Friday, May 23, 2025
Blog Page 161

Christ Church submits planning application to build 1450 new homes in North Oxford

Phin Hubbard
-
0
Christ Church submits planning application to build 1450 new homes in North Oxford

Christ Church, flexing the financial muscle of its £770 million endowment (the largest of any Oxford college), has submitted planning applications to Oxford City and South Oxfordshire City Councils.

Looking to develop land north of Headington at Bayswater Brook, the proposals would involve the construction of 1450 new homes, half of which would be classified as affordable. The development would introduce another primary school, nursery and 19km of new cycle paths to OX3. Residents worry that the development may put too much traffic pressure on Headington roundabout and overwhelm the existing GP surgeries in the area.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail, college treasurer James Lawrie explained that  ‘with Oxford facing a significant housing crisis, we are proud to be delivering vital homes to address Oxford City’s unmet housing need.’ 

He added, ‘we look forward to giving this development a distinct identity that integrates seamlessly with the surrounding landscape and will provide amenities and facilities for use by the existing communities at Barton, Barton Park and local villages to help bring the communities together through an innovative approach to long-term stewardship.’ 

Both Christ Church and their partner Dorchester Regeneration Ltd. stand to win an impressive contract on what the housing development industry terms “brownfield space”, should the proposals be accepted. Bayswater Brook is more commonly termed part of Oxford’s green belt. The proposed site encompasses the ecologically fragile Sidling Copse and College Pond SSSI as well as the Wick Copse Ancient Woodland and their rarity may pose a serious challenge since they are especially vulnerable to habitat collapse from increased visitor pressure. Extinction Rebellion held a ‘die-in’ in 2020 after South Oxford District Council accepted a development plan in the green belt – there is yet to have been a response by the group to the submission.

As Cherwell’s Vansh Sharma reported last month, in a city where no planning permission is granted for developments within a 1,200-metre radius of Carfax Tower that exceed either 18.2m (60ft) in height or 79.3m (260ft) above sea level (whichever is lower), big developments like this are sorely needed. But if accepted, the earliest quoted  completion date for the development would be in 2034.

Cocomelt — Syrian chocolate cafés come to London

Oliver Hall
-
0
Cocomelt — Syrian chocolate cafés come to London

Some of the fondest memories of Sarah’s Syrian childhood were in the chocolate and crepe cafés that proliferated in her home country. Now, after making a dramatic shift from the city grind of auditing and seeing her brothers’ success with a similar concept in New York, she has brought that same chocolately feeling of home to London. At the same time, she has managed to capture hearts and minds from across the country and the world with creative dishes from sushi, burrito, and even fettucine crepes. If you can dream it, it is probably available in chocolate form at Cocomelt, and it probably tastes great too.

Now, we visited at lunchtime, so a crepe from the short but well-thought-out savoury menu was up first. Options here are limited and didn’t use to exist at all but after repeated requests, Sarah introduced them late last year. Ours was the Italian — a good balance between mozzarella, pesto, balsamic glaze and cherry tomatoes. It more than does the job for lunch and is light enough in flavour to allow the crepe mixture’s own flavour to shine.

The Italian

That crepe mixture is the result of constant testing and evolution. Sarah was helped by her brothers opening first in the US and they spent a long time perfecting the recipe first. Here though, with different ingredients and food regulations, the room was there for even better results. Over time, the outcome is a crepe that is light and full of a flavour all in itself and, most importantly to Sarah, not crispy!

The concept around the chocolate here is key to understanding the menu. Upon entering, you are greeted by three giant chocolate fountains: one white, one milk, and one dark. All of that chocolate is sourced from Belgium and every dish and drink is available with your choice of the three. The white is predictably sweet and the milk a little too much for my liking — the dark though is superb and a mix is often the best way to go depending on your dish. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is available with everything as well and seems sensible given the sheer richness of almost everything on offer.

Social media explosions have somewhat spearheaded Cocomelt’s success and, accidental or not, the signatures that it has become known for are photogenic and ‘Instagrammable’ to say the least. The crepe burrito is my standout — filled to the rim with all manner of tropical fruits and double-wrapped before being drizzled in chocolate. The fruits are the key here and wherever else they appear on the menu as they lend the necessary balance to the decadence of pure melted chocolate.

Crepe Burrito

Crepe sushi is on offer too. For my sins, I didn’t use the chopsticks provided (one day I really am going to crack this) but definitely preferred the banana-wrapped option to the brownie. The crepe layering here is much thinner than that of the burrito with similar amounts of chocolate with means the fruit is a better balance than ever.

Crepe Sushi

Fettucine might seem like an odd one to throw into the mix but is hilariously thought out here to brilliant effect. The crepes are cut up with a pizza slicer to create the pasta-like strips, the chocolate drizzle forms the sauce, and the strawberries sub in for mushrooms. Overall, this is the lightest of the bunch and ticks the box of your social media feed too.

