Saturday 26th July 2025
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My secondary school was a vibrant patchwork of people and cultures

Heather Cant
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My secondary school was a vibrant patchwork of people and cultures

In your last years of pre-pubescence, when you’re riding scooters and eating 5p Freddos, you are blissfully oblivious to the school dilemma that slowly but surely takes over your parents’ lives.

For some families, it’s out of their hands, with only one school option available, or you lack the time or money to fret over league tables and parenting forums. Alternatively, you’re already settled into a prep school feeding into a private school with the end goal of a successful Oxbridge application clearly in sight.

Other parents, particularly those in urban, densely populated areas, with many schools within a single catchment area, can feel like their child’s future is hanging precariously at a cliff edge, and their decision will either haul them to success or let them plummet to their doom.

In Haringey, the school experience can vary massively. It is the most divided borough in London: four of its 19 wards are in the wealthiest ten per cent in London, yet many of its wards are in the poorest 20 per cent nationally. As you’d expect, the wealthier wards boast high-achieving schools, and the poorer parts, such as Tottenham, have schools that anxious parents go to great measures to avoid.

Take my own secondary school. Situated in the UK’s most diverse postcode, it was a vibrant patchwork of people and cultures stitched messily together. Students spoke a language of languages, importing foreign words from a multitude of places within a single sentence: “Drop me some money for a lahmacun, wallahi I’ll pay you back.” It was a school of acceptance, everyone belonging in not belonging, everyone indiscriminately and aff ectionately insulted for their most personal insecurities, with sticky-floored corridors and graffitied walls, and with such a high immigration rate that I was the only native English person in most of my classes.

It was also a school that families actively, and expensively, avoided. Despite its ‘Good’ Ofsted rating, the below-average A*-C GCSE rate, the rundown surroundings, and the rumours of a knife-carrying, hooligan-like student body gave parents the impression that it would only churn out aimless sixteen-year-olds with a brick-wall future and a heroin addiction.

On my road alone, despite plenty of local options, families rented their homes out for a year and moved into the wealthier areas of the borough to be in the catchment area of the ‘good’ schools. For the parents unable to escape being allocated the Tottenham school place, ridiculous appeals were made, such overly loud school, bells and one prospective student deeming himself “too clever” for a school of “chavs”.

Fair enough. Parents have the right to decide where and how their children are educated. However, it is important to recognise that, even within the state system, opportunity is bought. And that for many families, there is not a choice. Students from lower income backgrounds of equal or better ability than their wealthier peers are denied the same opportunities because of obstacles that result from low-income, deprived areas.

The impact is telling when comparing exam results for the two schools, both state comprehensives, both in the same borough: 86 percent of students achieving 5 A*-C grades, including English and Maths, in the ‘good’ school, compared with a mere 50 per cent in the Tottenham school. Many of these obstacles, such as low aspiration and behavioural issues, would be reduced if the school system was less divisive and there was a greater spread of financial backgrounds in the student body.

This is not an issue unique to Haringey, nor is there an easy solution. Despite this, research from the OECD has confirmed that increasing the social mix of students in schools serves to improve the performance of disadvantaged pupils without any negative effect on the school’s overall performance.

It is easy to assume that exam results and league tables reflect quality of education. However, despite a seemingly poor pass rate of only 50 percent, the fact that my school had many students starting off their secondary education with only a handful of English words who then passed their Language and Literature GCSEs, is testament to a dedicated teaching body and an ethos of encouragement amongst students facing similar obstacles.

The painfully slow reading of Of Mice and Men was compensated for by a keenness to learn that showed itself, rather than in endless A grades stamped on coursework essays, in the playground discussions about whether Curly was a “wasteman” or the mimicking “brap” sounds of George’s gun. Only as a result of this environment could I have found myself surrounded by friends discussing the gendered nature of Islamophobia, drinking Somali tea, and listening to Skepta.

I sing praise for my own school. It was a challenging, vibrant environment in which the interests, such as migration, nationality and language, that led me to my degree choice were formed. It was an experience that I wouldn’t trade for the easier ride of a ‘good’ school. Yet it was full of engaged, intelligent students with unrealised potential who, in a school system more diverse in terms of financial background, may have had the chance to flourish that they deserved.

Letter from abroad: Jordan

Life team
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Letter from abroad: Jordan

Before venturing to Jordan, the danger of sexual harassment was at the forefront of my mind. Everyone was made well aware of the likelihood of women experiencing unwanted attention. However, since arriving here, I noted that sexual harassment towards men also exists, and too is hugely damaging to its victims. Two men agreed to share their experiences:

Harry, 19: “I was walking away from Rainbow Street [a local LGBTQ+ organisation] with the intention of going to the café where I work, when a man I didn’t know began to walk right next to me. Initially, I didn’t think much of it because here it’s quite common to talk to strangers. Ten minutes passed and he began to talk to me. I replied by saying ‘hello’ and asked him how he was. He responded by describing himself as being 32 years of age, tired and not as young as he had been. He explained this sentiment by stating that if he touched my dick it would grow hard in a couple of minutes, whereas if I touched his it might take half an hour. Initially, I didn’t know what to say. Then he leaned over, grabbed my groin saying, ‘you know dick, yes?’ I immediately told him to stop and said that I had a girlfriend, but he continued his pursuit. He said that he would show me his ‘ass’ and that I should go down an alley with him so he could ‘suck my dick’ because he was sure I would like it.”

Thomas, 18: “I was in a taxi, something I do everyday and almost always without any trouble, when the driver began talking to me about the cold weather and how important it was to wear layers. He took my hand and placed it on his thigh so I could feel that he was wearing them. I didn’t really pay any attention the first time, but he kept doing it and then leaned over to touch me, telling me I needed to start wearing layers too. This made me feel uncomfortable, but I felt like I couldn’t do anything, I just tried to keep my hands out of his reach. He then took my hand again, this time placing it closer to his penis and I felt it harden. After I pulled my hand away he reached for my groin. But, seeing as we were near my house I just moved away and got out of the taxi as soon as I could. Once I left the taxi all I could think about was getting home and washing my hands.”

I spoke to Kevin Steen about the matter. Kevin lived in Jordan for several months in 2012 and is the founder of the Jordanian-American non- profit organisation, Rainbow Street.

“I imagine that the older men are looking for sex, though not necessarily exclusively with a man,” he said. “In Jordan, it can prove much more difficult to have a discreet affair with a woman than with a man. Few people would expect two men to be in a sexual relationship. So if an older gentleman is looking for sex, he may focus on young men because that’s who he’s attracted to, or just because it’s a more likely scenario. My guess is that it happens more often to people visiting Jordan because there’s a slimmer chance of those people having some personal or familial connection with the older man’s family. Family ties are strong in Jordan, and ‘family’ can refer to a large clan with a presence in multiple cities. This makes a place like Amman feel like quite a small town, where everyone knows each other, despite it having a population of about two million. The public street has a degree of anonymity that probably emboldens men who are looking for sex from other men.

I hope that incidents would be reported and that action be taken to punish the perpetrator. But I doubt very much that either of those things would take place. