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Oxford’s main teaching hospital, John Radcliffe Hospital, plans to construct new elective theatres

By
Daniel Thomas
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John Adams/ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 via flickr

The John Radcliffe Hospital has put forward plans to build seven new elective theatres to Oxford City Council’s planning authorities, in an effort to cut down on mounting waiting lists for patients.

Submitted by property management firm Carter Jonas on behalf of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the expansion consists of a new 7541m2 theatre facility building, with all requisite infrastructure and parking amenities, to be built on top of an existing staff car park. 

The submission includes seven new operating and recovery spaces, with cutting-edge hybrid facilities allowing for radiological intervention during surgery when necessary. 35 cycle parking bays will also be added to the site, although there is no information as yet where they will be built.

The proposal for the Headington site also contains plans for a link corridor connecting the new building to the hospital’s existing west wing, as well as a permanent shell space with the potential to be converted into a sterile services facility. 

This expansion, the hospital says, is sorely needed to help reduce waiting times, and speed up patients’ access to routine elective surgery through increasing recovery space capacity.

Waiting lists for NHS procedures lengthened significantly following the COVID-19 pandemic, and most remain high even 3 years on. Students in Oxford frequently complain about extensive waiting times in the hospital’s A&E department, which fell well over national NHS service standards last month; meanwhile, in July, over 76,000 patients were waiting for routine non-urgent elective surgery.  

The chief facilities officer at OUH Trust, Mark Holloway, described the scheme as at “a very early stage”, adding that the trust will “continue to review and consider all opportunities […] to help support the delivery of services for patients”.

Opposition to the hospital trust’s plans has risen from some quarters. 

Headington Heritage and Oxford Civic Society, two local campaign groups, criticised the trust’s record on housing, transport infrastructure, and the environment, arguing that the proposal will worsen housing needs in the city and increase road congestion through extra demand. The groups also maintain that the cycling-parking provision ratio of 1:5 is inadequate, and that hard-surface car parks increase the risk of flooding in the vicinity.

Thames Water expressed similar concerns regarding local drainage infrastructure, and has contacted the developer for assurances. The public environmental protection body Natural England, however, expressed no objections to the proposals on ecological grounds.

Oxfordshire County Council, though not objecting to the plans in principle, has also registered concern over the loss of 132 parking spaces and insufficient cycling amenities, noting that too many hospital staff rely on cars to access their workplace. 

The hospital site is poorly-served by public transport routes, and traffic on the surrounding roads is frequent. 

John Radcliffe Hospital frequently does research with Oxford University with the latter being an academic partner, one of the leading Biomedical Research Centres in the UK. The hospital houses many departments of Oxford University Medical School. 

What happens on a peace-building exchange in the Western Balkans?

By
Nick Marshall
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Dove flying over concrete complex
Image credits: Sunguk Kim via Unsplash

At a dinner in a small, smoke-filled restaurant in Belgrade, Serbia, during a youth programme set up by the German War Graves Commission, I was asked:

‘So, what are the stereotypes about the Western Balkans where you’re from?’ 

Growing up in London, I have been exposed to an array of cultures. But this question revealed my alarmingly minimal knowledge on this large region. If you had asked me to draw a line around the region that constitutes as the ‘Western Balkans’ last year, I probably would have been woefully mistaken. I simply couldn’t answer.

This was precisely why I decided to embark on the project in the first place. Peace Line’s Yellow Route would take young people from across Bosnia, Serbia, and North Macedonia and bring them together to discuss peace-building in regions that have experienced historical and recent conflict. Peace Line’s aim is to encourage dialogue on cultures of remembrance and how they vary across Europe so that respect can be built within the continent and to emphasise the significance of preserving historical reminders in the promotion of European unity. This prompted reflection on the idea of the individual against collective memorialisation of the past, and reclamation of conflict via the arts, infrastructure, and legislation.

The region is undeniably underrepresented when it comes to forming the whole picture of European history, even within the nations themselves. Much of the region’s political geography has been dictated by memory politics, determining the ways in which future generations go on to remember their relatives, and how they perceive their identity with respect to ethnicity and religion. Setting a start and end-point to the Balkan Wars, in particular, is nearly impossible, and volatile narratives focus on who the ‘victims’ and ‘perpetrators’ were, rather than the appreciation of civilian loss of life. Art has become a particular point of interest in expressing both disdain and remembrance of such a past in the Balkans – its abstractness has an ability to unite in collective memoriam, yet it undoubtedly may also be used to draw attention to strong beliefs. Thus, one of Peace Line’s many facets was being able to explore the culture of remembrance through art, which I have been drawn to reflect on when considering building sustainable peace in the region.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – Sarajevo and Srebrenica-Potočari  

We began the programme in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The most notable part of the city at first glance is not a particular landmark or sight, but rather the overwhelming presence of bullet holes. This is a relic of the Siege of Sarajevo, lasting 1425 days from April 1992 to February 1996, it was the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare, and the longest siege anywhere since WWII. Many of these facades have been partially restored so that the holes remain visible, but upholding standards of building quality. These scars on Sarajevo have fed directly into local art, a way which reflects the ownership locals have of their past and reflects a modern culture of remembrance. One of these artistic methods is the ‘Sarajevo Roses’, where shelling craters have been filled with red resin, each location marking an attack where at least three people had lost their lives. The recent development of the city has led to the loss of many of Sarajevo’s Roses, taking the memory of the victims of the war with them in a country that often lacks formal memorials to commemorate their losses.  

What strikes me about Sarajevo is that although it has no singular voice, the city speaks for itself. The War Childhood Museum told the stories of those who grew up there between 1992 and 1995. It described personal – not political or martial – histories from the time of the Siege. 

The one that resonated with me most was titled ‘A Dress for Dancing’, where a brother recalled preparation for a dance competition with his sister, Nina. The museum displayed the pom-poms her mother had made to accompany a dress given to her by the dance coach. Nina had no other means to buy one but the dress then allowed her to compete. The day after the competition, 12-year-old Nina was wounded, and died a few days later in hospital, making her one of the last children to fall victim to the Siege. It is these items that, despite being of little material wealth, are crucial in generating a culture of remembrance around conflict by humanising those who fall victim to it. 

We continued to discuss the Bosnian War in Srebrenica-Potočari, in the region of Bosnia known as Republika Srpska. Srebrenica, as declared by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, was the site of the genocide of approximately 8,372 Bosniak men and boys during a week in July 1995. 

At the site, we met a woman who had lost both her husband and sons in the events of Srebrenica, and headed the organisation ‘the Mothers of Srebrenica’, who took both the UN and the Dutch Government to court over their role in the events. She owned a small shop outside of the graveyard for the victims, where she sold carefully sewn white and green flowers with eleven petals, commemorating the day on which the genocide took place. As one of the few Bosniaks to return to Srebrenica, she expressed worries that one day Srebrenica will be left behind, yet expressed fondness for her children, whom she believes can craft a future of peace and reconciliation in Europe. 

In the days after leaving Srebrenica, 30 more men and boys were buried at the graveyards following their identification, stressing the time in which it has taken for families to learn the fate of their loved ones, and have a place of individual memorial for their mourning. To date, around a quarter of the victims of July 1995 remain unidentified or missing. The Srebrenica Flower has become a symbol of resilience for those who still await the identification of lost brothers, sons, and fathers, uniting those who lack a palpable site for individual commemoration. 

Serbia – Belgrade  

Belgrade provided a stark contrast to Bosnia. Whereas Sarajevo has art intertwined into a rugged cityscape, Belgrade interlaces glossy skyscrapers and high-rises with bombed ruins of former ministries. Belgrade, like Sarajevo, bears the scars of a turbulent past, one that is felt in modern-day Serbia by murals and, in many cases, their vandalised counterparts. Depending on the day you pass Njegoševa Ulica, you may or may not see a mural of Ratko Mladič, leader of the army of Republika Srpska, who was convicted by the International Criminal Court for orchestrating genocide in Srebrenica. It was cemented a month after his sentencing in The Hague and despite numerous attempts by the building’s residents and Belgrade-based peace organisations, it remains. 

A deeper exploration of this came later that day when meeting Serbian young people, many of whom were members of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), a Belgrade-based NGO that has had numerous members arrested in an attempt to cover the mural. A discussion with young people demonstrated how it is the walls and buildings of Belgrade that are being used as a battleground for conflicting political ideals, specifically in the furthering of Serbian nationalism. Marko Milosavljevic, head of YIHR, has stated that “the glorification of convicted war criminals has led to the fact that we have a monument to Ratko Mladič, embodied in a mural, which is protected by both the police and extremist organisations,” highlighting the lack of intergenerational unity following the breakup of Yugoslavia.  

Cultures of remembrance – the way forward 

Sarajevo’s use of art as a memorial in the centre of the city, rather than demonising a particular group as a perpetrator, has gained wide international traction for its perception of the war of Bosnia, seeing the Siege of Sarajevo as an attack on the city’s rich, multi-ethnic history. With this said, the culture of remembrance has not been perfect in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as with the implementation of plaques in schools. The Bosniak teachers and students who fell victim to war commonly have plaques in their former schools that, whilst acting as remembering, have a dual function as accusers. Mourning of Serb losses in Sarajevo is essentially held in secrecy, rather than collectively, and many believe that Bosnia is more sectarian than it has ever been before.  

Battles may no longer be fought on the ground, but walls and bridges are marked by them as nations reckon with dealing with a turbulent past. There is a need for an interdisciplinary approach to reconciling the past that encourages communal expression of mourning and remembrance. Ubiquitous street art, for instance, paints the cities’ healing grief in the absence of formal reconciliation. Collective expression through the arts can then be used as a foundation for debate on how to better formalise collective memorial within these nations, regardless of ethnicity or nationality.

The peace-building programme in the Western Balkans was a vital learning opportunity. I found it worked as a way to memorialise permanently what has been lost to the horrors of the wars. 

Feel Good Films — British 1950s Comedies

By
Hassan Akram
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alt=a picture of a 1950s cinema
Image Credits: manhhai via Flickr

When I’m shattered after a long essay, or brooding over the state of the world, or merely wanting to enjoy a pleasant few hours, classic comedies are my go-to.

The golden age of film comedy in Britain was the 1950s. In this decade, or just outside it, came all the Ealing Comedies listed in the BFI’s “Top 100 British Films”. Here, however, I want to focus on the era’s lesser-known, non-Ealing productions. Although the lesser-knowns lack the nuanced social analysis and elegance of the Ealings, they are certainly superior as “feel-good” laugh-getters. And most importantly, they remain criminally under-watched.

Most of them had a recurring but interchangeable cast and crew. Each regular had a characteristic persona, which allowed audiences to become familiar with them, as if in a TV show; although most of the films were unconnected. As genre goes, they range from social satire to domestic farce to dark comedy. What they all had in common was the ability to get you into hysterical fits of laughter. The best of them assembled as many of the below actors as possible:

Ian Carmichael remained the staple comic hero. He played the title role in Lucky Jim, which fixed him as the hapless but likeable Fifties man; a relatable sort of idiot up against the worlds of the legal system (Brothers in Law), politics (Left, Right and Centre), trade unionism (I’m All Right Jack), and others.

Terry-Thomas was known as the delectably nasty “cad” or “bounder”. With his gap-toothed smile and high-pitched voice, he exemplified the caricature posh Englishman. He was at his best playing the likes of tax-evader Billy Gordon in Too Many Crooks, or Lord Mayley in The Naked Truth. In some films, though, he abandoned that persona for a kind of comic method acting. He played, for example, a dodgy street-crook in Brothers in Law.

Dennis Price never returned to the Oscar-worthy heights he had reached in 1949 with Kind Hearts and Coronets. But his outings as, for instance, Carmichael’s brilliantly corrupt uncle in Private’s Progress, or the used-car swindler in School for Scoundrels, all show an undimmed air of cool and cunning. There was another thing, too, that Price could always be relied on to do well: fall off boats. Off the top of my head, I can think of scenes in Lady Godiva Rides Again (which is otherwise a dud), The Naked Truth, Double Bunk and several others in which, as if unable to help himself, he just keeps on falling off boats.

Alastair Sim had a slightly more subdued style, and his greatest asset was his delivery. His signature role was that of Amelia Fritton in the St Trinian’s School series (of which the second instalment, where he’s joined by Terry-Thomas, is the best). He is equally excellent as an assassin in The Green Man; and as the law-abiding novelist who, in Laughter in Paradise, fruitlessly tries to become a criminal in order to inherit a fortune.

Then there were a range of character actors who were not leading men but played just-as-good small roles. In Happy is the Bride, Miles Malleson’s turn as a deaf magistrate is largely responsible for the most uproarious courtroom scene since Bardwell v. Pickwick. Cecil Parker, with his blend of pomposity and awkwardness, was failsafe as a butler or a father-in-law. Also noteworthy were Sid James, Eric Barker, Peter Sellers, George Cole and Richard Attenborough.

Even aside from the cast, the “feel-good” charm of these films is down to the wit and energy of the screenplays. Censorship kept the innuendo at a low, meaning the filmmakers had to rely on dialogues, situations, visual gags and facial expressions over “obscenity”. The period charm of the post-war decade – of a Britain experiencing the rapid growth of prosperity and optimism – also imbues the films with a sense of having been made in a golden world apart.

By the 1960s the familiar run was petering out. A few films captured glimmers of the old magic – The Amorous Prawn, for example. By the middle of the decade, however, a new wave of Technicolour Swinging Sixties comedies had put an end to the golden age.

So please don’t be prejudiced! Don’t be put off by the black-and-white. Watch any or all of the above comedies, and you’ll have “never had it so good”.

Feeling Blue? A deep-dive into Oxford sport

By
Anika Gupta
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Image credit: Yuan-Yuan Foo

“You leave Oxford with a First, a spouse, or a Blue.” The latter of the three, a Blue, is the highest honour granted to individual sportspeople at Oxford University. It is highly prestigious and sought-after. With its history tracing back to the early 1800s, its relevance in Oxford students’ day-to-day lives, social activities and career prospects cannot be understated. However, this elusive award and the culture revolving around it remains largely unknown to the average Oxfordian, despite numerous Blues being awarded every year. You have probably seen them, without fail every Wednesday night frequenting the Parkend’s Tiki Bar in classic social attire, leaving many to question what sporting prowess has given awardees the right to wear the notorious dark blue blazer? What does one have to do to get hold of one?

What is a Blue?

Coming in a few variations, a Full Blue, a Discretionary Full Blue, or a Half Blue – a Blue is an award handed out as an acknowledgement of achievement within a sport.

The term “Blue” can be traced back to the early 1800s from historic sporting fixtures between Oxford and Cambridge. In the boat races between the two boat races, the first one being in 1829 over Hengley Bridge, a Cambridge oarsman tied light blue ribbon to the bows of the Cambridge rowing boats to represent the colours of his school, Eton College. A dark blue colour was then ascribed to Oxford, as the colour of Christ Church College, and the Oxford crew sported white jerseys with dark blue stripes during the race. These colours, and the merit associated with them, still exist today. Indeed, those who achieve a Blue are entitled to wear and show-off these colours in their blazers.

Further, the start of the Oxford-Cambridge competitive “Varsity” match tradition can be traced back to June 1827. This is when the two universities challenged each other to a two-day cricket match at Lords. Nowadays, Varsity games often attract huge student and alumni crowds. This can be seen through the annual boat races and the rugby matches played at Twickenham, engaging an over 20,000+ strong crowd.

How to get a Blue

The ability to obtain a Blue (Full/Half) depends on the status of each sport. Traditionally played sports such as football, athletics, and rowing allow for Full Blues; while more fringe sports, such as clay pigeon shooting, only allow Half Blues to be attained. The criteria for attaining them also differs between sports, mainly due to the measure of success in each sport differing itself, and often between their men’s and women’s teams. In Hockey, for example, Full Blues are awarded to the starting eleven  in the Varsity Match, as well as up to five substitutes in the Varsity Match at the discretion of the captain.

The awarding of this prestigious accolade and the management of the sports clubs is no easy feat and, like most things in Oxford, is governed by a committee. The Oxford University Blues Committee is made up of the current captains of the affiliated Blues-status clubs, alongside an executive committee made up of a President, Secretary, and Treasurer. As part of this, affiliated clubs must send one representative to a termly meeting and to those which review the status of their sport once every three years. 

While the specifics of each sport’s criteria are determined in these reviews, some general rules govern all Blues sports. Predominantly, no award (Full/Half Blues or first team colours) can be awarded to someone who does not compete in a Blues Varsity match. In addition, each team must clearly define what constitutes their Blues team in the Blues Varsity Match, reserves or substitutes who do not play cannot be awarded Blues, members of a second team or equivalent cannot be awarded a Blue and all awarding criteria must be met within the same academic year as the Varsity Match, being verified by The Sports Federation.

The Oxford University Blues Committee Constitution sets out other specific requirements for attaining a Full Blue. For example, the sport must be registered with the Sports Federation; there must be considerable College organisation, with recognised Colleges playing each other, and (not-surprisingly) there must be a substantial degree of athletic ability required. Additionally, adaptive or para-sports are still in their infancy at Oxford, with plenty of room to grow with support. Current high-level disabled athletes are able to attain a Blue but have to go through an “Extraordinary” route which is different to standard procedure. In conjunction with a Blue, a grant may be awarded to an exceptional sportsperson for future personal development. This may include new personal equipment, a training camp, or travel with a national team.