Crepe Fettuccine

Waffle sticks and pancakes are also an option and the first is undeniably a good choice if you are on the go. The mini pancakes seemed a little tasteless to me when compared to the crepes and I’d say the same about the waffles too. If you are going to visit, absolutely go for the crepes that this place is so famous for.

Waffle Stick

Drinks are, as you might imagine, far from neglected. The coffee is described by co-founder Sarah as ‘her baby’ and after a long journey of exploration and education in the world of coffee beans and roasting, she settled on a local London supplier that provides the punchy espresso that I think is all but a necessity with dark chocolate. Hot chocolates are quite the creation with chocolate from the fountain steamed with milk to create a light and dangerously drinkable offering. The Biscoff twist is even more substantial — the process is identical with a generous offering of Biscoff spread added into the mix. The result? Ridiculously indulgent but one to steer away from if your teeth aren’t incredibly sweet.

Biscoff Hot Chocolate

The really remarkable thing to me about Cocomelt is the price point. In spite of constant and seemingly never-ending price rises from suppliers, everything here comes in at less than ten pounds per person. Clearly, that has allowed them to create a loyal and ever-returning customer base alongside the tourists that you might expect to be the main revenue driver so close to Covent Garden and Shaftesbury Avenue. Value is something so important to me and to Sarah too — it means that the memories of regular visits to similar places during her childhood in Syria are genuinely possible for groups of friends and families alike.

What Sarah and her team have come up with on Wardour Street is truly unique and perfectly fits the Soho market with both tourists and regulars so nearby. It’s no surprise to me that fairly rapid expansion is on the cards and I have faith that Sarah will do so in a careful and considered manner. Chocolate is just about my favourite thing in the world and, if you are the same, Cocomelt is one of those places that simply needs to be ticked off your bucket list.

Hopping into business: Oriel launches birthday beer range

Olivia Boyle
-
0
Hopping into business: Oriel launches birthday beer range

In celebration of its 697th anniversary, Oriel College has launched its own “specially-brewed range of beers”. 

The beer range was championed by the college’s lodge manager, Samuel Henry. He said: “a number of other Colleges use white label beers to create a ‘College beer’ but I wanted to create something special for the birthday which was uniquely Oriel.” 

The label is ‘697’ with the college hoping to continue with ‘698’ and ‘699’ leading up to the 700th birthday. 

Oriel has been working with “XT Brewing Company, with our staff participating in the brewing process. The selection of ingredients were chosen by the college to be sustainable, opting for UK-grown wheat and barley,” as Oriel Bar Rep, Alice McKenzie informed Cherwell. 

Since the launch event in April, the beer has been a resounding success. The Oriel Bar Rep told Cherwell that “even on regular bar nights, ‘697’ can be seen in people’s hands – it is clearly a crowd favourite”, and that “having tried it myself, I am a fan of the bitter, hoppy taste.” 

The beer is clearly more than just a fad.  

The Turkish elections: Time for a new spring?

Cem Kozanoglu
-
0
The Turkish elections: Time for a new spring?

I was born in September 2003 in Istanbul. I have not known a day in my life where Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party) have not been the dominant political force in Turkey. Since Erdoğan’s inauguration in March 2003, the country has slid down the democracy index as civil rights have been eroded, public institutions politicised and press freedoms curtailed. However, all is not yet lost, and the ruling paradigm of political Islam is about to face its toughest challenge in 20 years.

The triumph of democracy and secular values could herald a new age for Turkey and send a message to all aspiring autocrats across the world. The long fragmented opposition has united under presidential candidate Kılıçdaroğlu whose pledges demonstrate the dire situation: He promises to tackle corruption, restore ‘meritocracy’, bring back judicial due process and freedom of the press. 

His allies in this project are a motley crew of secular social democrats, liberals, Turkish nationalists, communists, Kurdish nationalists and even Islamist ex-ministers of Erdogan sidelined by his authoritarian drift. With an upswell of support in the recent polls, the opposition has embraced the inevitability of change in their slogans; “I’m Kemal, on my way” is one of Kılıçdaroğlu’s catchphrases plastered across the country. As Turkey enters its 100th year as a republic in October, another slogan is on the minds of many younger Turks like me who are hopeful about the future: “We’ll have springs again”. 

To contextualise, I have provided a short summary of Turkish political history, followed by an analysis of the electorate, and finally taking off my rose-tinted glasses in the hopes of elucidating the likely outcome both for Turkey and the world.

The Turkish Republic was proclaimed on October 29th 1923, emerging from the ruins of an imploded Ottoman Empire. Since its inception, Turkey has been locked in an identity crisis between its Islamic Ottoman heritage and the secular nationalist alternative inspired by the French Revolution, implemented by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. To this end, the military has acted as a violent enforcer, with the aim of containing Islamist or socialist lurches through coups and crackdowns to keep the country on the long and narrow path. Even through this tumult, Turkey was a bastion of secularism in the muslim world, often inspiring secular activists in other countries by showing them that Islam could co-exist with liberal values. Turkey’s past as a bridge between East and West as well as being a bulwark against political Islam could, perhaps, be restored once more under a Kılıçdaroğlu government.

