Thursday 12th February 2026

Lifestyle

Why you shouldn’t finish your reading list

On being accepted into Oxford, everyone warned me about the reading lists. “You’ll be reading eight hours a day,” they said. At the time, it sounded almost romantic.

Kilts, Ceilidhs and Calling: Inside the World of Oxford Reeling

It's Thursday night in New College's Long Room, and several dozen students are desperately trying to master The Plough Speed, which, for the uninitiated, is a mind boggling routine of side-steps, spins and shuffles.

Moving cities, keeping home

l've moved cities enough times to know that leaving is never just about packing boxes. After spending eighteen years in London, I found myself applying to a number of different cities, including Oxford, for university.

The dating bio’s obsession with Oxford

As Michaelmas drew to a close, a dramatic conversation about Zohran Mamdani, the new mayor of New York City, finding his partner on a dating app prompted my friend and I to try a dating app for the first time in the UK.

From Paris with love and an overdraft

A guide on how-not-to-do romantic Paris. Contains some handy tips on what to do if you're destitute and happy to be pretentious.

10 things that happen in your first week at Oxford

Here's one for all the freshers out there. I bet a bag of Tesco's cookies that you'll experience at least three of these

Oxford in World War I

On the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of WWI, Luke Barratt looks at how the war affected Oxford and the University

Italian Job: A holiday in Florence

Emma Cookson looks back on her trip to Florence with slightly straining buttons and various food-stained shirts.

From Bridge to Berghain

Sara Semic looks back on her short trip to Amsterdam and Berlin with fondness, and faulty ear drums

Glastonbury: A Virgin’s Tale

Emma Cookson reviews her first time at Glastonbury. A tale of chanting, pink hair and very little musical content.

Houmous Girl: 8th week Trinity

There is hope on the horizon for Rower Lad...

Interview: Lucy Watson

Made in Chelsea's Lucy Watson talks to Erin Goldfinch about life in front of the cameras... with your exes

Creaming Spires: 8th week Trinity

Ophelia Balls makes the most of the last crewdate of term

Athens: souvlaki and political graffiti

Theo Louloudis reflects on time spent at the in one of Europe’s most troubled countries on her year abroad

Creaming Spires – 6th week Trinity

Ophelia treks for sex

Houmous Girl – 6th week Trinity

A garlic-flavoured despair settles across Oxford

Living Internationally: Thoughts of a second-year linguist

Erin Goldfinch looks ahead to a year abroad of dubious accommodation, rugby and potential self-discovery

Country Diary: Shotover

'Places are not the same by night. They are transformed. Shapes and forms take on different sizes, colours and shades. Perspective becomes blurred, sounds sharper'

Country Diary: The Water Meadow

“Under no circumstances should any students enter the Deer park. We will treat this extremely seriously”

Country Diary: Fiddler’s Island

'There’s a wonderful feeling of freedom that comes from being in the water, especially here where it is deep enough to kick your legs out without touching river-bed'

Country Diary: Wytham Woods

'In such a forest there is of course much more than visual pleasure; there’s the sound of wind bending and creaking age-old timber, or the whiff of damp leaves, the smell of air, damp, imbued with life.'

Country Diary: Port Meadow

'Port Meadow is steeped in myth; it’s the unploughed landscape, the land earned from resisting the Danes, a sacred spot where the Freemen graze their cattle'

Houmous Girl – 5th week Trinity

Rower Lad's date with Houmous Girl gets slightly off track...

Balling: The best route to quick cash

Cherwell Lifestyle looks at the highs and lows of working at Keble's night of Russia-themed decadence

Follow us