Life of a Blue 

Now that one knows a little more about the history of a Blue and how to go about getting one, we can proceed to delving in more deeply into life as a Blues sportsperson. For these passionate athletes, the process starts early. The previous Women’s Blues Football Captain, Jess Cullen, told Cherwell that “try-outs happen in freshers… generally we do a small section on skills and then go into matches. Choosing new players is a process all of the current players are involved in and we meet at the end of trials to discuss. In the end, the captain and coach choose the final teams.”

When asked about being able to manage an insane training schedule with rigorous academic work, Jess communicated: “I train everyday in some format except Saturday. Sport keeps me mentally sane and gives me a community, so I couldn’t not do it.”

Further, a current Amateur Boxing Blue and committee member reflects that while training is “hard work” with tough training sessions in the early morning and late at night, he enjoys balancing sport with his role on committee. This involves securing a new ring and investment for Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club, organising boxing events and an annual trip to Tenerife which provide a chance to meet and train with Olympians.

On maintaining a healthy sports-work balance, Men’s Blues Rugby Captain, Jack Glover, told Cherwell: “The academic pressures that go hand-in-hand with being a student at Oxford University are very important when structuring training and players’ workload. We are realistic in knowing that players will not be at every session, however, we try to adapt and be flexible to all their needs to ensure that they are getting the most out of being part of this club. As we are a player-led club, I feel as though we manage to strike an extremely well-balanced programme and that we are all very considerate to one another during term time.”

Jack added that matches are undeniably the highlight of being a Blue: “Some of our best matches include playing professional premiership rugby sides such as the Harlequins and Leicester Tigers. Other exciting games include those against the England U20s, an old boys team called the “Major Stanleys” – which welcomes back all OURFC alumni back down in Iffley. Of course, the big match that we look forward to is the Varsity Match against Cambridge. With so much history behind it, it is always one of the main highlights of any player that has represented OURFC.”

With post-match rituals often including beers and dinner with the opposition, karaoke and a trip to the Vincent’s Club – Blues matches, while unimaginably pressured, appear to always end well despite the outcome.

A Blue social life

Despite having a jam-packed schedule, for some reason, somehow, you will always find a Blues player out on a Wednesday night. Overlooking when strict pre-game drinking bans are in place, Blues sports culture is filled with events, socials, including crewdates at Oxford’s finest institutions Angrids or Jamals. While initiations are technically “banned” for many of these groups, the Blues teams don’t shy away from a vibrant social culture aimed at integrating all team members and other university sports teams.

The Vincent’s Club (Vinnie’s), is also regularly frequented. Pre-eminently a club for Oxford’s sporting elite, Vinnie’s was founded by Brasenose oarsman Walter Bradford Woodgate in retaliation to not wanting sporting matters being discussed at a suggested location, the Oxford Union. Woodgate famously said in reference to the Union, “I wouldn’t be seen there at a dog fight” and proceeded to select forty people (from the sportiest Oxford colleges at the time – Merton, University, and Brasenose) as original members of his new club. This was set up at the club house above the publishers at 90 High Street, named Vincent, and thus the club got its name. Intriguingly, the club only welcomed female members in 2015, only recently allowing the Club to more properly represent the finest sporting talent at Oxford. Part of the reason for the little change in ethos probably lies in the fact that while the focus has always been on sports-minded people, there has never been a sporting (Blues) qualification for membership. 

However, women empowerment in high-level sport does not get overshadowed. Atalanta’s is the leading society that promotes and supports the University of Oxford’s women in sport.  Founded in 1992, they now have a large network of resident members from over 24 different sports teams across the university, as well as a strong alumni database. Atalanta’s aims to recognise and foster the impressive achievements of sportswomen across the University, helping to inspire other hard-working, skilled and like-minded individuals across all sports. It promotes the development of sportswomen at all levels of University sport, through grants, scholarships and a vibrant social events calendar.

Members from the Oxford University Yacht Club (sailing) have told Cherwell that one of Atlanta’s dinner events was “very fun, definitely a bit daunting at first but once you get chatting to everyone, all very friendly. There were lots of different sports and different age groups, including a few alumni, and also a mixture of 1s, 2s and 3s sporting teams.”

Final reflection

With this whistle-stop exploration into Blues sport, it begs the question: are you feeling Blue? All you need is insane athletic ability, unwavering motivation and commitment, a capacity to drink your weight in alcohol and a love affair with Parkend. Easy stuff. 

Read Cherwell’s last reflection here: https://www.cherwell.org/2012/01/27/how-to-get-the-oxford-blues/ 

Oxford-led research highlights importance of nature-based solutions for net zero in Brazil

By
Matthew Grigg
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Image credit: Jiwad/CC-BY-SA-4.0 via WikiMedia Commons

With the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) approaching, international researchers led by Oxford have found that nature-based solutions must feature in Brazil’s climate change policy if the country is to meet its commitment to achieve net zero by 2050. Cessation of deforestation and implementation of regenerative forest schemes were identified as the most important measures Brazil should undertake.

The team of international scientists found that nature-based solutions could contribute to around 80% of Brazil’s net zero goal in the next thirty years. 

Published in Global Change Biology, the research also made a case for Brazil avoiding a focus on negative emission technologies (NETs) and solutions that involve engineering nature. These solutions, including Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), incur higher costs and have not yet been proven effective on larger scales. 

Ending both illegal and legal deforestation in Brazil, particularly in the Amazon Rainforest, and restoring areas already cut down will enhance the country’s biodiversity and bolster this natural carbon sink.

In order to realise the benefit of nature-based solutions, policies will need to extend beyond Brazil’s current Forest Code which requires a legal reserve by private landowners. 

Dr Aline Soterroni at Oxford’s The Agile Initiative said the following: “While the implementation of the Forest Code is urgent and can enable Brazil to achieve and increase its short-term climate ambition, it won’t be enough to bridge the gap to net zero emissions by mid-century.”. 

Integrated modelling was used to determine the expected emissions reductions associated with different policy directions. Scenarios that only use Brazil’s Forest Code fall short of the country’s net zero aim, only bridging the gap to greenhouse gas emissions by 38% by 2050. Further renewable and sustainable measures that engage with nature in agriculture and energy could support Brazil in achieving net zero. 

Professor at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and co-author of the study, Roberto Schaeffer, said the following: “The country’s energy sector already has a significant share of renewables and its contribution to Brazil’s net zero ambition would heavily rely on BECCS. Nature-based solutions, in particular ending deforestation and restoring native vegetation, are the way to go here…”.

Significantly, such nature-based solutions were recognised as fundamental to Brazil meeting Nationally Determined Contribution promises as part of global action on climate change. Researchers behind the study have stressed the importance of nature-based solutions being represented in national strategies ahead of COP28. 

The publication of this study follows a 13 % reduction in tree cover in Brazil from 2001 to 2022, as assessed by the Global Forest Watch (Global Forest Watch, 2023). While policies that accelerated deforestation in recent years have been reversed under a new administration led by left-wing Brazilian President Lula da Silva, the new research emphasises the need for nature-based solutions to go further if Brazil is to meet its net zero climate target by 2050.

Kevin and Timmy and uber-inconveniently scheduled Lectures

By
Sean Hartnett
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Kevin and Timmy borrow art

By
Sean Hartnett
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Kevin and Timmy kook for you

By
Sean Hartnett
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Merton College withdraws from local solar panel initiative

By
Liza Poliakova
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Image credit: Tejvan Pettinger via Flickr

Merton College has withdrawn from a possible land use collaboration with Botley West Solar Farm, forfeiting the potential of generating 840 megawatts of clean energy. Merton College’s Hall Farm site in Begbroke, the site of the potential collaboration, entailed only 5% of the total project land area, and the College’s withdrawal will not jeopardise the viability of the scheme. 

The development plan, supervised by German firm Photovolt Development Partners, is to cover around 3500 acres of land, of which 2500 acres will be used for panels and infrastructure. Classed as a Nationally Significant Project due to its sheer scale, Botley West Solar Farm will be almost ten times larger than the next biggest British solar project, Shotwick Park, which produces just under 70,000-megawatt hours of renewable energy every year. 

The decision aligns with the goals of the ‘Stop Botley West Campaign’, which has led efforts coordinating action against the Botley West Solar Farm’s project, objecting to it on environmental, moral and political grounds. The Campaign says the energy project is detrimental to the protection of biodiversity: digging would destroy rare ancient water meadows, and the piles on which the solar panels are mounted would “represent real threats to biodiversity and birdlife.”