With this background, it’s easy to see the appeal in Erdoğan’s image as a voice for the average devout muslim, willing to stand up to the ‘secularist elite’. When he entered office in 2003, Turkey was recovering from a recent economic crisis and the global economic conditions favoured developing countries willing to accept foreign investment. This allowed him to further consolidate popular support by claiming credit for the ensuing economic miracle. Furthermore, his initial politics were much more liberal, promising reconciliation with the Kurdish minority and progress towards EU membership. To his credit, Erdoğan and his clique made wonderful use of every development to further their own gains. They expertly exploited the construction boom funded with western ‘hot money’ to enrich Erdogan and his cronies by awarding government contracts to the politically connected. Some allies went on to use this newfound wealth to buy media outlets which became the only perspective for many as the government suppressed dissenting press. The parliamentary super-majority gave him a blank cheque to appoint party members across the state bureaucracy and start chipping away at judicial independence. A politically savvy leader presiding over a growing economy, Erdoğan was able to fragment the opposition and consolidate his one-man rule. 

This all eventually exploded in his face, as the economic growth of the country started faltering, and then reversing. Claiming to be an economist, Erdogan sacked 3 central bank governors after they refused to lower interest rates, which ultimately led to an 86% inflation rate in October 2022. The deadly earthquakes this February further revealed the true incompetence of his government as the nation quickly figured out their “earthquake taxes” had been squandered to cronyism and corruption. Erdogan’s case is a typical one for many authoritarian regimes: it turns out that a state based on political appointments instead of meritocracy doesn’t perform so well. With his government’s economic failure presenting the first genuine opportunity for change, it seems that the old adage is confirmed once more: “It’s the economy, stupid”.

Perhaps this will be my bias coming to the fore, but the most important demographic in this election appears to be the youth of the country. With 10% of the electorate being first-time voters, Millennials and Gen Z have been widely recognised as the kingmakers of this election. The opposition has tried to embrace them with open arms, including a “gaming console” tax write-off for first-time buyers. While the preposterous 70% tax on gaming consoles doesn’t help Erdogan’s support among the young, angry gamers aren’t the only demographic he’s marginalised.

As outlined above, many public and private institutions have lost their meritocratic ideals, and most young Turks would rather emigrate to a country where their talents are rewarded. I can attest to this from my own experience: out of my 10 closest friends from secondary school, 8 are now studying overseas, with little intention to return in the near future. To add insult to injury, the government is hostile to the more progressive social views of the young, seeing them as Western aberrations. Erdoğan made global headlines recently for calling the opposition “gay” and “pro-LGBT”. He also alienated many women when the government withdrew from the Istanbul Convention which aims to prevent violence against women.

With his political platform completely out of step at best, and outright hostile at worst to the ambitions of the young, it’s no surprise that the AKP polls at 20% among 18-25 year old voters compared to 40% overall. This aspect of generational conflict imbues a grander historical and global relevance to the election. Will youth discontent be able to overthrow a two decade strongman regime, or will they be crushed under their own fragmentation and alienation? 

This brings us to the chief concern for many outside observers: will Erdoğan let go of power if he loses? Most polls show that an opposition victory is likely, with one of the two smaller vote-splitting candidates dropping out 3 days before the election, further boosting their chances. The worst scenario would be a narrow Kılıçdaroğlu victory in the runoff round, followed by riots or violence from Erdoğan allied militias calling foul play, including the Kurdish Hezbollah and Turkish nationalist paramilitaries (don’t worry too much about those two being on the same side, just one of the many paradoxes in Turkish politics). With these factors, if the government tries to play by the rulebook of those like Trump or Bolsonaro, there is a real chance for a downward spiral towards conflict and insurgency. This would be the worst possible contingency, but is not very likely. Most Turkish citizens are ready for change, and hopeful that the country will return to its democratic secular heritage. 

For the first time in my life things are looking up for Turkey, and there is genuine will for change. Perhaps in my optimistic folly, I’ve already promised a round of shots to my friends if Kılıçdaroğlu wins, and they’ve promised me as many rounds as it will take for me to forget if he doesn’t. Many of my family, my friends and my generation see a light at the end of the tunnel; this time I’m hopeful that it won’t be another train. 

Image Credit: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi//CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

SU release their sustainability demands tracker

Bintia Dennog
-
0
SU release their sustainability demands tracker

Oxford University’s Student Union (SU) has released their sustainability demands tracker, after giving colleges until the end of March to update accordingly. Using a traffic light coding system, each college was assessed on their target, strategy, and enablers to reach net zero carbon and improve biodiversity. Out of all the colleges, only Somerville managed to fully meet two of the three demands; a third of all colleges didn’t show any progress on any demand and were coded entirely in red. 

