordshire.
- Portabello, Oxford
  
  A great local eaterie that ticks the boxes for families, friends and business lunches. Buona sera, Portabello!
- Gorge in Goring!
  
  The vintage styling at Pierreponts cafe in Goring will please your inner granny, but the food offering is bang up to date.
- Pass the scones!
  
  Who doesn't love a fully laden cake stand? The Five Arrows Waddesdon leads our list of top tea spots in Afternoon Tea Week.
- A French fancy
  
  Ooh la la... L'Ortolan has held its Michelin star for 15 consecutive years, so this fine dining experience is well worth la voyage.

Our honest reviews of the UK’s best schools

Our curated A-Z of the grooviest local businesses

Gadzooks – grab up to 40% off Turquoise Family Holidays!

Was summer a staycation washout? In that case you may want to feast your eyes on Turquoise Holiday’s Family Sale – up to 40% (yes, you read that right) off stunning holidays in the Maldives, Mauritius and South East Asia. See you on the sun lounger!
- The secret’s out!
  
  Once a WW2 secret service centre, the De Vere Latimer hotel in Chesham has had a game-changing £7m boutique makeover.
- Moving to Cornwall? 10 tips from a pro
  
  Fancy upping sticks to live in your favourite holiday spot? Don’t hit the estate agents until you’ve read this.

The latest handpicked businesses we think you’ll love

6 hot-to-trot wearable AW17 trends – go fetch!

We asked an expert – Helen Spencer from chic boutique Nellie & Dove – to decode the new season’s top trends. Don’t go shopping until you read this!
Beauty
- Non-invasive botox? I’ll do it!
  
  A Guinot salon down a Bletchingdon country lane, dispensing an anti-ageing treatment with 'botoxy' results? Visage Beauty, I'm on my way.
- The new Popham salon reviewed
  
  Another Popham salon has popped up in central Oxford. Kerry Potter is seriously impressed.

The Muddy Book Club – September’s best new reads

Read all about it! Muddy’s professional bookworm Kerry Potter burrows into this month’s best literary offerings. Make some space on your bedside table pronto!
- Muddy staffers’ reading lists
  
  The top tomes squeezed into the Muddy suitcases this month - and all the literary inspo you need.
- Beach reads bonanza!
  
  Sunglasses on, sunlounger primed, children gagged - it's Muddy's best holiday books! Kerry Potter picks her top 10 for summer.

Could you use a life coach? Muddy meets a problem-solving pro

Feeling a bit ‘meh’ about everything? Maybe life coaching is the answer. We subject professional problem-solver Caroline Pakel to some relentless Muddy moaning.
Kids
- St Edward’s School, Oxford – Sixth Form
  
  Looking for a place to park your 16-18 year old? Teddies' Sixth form has the city on its doorstep and a fantastic IB provision for outward-looking teens.
- St Hugh’s School, Faringdon
  
  A warm, friendly, non-selective co-ed day and boarding school in gorgeous grounds in rural South Oxfordshire that hits 100% success at common entrance.

We’ll take your advice, Natalie!

Owner of Cliveden estate, an author in her own right and now the brains behind the first ever Cliveden Literary Festival, Natalie Livingstone knows a thing or two about the local area. Here’s where she likes to hang out.
- Shazia Mirza’s Favourite Places
  
  Rarely have I laughed out loud so much while interviewing a celeb. That Shazia is well funny - who else would pick the M40 services as a favourite place?!
- Griselda’s Secret Oxford
  
  Celebrated children's author Griselda Heppel has a hotline to some beautiful places in the city that most of us have never heard of. Come on, let's check them out.