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Reposted by Tom

Dread and Rosie @rosiemund.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Drivers when they have to pay to park at the hospital (usually with exemptions for long admissions, disabled parking, etc.) vs Drivers when people who don't or can't drive have to pay as much or more for a bus that goes near but not to the hospital or have to pay several times more for a taxi

Shot from The Simpsons of entire town marching holding burning torches and looking furious

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Thanks for reporting on this; it all looks awful! (On the plus side it makes some of the worst features of the Access to Headington scheme look relatively logical, well-thought out and easy to navigate...)

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

It often feels to us as though rain passes round the edge of Oxford, sometime bands of rain appear to divide just before the get here and pass either side! But happy, of course, for those who’ve been luckier… 😁

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Nothing here in Oxford yet! (Despite the Met Office radar map indicating we had had some on Tuesday night, but no evidence on the ground or in the rain gauge…)

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Reposted by Tom

Peter McCullough @mcculloughp.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Tale of two quads @lincoln.ox.ac.uk . Under our no-water policy, the Front Quad (L) with trad formal lawn; and Chapel Quad (R) with native wildflowers planted as plugs 9 mos ago. Only the latter are green; as they spread and knit together, this will be how to have a sustainably green quad.

Quadrangle of Oxford college with large central lawn, closely mowed with a curved pattern still visible, but entirely brown.

Another quadrangle, with central portion still green from un-mown grass and developing clumps of wildflowers.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Thank you. I thought there might be at least be something if I'd actually checked. And it 'only' takes 1 hour 50 minutes (assuming you make the 9 minute connection and don't have to wait an extra hour)...!

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Agree. Though the boundary is unevenly drawn. People in Warborough perhaps feel more connection to Wallingford, while Abingdon, with large numbers of commuters to Oxford, is being bundled up with Newbury, separated by the Downs and no public transport links. Cross-council working on transport vital.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

And as long as the cost of parking long stay at the park & ride is still greater than the cost of taking public transport into Oxford to transfer onto the Airline coach--good to encourage people not to drive to the airport, but not to encourage them to drive to the P&R!

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Reposted by Tom

Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Imagine if hundreds of people died in hurricane or floods smashing through Europe Heatwaves have already killed that many ppl. They are a silent killer in that they dont generate outrage or fear. Hope this by @economist.com helps save lives as Europeans wake up to danger bsky.app/profile/eate...

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Even four hours last night would have been nice, but a college ball ramped up the bass at 1.30 and sleep never truly returned...

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

And for relatively simple things like air-conditioning on public transport, someone decided Oxford's buses didn't need it. Just walked 3 miles home as the outward journey by bus intolerable. I had a choice and enough shade, but others won't have a choice and both options worse in the next 3 days.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Every day, a migrant saves someone's life in an operation, teaches a child, cleans a building, is a good neighbour or parent. That never leads the news. No gangs rush down streets thanking people who *might* be migrants. But as soon as an atrocity happens, all "migrants" are held responsible. 1/3

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

But that doesn’t get around using ‘staycation‘ to mean the only sort of holiday most people my age knew when we were younger and is still all that some people take, feels offensive! I will continue shouting while I still have breath, ’That’s a holiday not an effing staycation!’

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Reposted by Tom

Rob H&ynes @robonabike.eurosky.social · 09/05/2026

Modest proposal: People who use "staycation" to mean "going on holiday" to be placed under indefinite house arrest.

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Reposted by Tom

Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

How infuriating to hear the chairman(?) of Asda on the Today programme implying that land use for solar farms might significantly hurt UK food production. It's nonsense. Golf courses use more than solar ever will & beef/lamb production is huge yet provides a tiny fraction of our protein & calories.

Plot showing land use in the UK: predominantly beef and lamb pastures

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Reposted by Tom

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

This is a key point in a good article by Sadiq Khan. It's possible to come up with long, involved explanations of why people should not feel threatened by particular chants, but the reality is that many do. So the humane response is to stop using those chants. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I also appeal again to the common decency of Londoners. Even if there is uncertainty about which chants cross legal thresholds, if it causes distress and is offensive to Jewish people – if it makes our fellow Jewish citizens scared – it should not be used. Respect for one another must remain the foundation of London life. It is not hard to express criticism of Israel without using language that incites violence.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

I said the same thing! (More in hope…)

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

And @lincoln.ox.ac.uk is in its first year of wildflower planting in Chapel Quad. (Meanwhile @bodleian.ox.ac.uk has returfed lawns round the RadCam to get rid of ‘weeds‘ and close-mowing stripes 🙄)

College quad with longer grass and spring bulbs framed by close-mown edges.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Older signage etc used to have black and white bands, which would help (pedestrians too, who might be in the road at that point). Here's examples at Carisbrooke Castle, so in a historic setting (there are others outside Dover castle) and suitably retro. And more attractive than parked cars.

Old signage and traffic light columns painted with black and white alternating bands set against a historic stone wall. Photo. beno.uk

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

It used to be a great and much-loved pub in the 1980s and 90s, but I wonder if customers dwindled at least in part because it just wasn't as good in more recent years. Its restricted space and awkward layout might not have helped it commercially.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

There are frequent tannoy announcements demanding passengers take care on the bridge, hold on to the hand-rail, not carry large bags etc... But it's ok to be distracted by looking at adverts rather than where you're going?!

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

And at the next crossing a short distance along the road, midday today.