Originally proposed in November last year, the sustainability tracker addresses “the need to visibly see what progress is being made” by each of the colleges. Although the University itself intends to reach net zero carbon by 2035, only ten colleges have committed to this so far. “[W]e can’t really claim the whole University is committed to this since the colleges make up such a huge part of the University,” the SU told Cherwell. 

The criteria proposed by the SU requires colleges to adopt a target for net zero carbon and biodiversity net gain by at least 2035, in line with the university’s target. They also request that colleges publish strategies on improving biodiversity and tackling scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions (which includes emissions caused indirectly through the colleges’ activities, such as travel and investments). These would need to be reported on annually, and colleges must display a policy commitment to divest from fossil fuels, in order to achieve a ‘green’ grade. Whilst 20 colleges either have or are working on a strategy, no college has met this demand fully so far. In order to meet the enabler criteria, the SU asked colleges to administer appropriate governance procedures, such as a sustainability committee, to enforce the sustainability strategy. 

When asked why the results were solely based on publicly available information, the SU explained that “[t]his is because what we are asking for – a target, strategy and enablers – are things which when developed, should be publicly available, as they are for the central University (and have been since 2021). Thus, we really encourage those colleges who are doing sustainability work but haven’t yet articulated this on their website, to do so.” 

St Peter’s Environmental Rep, Luke Vernon, commented that the SU’s decision to use publicly available information was “fair” but that the tracker “places too much emphasis on setting a net zero target, which encourages Colleges to set an optimistic target which might dishearten students if it can’t be met.

“St Peter’s got an amber for the ‘target’ section which again is completely justified given that St Peter’s hasn’t set a concrete goal for net zero yet,” he said, “but I don’t think it reflects on how much is being done behind the scenes by the College to work towards net zero and in reality is part of an approach by those at St Peter’s to only release a net zero target when they have complete confidence it can really be met.”

Balliol’s Environment & Ethics Rep, Andy Wei, also told Cherwell that many of Balliol’s sustainability initiatives, such as food waste recycling, are not directly acknowledged on the tracker. However, he says, “incremental change, while important, is not enough and needs to be part of a larger, publicly accountable strategy to achieve lower and net-zero carbon emissions”. 

Each college received the coding before publication, allowing them to send in updates or amendments before the final version was released. According to the SU, around 15 colleges “productively engaged” with them and updated their websites in response. Worcester, for example, outlined various measures to improve their sustainability, including measures related to food, water, waste, and investments and procurement. They intend to release a net zero strategy.

The tracker will also be updated on a regular basis. One change that is currently being pursued is adjusting the methodology for coding ‘dedicated staff time’ (part of the enabler demand) as green, since some colleges don’t employ a specific sustainability officer but still dedicate significant amounts of staff time towards sustainability. It is proposed that these colleges will be granted green if they explain their reasoning for doing so on their website. “We are finalising a slightly shifted methodology from this which will be made clear on the website,” the SU told Cherwell. There are also talks of a potential group hire across colleges for sustainability decisions.

The White Stuff and its Discontents

Luke Dale
-
0
The White Stuff and its Discontents

Most people don’t think about milk very often. Milk may be a staple of every Briton’s fridge, but it doesn’t service small-talk. At most, perhaps, a remark on a vegan colleague’s ‘oat drink’ will stir up a tense exchange of words about the dairy industry in an office kitchen. Otherwise, milk would seem to occupy—not unhappily—a subsidiary role in the dietary diary. A splash added to a morning bowl of muesli, or a dash in a cup of tea: such are, it seems, the quiet honours of milk. 

But have we been drinking our milk too uncritically? This is the question posed by the new exhibition, Milk, at the Wellcome Collection—and their answer, of course, is a resounding ‘yes’. Milk—we are told in the free brochure—is a “highly politicised liquid” used to “exert power”. It is inextricably bound up with ‘whiteness’ and the British Empire. What’s more, as we learn later, milk is also a commodity, bought and sold by actors whose primary goal is not the health of the nation, but rather simply capital. Punters should be ready and willing to have any illusions they had about milk mercilessly dispelled in this fashion.

That the Wellcome Collection approaches milk through a critical-theoretical lens is not surprising. Last November, they closed their much-loved permanent display Medicine Man on the grounds that it “perpetuate[d] a version of medical history… based on racist, sexist and ableist theories and language”. Further justification for this assessment was not provided. Had the Wellcome suffered at the hands of a curatorial saboteur? Were the objects laid out in a prejudicial way? Speaking at the Sheldonian in February, Lord Sumption gave an alternative explanation: he argued that the museum “[was] proposing a political program for the modern day, supported by a highly selective approach to the past which sees everything through the prism of race.” This latest exhibition all but confirmed his view.