The Oxford community has similarly voiced complaints against the Botley West Solar Farm project. The panels require the land from 2-3% of Oxford’s green belt, and would involve around 50% of Oxfordshire’s total land area. Some objections stem from fear of the project’s negative effect on arable agricultural farming. Others believe the panels will cause visual pollution and diminish Oxford’s natural beauty. 

Residents of Witney and West Oxfordshire have created a petition urging parliamentary repeal of the project. They have also requested reform of the National Planning Policy Framework in order to clarify guidance on the appropriate location, scale and design of proposed solar farms.

The Botley West Farm project website states the project’s ambition and that it is realistic to both “add to Oxfordshire’s biodiversity” and “generate enough low-cost clean and renewable electricity to power approximately 330,000 homes.”  

Though Merton has pulled out of the project, the College said they continue to align themselves with long-term sustainable objectives. In an official statement on its website, Merton said they plan to continue “planting extensive wildflower meadows” in partnership with the Thames Valley Wildflower Meadow Restoration Project and supporting “soil renewal” schemes. 

The College has also committed to improving the energy efficiency of its buildings. Newly implemented sustainable changes include the fitting of the T.S. Eliot Lecture Theatre with adiabatic heating and cooling systems and the replacement of gas hobs in the college kitchens with electric induction hobs. They also plan to install Megaflo systems, highly efficient unvented water cylinders which increase hot water storage and form part of a central heating system. 

MARCO SOLO: Manuscripts and Archives at Oxford University

By
Rufus Jones
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alt= an image of an illustrated manuscript
CC BY-SA 3.0, by Walters Art Museum

Although unnoticed by many students and tutors alike, a revolutionary new service by the name of MARCO was unveiled last week, taking the archivist world by storm. I was lucky enough to attend the launch event at the Bodleian archives, one humble student amidst a flock of archivists and librarians from all over the university.

There’s nothing the Bodleian staff hold so dear as an acronym, hence MARCO. But so everyone reading can fully appreciate the new amenity, it seems appropriate to explain what is stands for – Manuscripts and Archives at Oxford University. It’s a website combining eleven of the Bodleian’s existing manuscript catalogue sources (such as the disparate ‘Bodleian Archives and Manuscripts’, ‘Western Medieval Manuscripts’ and ‘South Asian Manuscripts’) into one, easy-to-navigate system. Students familiar with SOLO will recognise its hallmark as the colour blue; following this trend, MARCO’s signature colour is purple. You’ll know you’re in the right place if the page looks like a lavender farm. Mind you, it isn’t only university archives being collated, but college ones too. Inter-college collaboration is much easier as a result, since the wide range of historic manuscripts held within various college archives are much easier to access.
 
Archivists are the unacknowledged legislators of the university: despite being one of its backbones, we pay them little mind. Think about how soul-crushing work would be, regardless of whether you do a STEM or Humanities degree, if there was no rhyme or reason to how the documents you needed were arranged. But the archivists are at hand! It is they who provide order amidst the chaos and are always coming up with better ways to keep knowledge organised.
 
I had the privilege of chatting briefly with my college’s archivist before the event, in order to get an idea of the problems this service was trying to remedy. He informed me that looking for manuscripts is essentially the bane of an archivist’s existence. Manuscript manuals are tricky to navigate, full of inconvenient omissions and constantly in need of updates. These hurdles aren’t the exclusive concern of archivists, though. Students also suffer from manuscript archives being clunky and circuitous – just ask anyone doing a dissertation! A better system benefits everyone at the university, whether they’re students, tutors, archivists or researchers.


MARCO will be a boon to anyone who wants to access manuscripts, whether they attend Oxford or not. As one of the speakers aptly put, it is a way of democratising access to manuscripts as no previous training or proficiency is required. That being said, while making archives easier to navigate, some complexity is necessary to maintain the different priorities each archive has. It’s something I hadn’t thought about before, but makes sense: as different archives focus on distinct places and diverse periods of history, any documents in common must be considered from unique angles. Rather than trying to be some universal lone archive, MARCO is instead a collation of all the different archives any document is in, ensuring the organisation of every field.
 
Though archives might not be one of your major concerns right now, whenever your course requires you to brave them for the first time, you’ll be glad people went to the trouble of making it as easy and intuitive to navigate as possible. We’re very lucky indeed to have a group of such dedicated and friendly experts on hand. To the unsung archivists!

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