Two vans parked on the pavement, one directly over one end of a pelican crossing.

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Reposted by Tom

Tim Smedley @timsmedley.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

My pettist of pet air pollution peeves: log burners on foggy days. You are literally gassing yourself and your entire neighbourhood in dense air pollution trapped at ground level. It is where the word smog (smoke + fog) comes from. Should be banned. Until then, just don't.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

With apologies for nitpicking, but it actually ends at Streatley, Berkshire! (At its junction with the A329). But still good news.

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Reposted by Tom

Jack Wallington @jackwallington.com · 15/12/2025

It’s a sad indictment of Britain’s ignorance of nature that Sycamore Gap petitions - for a tree that mattered to humans but not nature - received tens of thousands of signatures but a petition to protect entire peatland habitats is stuck at 1,500 actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk

Sign the petition to end peat sales!

No more delays: Let's get peat out of gardens once and for all. The time for uncertainty has ended.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

It can't be stated too often how much LTNs have improved safety at side-road junctions and just made moving around feel less dangerous with fewer turning vehicles (including for drivers).

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Reposted by Tom

Jack Wallington @jackwallington.com · 22/11/2025

It’s mad how much this one tree is talked about and yet the same focus isn’t given to actually important habitats being torn up. Why hasn’t Labour banned peat compost for instance? I’m told it’s symbollic of how much people care about nature… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

First Sycamore Gap tree 'offsprings' to be planted

More than half the 49 saplings grown from the illegally felled tree will be planted in a week.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

Is this perhaps public art that was a condition of the planning consent, ie actually an obligation on the developers? Either way nurturing nature might be more beneficial and produce a lower carbon footprint.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

But I suppose if your local councillor is playing politics and deliberately scare mongers about how difficult the congestion charge is making things, you might believe the lies and go elsewhere!

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Reposted by Tom

Flight Free UK @flightfreeuk.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

How do aviation emissions stack up? Our new Substack article explains 👇 flightfreeuk.substack.com/p/how-bad-ar... Subscribe for regular content to your inbox.

flightfreeuk.substack.com

How bad are aviation emissions?

We delve into the calculations behind global aviation emissions.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

Anything would be better than over-manicured lawns; some colleges are getting creative.

White and purple crocuses growing in the formal lawn of a college quadrangle, edge by paved paths.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

How does this fit the University's biodiversity policy, headed, 'We are encouraging and enhancing biodiversity across the University estate'? Instead, a great deal of energy and expense spent on re-turfing these lawns to eliminate wild flowers. A missed opportunity to showcase an alternative.

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Reposted by Tom

Dr Charlie Gardner @charliejgardner.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

In 1850 the weight of all the world's wild mammals equalled the weight of humans and our livestock Today they are outweighed 1 to 20 Reconfiguring life on this planet to produce cheap meat and dairy www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

And of course whatever distance feels manageable to individuals, the walking/cycling provision and conditions will encourage or deter...

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

I don't know what's considered to be the 'walking catchment' for a station, but for me it's 2.3 miles from Oxford station, as at no time of day is there any guarantee the buses will not take longer and the uncertainty is more stressful... (Appreciate that's too far for some/for regular commuting.)

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

I agree the materials are good, & quite like the look of the two next to Jowett Walk. But I hate the lack of variety of the group opposite the church; all identical, no variety to the roof line, bleak landscaping, open to the pavement and little planting. @ballioloxford.bsky.social should do better!

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

I think, sadly, it'll take more than a piece of public art to improve this horribly bleak and dreary development...

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Reposted by Tom

James Thorniley @jamesthorniley.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

At this point "working people" just specifically means drivers doesn't it.

Keir Starmer

You shouldn't need a driveway to own an electric car.

My Plan for Change is boosting funding for infrastructure to allow cables to run safely beneath pavements.

That's cheaper, at home charging - putting money back in the pockets of working people.

Rail fares

This article is more than 8 months old

Regulated rail fares in England to rise by inflation-busting 4.6% in 2025

Labour announces only the second RPI-plus rise since 2013, though stresses it is 'lowest absolute increase in three years'

Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent

Wed 30 Oct 2024 16.56 GMT

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

I was rather generalising, but yes it’s the ‘everyone outside the ring road is eligible for parking regardless of need’ type of policy that’s frustrating. Some who live on bus routes *and* drive past a park & ride complaining about efforts to reduce the congestion, which they also complain about!

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

A problem with work-place parking. Those who have a place apparently fail to consider not driving, or only doing so as far as needed to get a bus or train, but instead just drive all the way in. Those without parking still manage to get to work, but suffer the consequent delays to their journeys.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Old people and young families without cars might take issue with Mr Mogford’s comments. Once again he calls for other solutions but with no hint of what they might be.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Likewise, as if from nowhere!

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

A pity development of the Cowley Solar Farm hasn’t required creation of a community path from Sandford to Nuneham Courtenay, as a crucial part of a link to Berinsfield and new roads north of Didcot. Seems a missed opportunity!

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Snowdrops in our garden in Oxfordshire are only peaking about now! They do seem to be later than some locally (ours mostly nivalis). And certainly not bored yet, with the excitement of division still to come.

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Tom @tomknoll.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

'Ignore completely'? At least 50% of the roadway is given over to motor traffic! Traffic at the front of the queue is all in the right lane waiting to turn into the shopping centre car park (lights for going straight on are green). So more a problem with signal phasing or car park capacity/demand?

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