Of course the ‘whiteness’ of milk is on one level crucial; it announces a hearty sap, drawn fresh from the udder, uncontaminated and unsoured. The nutty hue of milk-substitutes, by contrast, acts as the first sign that something is amiss—be it oat or almond. But the conspiratorial minds behind this exhibition have drawn on two further facts to foist upon milk an unlikely racial significance. First: 5,000 years ago, lactase persistence—the genetically-determined ability for adult humans to digest the lactose in milk—developed in Southern Europe, and has since become present in 90% of Europeans. Elsewhere in the world, particularly among non-white populations, lactase persistence is rare. Second: Britain was, until recent decades, a relatively ethnically homogenous society. As such, marketing and health campaigns—such as those promoting babies’ health—tended to focus on the needs of the majority, which may not reflect the needs of today’s population.

Innocent though these facts may appear, they are foundation upon which the prosecution case rests—namely in an absurd emphasis of the former, and a wilful ignorance of the latter. The imagined world of the exhibitioners is one in which the Milk Marketing Board deploys spurious propaganda of milk’s health benefits to promote the consumption of a racist liquid. Campaigns for wider access to milk, which might have been interpreted as an enrichment of working-class dietary standards, are in fact charged with the grave sin of overlooking the lactose intolerant. “Nutritional science” we are informed “was used to establish the idea of cow’s milk as an essential food.” Whether this ‘idea’ has any truth to it is irrelevant—science is relegated to the backseat as ideological hobbyhorses are flogged to death.

Sadly, the Wellcome Collection’s approach is far from atypical. Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum is utterly in thrall of a kindred dogma, dismantling the Victorian-style displays that are its distinguishing feature under the auspices of a “change curator”. Meanwhile, at the Ashmolean, the ‘Our Museum Our Voices’ programme insists on the intercession of teenagers and their opinions between the patrons and the artwork—opinions which, it is fair to say, often happily correspond to the ideological inclination of the curatorial class. Increasingly, then, the heritage bequeathed to us in these museums is not just trapped in glass, but also in a host of moralising, ‘problematising’ and, ultimately, infantilising, narratives that are in their nature more political than educational.

When Ishmael, the narrator of Moby Dick, pauses to consider the significance of whiteness in his own context, he concludes that it is an appalling “dumb blankness, full of meaning”. A similar point may be made of our exhibition’s milky exhibits: white in character, meaning can be projected onto their blankness to reflect our own interests. In this case, milk is merely the medium, the canvas of a study, in reality, of race, or of how race is conceived of in the minds of these curators. And as the grievances of the past bear down in ever greater number, there will be yet, it seems, much occasion for crying over unspilt milk.

Milk at the Wellcome Collection, London, is open 30 March – 10 September 2023

‘Ornamented choral what?’ – your favourite early sacred music like you’ve never heard it before

Anna Cowan
-
0
‘Ornamented choral what?’ – your favourite early sacred music like you’ve never heard it before

Known affectionately among members and fans as ‘Old Document’, Antiquum Documentum was founded in Hilary Term 2022 by Alexander Trowell and Jarek Jankowski whilst sat at a table in the King’s Arms. They were joined shortly thereafter by Daniel Greenway and Iris Oliver and, as conversations in the King’s Arms often go, they observed that Oxford’s niche for ornamented choral polyphony remained bemusingly unfilled. What is ‘polyphony’? I hear you cry. Why is it ‘choral’ and what makes it ‘ornamented’? The group that the five subsequently founded specialises in a distinctive style of singing, which takes the multi-voice music you might hear in your college chapel on a Sunday, and, after intense investigation into the earliest manuscripts of the music to find the most original form of the notes, they essentially sing with frills, adding ululations in certain carefully considered places, and thereby producing a very ancient sound in what are (to choral singers) often familiar pieces. It’s 15th, 16th and 17th century sacred music like you’ve never heard it before! The ‘ornamented’ style of singing declined in the western European church, but remained a significant part of ritual in the church in east Europe, most famously perhaps in Byzantine chant which you might have heard at the Coronation last Saturday. Antiquum Documentum describe themselves as ‘specialising in early sacred vocal music, particularly in historical performance-practice with historical pronunciation, pitch and ornamentation.’ Since the group’s foundation Antiquum Documentum has gained twelve members and performed three successful concerts, although they appear perhaps most proud of their exquisitely detailed posters, which you have probably seen around Oxford. On Tuesday of seventh week last term they performed again in Keble chapel to an audience of around seventy, offering a programme of ten pieces from the Papal Curia (the area of Italy under the jurisdiction of the Papacy), which demonstrated the depth and breadth of talent which the group has fostered over the last year.

The concert began with ‘Improperia’ by Victoria, blossoming out of the silence of the chapel with closely layered harmonies. The tutti (‘all singers’) sections, were beautified by movement in the tenors and altos, and interleaved with solo tenor recitative (‘singing-speaking’), cantored expertly by Jarek Jankowski, then tied cleanly and plaintively with an emphasised ‘responde me’, ‘answer me’. Then followed Josquin DesPrez’s setting of ‘De profundis’, a piece significant in representing the international nature of the Sistine Chapel during the 16th and 17th centuries. The voices rose into sound one after another, mimicking of the vocative theme of the text: ‘Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord; Lord hear my voice’, set low in the ensemble’s registers to create a cavernous quality. The lowest voices, the basses, created rumbling, drone-like lines, which the richly ornamented, Byzantine-sounding tenor lines cut through with higher, plaintive phrases.

