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

Our curated A-Z of the grooviest local businesses

Superflashy newsflash!A stolen golden toilet, sex chairs in Tetsworth, a snoop around Mary Berry's house... it's all going on this week! Read on for the hottest gossip in Bucks and Oxon.
Fancy a £1000 Luxury Family Hotel stay?Er YEAH! Read our review of stunning Fowey Hall in Cornwall, and snaffle a long weekender at one of five idyllic Luxury Family Hotels in Cornwall, Suffolk, Hants, Wilts or Dorset.
Win 7 perfect pieces to ease you into AutumnMuddy's fashion fave hush has triumphed with its new trans-seasonal collection, and we have five - yes FIVE! - sets of our fashion edit to give away, worth over £3600. Go, go, go!
How to tell if your child is thriving at schoolWorried whether your child is really happy and getting the most out of school? Use these 6 measures from a top headteacher to help work it out.
Hot gossip!Pssst! Gossip on the coolest party of the year (we have £500 worth of tickets to give away), the Oxford Ivy opening and more more more

Fri 20 - Sun 22 Sept

Mon 16 - Sun 22 Sept

September 2019

The latest handpicked businesses we think you’ll love

The Old Thatched Inn, Adstock

Really good pubs can get thin on the ground in countryside around North Bucks, but you can add this quaint, almost old-fashioned thatched offering, close to Stowe Landscape Gardens and Claydon House, to your list.
- The Bull on Bell Street, Henley
  
  I'm a big fan of this stylish brewery/restaurant - it ticks the boxes for cocktail drinkers, girl's lunches, family roasts and pretty much everything in between. Read on for my brand new review.
- Is this Oxford’s best kept secret?
  
  Quirky, under-the-radar and totally delicious - Fish 4 Lunch is the kind of business that Muddy exists for. Check out this hidden gem.
- Autumn supper clubs
  
  Knives and forks poised? Attackkkkk! Yep, it's a brand new round of supper clubs over the coming months with Sri Lankan, S.A and veggie options.
- Mmmm for Marlow
  
  The Chequers on Marlow's chichi high street is a carnivore's paradise. But, um, what happens when a vegetarian goes to review?

Our honest reviews of the UK’s best schools

Making plans? Find your perfect Pub, Inn, Hotel, Café, Restaurant or Bar across the Muddy counties.

Jewel in the Crown

Broadway in Worcestershire is arguably the most lovely of the Cotswolds villages – and we know exactly where you should be staying.
- 24 hours in Matera
  
  Have you seen the new James Bond car chase scenes around southern Italy? Happens that Muddy was there this summer, checking out the cool places to go. Make mine a martini, shaken not stirred while I tell you my insider tips.
- Fancy a £1000 Luxury Family Hotel stay?
  
  Er YEAH! Read our review of stunning Fowey Hall, and snaffle a long weekender at one of the hotels in Cornwall, Suffolk, Hants, Wilts or Dorset.

Word up

Too busy to say it yourself? Lacking the vocab to express your feelings after a long day battling spreadsheets or sprogs? Let a classic slogan T do it for you.
Beauty
- J’adore / J’abhor
  
  This week's Muddy heated debate: whether or not to embrace a full head of grey hair. Eeeek! or chic? We duke it out.
- Review: The Beauty Studio, Jericho, Oxford
  
  How to lose a decade on the face in an hour? Karolina at The Beauty Studio in Oxford knows, and Muddy has been a very willing recipient!

Read THESE this month…

… and win ’em all! Curl up into a comfy chair, pour a glass of wine, and dive into a new fab book with this month’s hottest new reads.
- Fight, fight!
  
  Fancy getting stuck into some Shakespeare this autumn? Just across the border from us, the RSC in Stratford is staging an anarchic version of King John. One of its stars, Richard Pryal, filled us in.
- The best local culture picks this autumn
  
  My god I love Autumn. The kids are back at school, it's game on for clothes shopping, and best of all, it's a culture-vulture paradise, with loads of cool stuff to see across Bucks & Oxon. Ready with your red marker? Then let's get planning.

Making work work for you

Back at your desk after summer fun and not really feeling it? We hear you. Here’s some food for thought from the autumn’s hottest self-help book.
Kids
- Caldicott School, Farnham Royal
  
  Set next to Burnham Beeches nature reserve in leafy South Bucks, Caldicott offers a homely atmosphere whilst still nailing it as a top feeder school to both Eton and Harrow.
- Thornton College, Milton Keynes
  
  A peaceful rural setting and nurturing ethos underpins this high-achieving all girls school 3-18 in North Buckinghamshire

Yup, stage school works!

Another year and another surge of nascent stars of the stage and screen graduate from Tring Park School for the Performing Arts.
- Food fit for a queen
  
  Sacre bleu! L'Ortolan's creative Head Chef Tom Clarke spills the beans on cooking for the Royal family, his love of French cuisine, famous diners and his food-trend regrets (he's had a few).
- A day in the life of… a theatre director
  
  Losing star actors, playing Dobble, chucking mashed potato around - it's all in a (surreal) day's work for Chipping Norton Theatre's artistic director.