This third concert by Antiquum Documentum was set apart from the first two in welcoming Keble’s junior organ scholar Edward Gaut on the chamber organ. Ally explains that the music of their programme is likely to have been accompanied by mellow chamber organ accompaniment, and would have been for certain in the Roman churches under Papal control, other than the Sistine Chapel, notably St Peter’s Basilica. Edward accompanied the sung repertoire and performed two solo pieces by Frescobaldi; ‘Recerdar dopo il credo (Messa della Madonna)’ and ‘Toccata per l’Elevatione (Messa delli Apostoli) later in the programme. Without the pressure-responsiveness of a piano with strings, the piped chamber organ relied on precision and careful articulation to communicate the swelling, emotional phrases of the solo pieces. Edward achieved this to great effect and proved an engaging addition to the choral programme. 

Their next piece, Allegri’s setting of Psalm 51 ‘Miserere’, (‘Have pity on me’) is known to have been composed for the Sistine Chapel in 1638 to be sung as part of the liturgy in Holy Week, the week leading up to Easter, which is the most holy week of the Christian year. Allegri’s ‘Miserere’ has a certain mythology attached to it. Making copies of the piece was forbidden, and all original copies could not be removed from the Sistine Chapel, yet it is said that the piece made it into the outside world via pirate copies made by a young Mozart who could simply remember the whole piece. Antiquum Documentum gave a shimmering rendition of this classic, but in its more original form. The version we know today was in fact based on a copying error which transposed the famous solo line up to a top C, and special mention must be made of soprano Lois Heslop for her crystalline performance of this now iconic accident of transmission. Jarek Jankowski returned with remarkable technical skill cantoring alternate verses with bubbling, flowing ornamentation, between beautiful tutti sections, aching with tension.

The group’s next piece, ‘Ave Regina Cælorum’ (‘Behold the queen of Heaven’) by Victoria, provided a satisfying contrast to the yearning Miserere. Antiquum Documentum brought warmth to the piece’s close, concentric harmonies and concluded with a jubilant ‘gaude’, ‘rejoice’, before moving to their sixth item, Palestrina’s ‘Sicut cervus’ (‘Like as the hart’). This more layered piece was characterised by long drawn-out melodies, admirably sustained by the singers, and melisma, single words drawn out over multiple notes, echoed smoothly between the parts.

To conclude the first segment of the concert, the tempo picked up again with Anerio’s ‘Christus factus est’ (‘Christ became obedient’), the Allegro (‘lively’) sections of which were another engaging contrast and demonstrated the group’s careful attention to keeping the programme fresh throughout.

Then followed a short address from Ally on the theme which characterised final pieces of the concert: the Crucifixion. A chant-like plainsong ‘Agnus Dei’ (‘the Lamb of God’) from the Graduale di Tempore (1614) for two voices, was executed cleanly by tenors Ally Trowell and Jarek Jankowski, and the concert concluded with Palestrina’s immense ‘Stabat Mater’ (‘The sorrowful mother was standing’). The text of this final piece describes the immense grief of the Virgin Mary watching her son Jesus perishing on the Cross. The piece opened out into monumental depth with great quasi-Romantic swells, emotively communicating the pity of the Crucifixion through the great feeling with which the singers imbued the text. The lower voices of the group sang with great richness, over which the duet movement of the upper voices moved to great effect. Ornamentation welled up within the texture, setting it well within the programme as the piece drew the motifs of the concert together. Having looked at over a century of repertoire of Roman polyphony, from Josquin in the late 15th century and Allegri in the early 17th, the Stabat Mater ended the concert at a halfway point – the high Renaissance – which acknowledged both the styles that preceded it and the emerging Baroque that would soon sweep Europe. 

The concert concluded to rapturous applause, which was very well deserved! Overall Antiquum Documentum created an ethereal, transportive atmosphere, with choral music unlike any other in Oxford. I offer Antiquum Documentum my congratulations for such a successful and professional performance, and look forward to hearing them again on Tuesday of 4th Week (16th May) for Choral Evensong in Latin with music by Tallis, Morley and Weelkes. 

What happens at Port and Policy?

Paul Furey
-
0
What happens at Port and Policy?

A crowd of eager onlookers encircle a suited man like they are watching a schoolyard fight. He is giving a port-fuelled passionate advocation for the invasion of France. This is Port and Policy.

Every Sunday of term the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) holds their famous Port and Policy event. Since 1994 it has attracted the most conservative—and some not-so-conservative—minded students from the University to attend. The alumni of OUCA include past Prime Ministers such as Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron, and Theresa May, and high-profile MPs like Jacob Rees-Mogg and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt.

On Facebook OUCA promises “a night of vigorous discussion and plenty of port to go round”. On the first Sunday of Trinity term they hosted a specially themed Port and Policy to mark the eve of Saint George’s Day—suitably patriotic. They had a first motion to match that spirit, “This house would slay the dragon”. Additionally, they advertised “This house would cross the picket lines” and a secret third motion to be revealed on the night. 

The venue is St Giles’ Church on Woodstock Road. Members of the OUCA committee give assurances that they are usually able to procure the Oxford Union and that this was simply a temporary setting. It certainly did not give the impression of the home of Oxford’s nearly one-hundred-year-old conservative association. It was more like a tacky parish hall with board games on display on the shelves. It was no bigger than my tutor’s office.

Arriving slightly after the posted start time of 8:30pm, we are immediately greeted by a very keen treasurer. He is excited to tell us we are paying the first entry fees (£8) under his reign. At this point, it is clear we are the only people here besides the obligated OUCA committee members. It is also clear that I am underdressed compared to the rest of the attendees who have stuck to the lounge suit dress code in a stricter sense. But no paying customer is turned away from OUCA when they have cash in hand.

They are busy folding up tables, clearing the hall, and stocking a makeshift bar with port. At the front of the church hangs a ten-foot Union Jack and a five-foot Saint George’s Cross. In front of them stands a small table with an empty bottle of port and cutting board.

We stand around in groups until a bellowing voice, the voice of a character we would later learn to be the political officer, sounds out: “get some alcohol!” The bar was open. 

OUCA offers three options for port: fine white, tawny, and ruby. We found none to be particularly appealing. Further research priced each bottle at £5 a pop.

Eventually the church hall slowly fills up, and around 80 people end up being in attendance. Shortly after 9pm the proceedings begin. The political officer grabs our attention by using the very sturdy, empty bottle of port as a makeshift gavel and smashing it against the chopping board.

With no microphones in place, Port and Policy relies on the strength of the speaker’s ability to shout to be heard. About half of the people speaking possess this ability, the rest get lost in the chatter between onlookers and the disinterested port enthusiasts.

First are some announcements. These cover the policy of no photos being taken as well as the news of a party to be held that week. The theme—Thatcher’s Golden Years. They also announce the policy on heckling. It is very much encouraged.

For any “good conservative Thatcherites” the crowd is to shout out “sound!”, as opposed to the boos that serve as the response to a “commie Blairite”. If any committee member speaks it is good practice for the crowd to shout “Resign!”.

The first debate begins: Would this house slay the dragon? The political officer bangs his gavel and calls for anyone in the crowd to speak in proposition.

The first speaker gives his interpretation of the dragon and why it should be slain. “The dragon is the Chinese Communist Party – Burn it to the ground!”. He is met with cheers of “sound!”. When he finishes, the political officer pounds his gavel again and then calls for a speaker in the crowd for the opposition. This process repeats itself until the debate finishes. 

Most speeches are no longer than a few sentences, a whole debate seemed to average about half an hour. A key difference between the debates at Port and Policy and, say, those at the Oxford Union, is that no one takes the debate at Port and Policy seriously. Everyone who steps up to speak is, by and large, doing it for a laugh.

A speaker in opposition to the motion proclaims “We should banish the snakes, not slay the dragon – accept Saint Patrick, not Saint George”. He is immediately followed by a speech in proposition, “we are Protestants today” he cries out. “Slay the Antichrist!” Port and Policy debates don’t shy away from current political events. It is suggested that the dragon could represent “a useless civil service that can’t be told to do any work” in solidarity with Dominic Raab.

There were proposals to not slay the dragon, but simply fox hunt the dragon. Or not slay the dragon, but simply slay. However, the most convincing argument seemed to be that the house should not slay the dragon, as what is a dragon if not a Tory? “It just sits on a hoarded pile of wealth”. Nonetheless, the ‘ayes’ took the motion decisively: this house would slay the dragon.

The debate that followed was titled “This house would cross the picket line”. There was now noticeably less interest from the crowd as the chatter grew and the queue for port lengthened. Nearly all speakers were inaudible so we resorted to mingling among the attendees. Most were regulars at Port and Policy. “What else would you do with £8 on a Sunday?”

Indeed, a few were more liberal-minded, who boasted they only came to laugh at and, when they went up to speak, rile up the tories. It was all in the spirit of good fun and much less serious, they told us, than the ‘Beer and Bickering’ at Labour Club. Fittingly, a commotion of ‘boos’ erupted from the debating circle as another speaker exclaimed proudly, “the best thing Margaret Thatcher ever did was die”. 

The second debate ended with another victory for the ‘ayes’: unsurprisingly, this house would cross the picket line.

Finally, it was time for the long-awaited secret third motion to be revealed. It didn’t disappoint. “This house would invade France”, the political officer roared. This was the type of absurd motion that recaptured the full crowd’s attention. It set off the starting gun for a competition for who could make the most outrageous statement and get the biggest roar from the spectators. What proceeded was an onslaught of smears on the French nation advising invasion. 

“They smell and are stupid”. “We’d have a good time doing it.” “F*ck the froggy b*stards.” “We must cross the Channel for the croissant. Seize the croissant!” “This house would invade France because this house is a gamer.” One rallying cry played into the gender makeup of the observers. “We will dominate France, like you would like to be dominated by a woman. Many of you have never seen a woman in the flesh!”

There was concern that the motion did not go far enough. “As has been seen, the Channel is too easy to cross. It should be made wider. Destroy France!” A small contingent maintained throughout that France did not actually exist. “France is a lie propagated by Big Cheese.”

The main stumbling block for OUCA was that a sizable proportion had their hearts set on the restoration of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. “If we are going to invade a neighbouring republic, let it be the Irish people.”

In the end, the ‘ayes’ won for a third time. This house would invade France.

With the final debate concluded, at almost precisely 11pm, the OUCA committee congregates to the front of the hall and belt out ‘God Save the King’. With that, everyone heads to Spoons to finish the night.

The main feature of Port and Policy is students LARPing as ultra-conservatives for a laugh. Their outrageous declarations always lapped up by the crowd. Nothing is said in seriousness. But as seen in the strong representation of OUCA alumni in UK governments past and present, these people are likely to go on and lead the country in some capacity in the future.

It is a stark realisation that the speeches decried at Port and Policy will inevitably echo into the behind-closed-doors discussions in Westminster offices.

Kevin and Timmy sit in the Old College Gardens

Sean Hartnett
-
0
Kevin and Timmy sit in the Old College Gardens

Honorary degree recipients to include former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Andy Wei
-
0
Honorary degree recipients to include former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

The University of Oxford has revealed the list of eight people who will be receiving an honorary degree this year. Each recipient has demonstrated outstanding achievement in their field, and they will be celebrated at the Encaenia ceremony at the end of Trinity term.

Here are this year’s recipients:

Professor Frances Arnold is an American chemical engineer at the California Institute of Technology. She received the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the directed evolution of enzymes.” On the topic of enzymes, she told Cherwell: “I’m thrilled that Oxford is honouring science, engineering, and evolution—the most powerful, and enduring, of all design processes. And enzymes. Let’s not forget about enzymes, because they are pretty great chemists.”

Michelle Bachelet is an impressive Chilean politician who served two terms as President of Chile and one term as the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights. As President, she created marine protection areas, expanded social protection for women and children, and promoted renewable energy. She was also the founding Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. 

Lyse Doucet is a Canadian journalist who currently serves as BBC’s Chief International Correspondent. She covers pressing events around the world and presents on BBC Radio 4, BBC News, BBC World Service radio, and BBC World News television.

Professor Stephen Furber is a computer engineer at the University of Manchester. He was previously a principal designer of the BBC Microcomputer and the ARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor, and he now leads research into neural systems engineering. He told Cherwell: “I’m very much looking forward to what I hope will be a sunny summer solstice, falling on the 75th anniversary of the Manchester Baby Machine’s first successful execution of a program stored in its electronic memory. It is, of course, a great honour to receive this distinction from the University of Oxford, which ranks among the world’s greatest universities, and I feel very privileged to have this association with Oxford.” The Manchester Baby was the world’s first electronic stored-program computer and was built at the University of Manchester in 1948.

Professor Paul Gilroy is a cultural and social theorist at University College London. He has made significant contributions to critical race theory and Black British culture. He has authored several books, lectured around the world, and serves as the founding director of the UCL Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation.

Val McDermid is a prolific Scottish writer. Her 39th novel, Past Lying, will be released later this year. Her previous novels have sold over 18 million copies and been translated into more than 40 languages. She told Cherwell: “When I became the first Scottish state school pupil to be accepted at St Hilda’s when I was only 16, I thought that was honour enough. I never dreamed that one day I’d have an Honorary Doctorate conferred on me. To say I’m thrilled and delighted would be an understatement and I’m looking forward to the celebrations.”

Professor Malik Peiris is a Sri-Lankan virologist at the University of Hong Kong. He was the first person to isolate the SARS virus in 2003, helping prevent a pandemic. He has previously advised the World Health Organization and the Hong Kong government on public health.


Professor Sir Simon Schama is a historian at Columbia University. He is also a contributing editor of the Financial Times, the author of 20 books, and the writer-presenter of 60 documentaries on art, history and literature for BBC television. He will be discussing his most recent book, which covers “the history of pandemics, vaccines and the health of nations,” at the Oxford Literary Festival on May 22nd.

1...160161162...2,499Page 161 of 2,499

Support Student Journalism

Cherwell is Oxford’s oldest independent newspaper, established in 1920. We are entirely student-run. By supporting us, you will contribute to keeping our paper in print and online. Every donation makes a difference.

Donate

Explore

Follow us

More

Oxford Student Publications Limited © 2025 - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy

Website by James Ashley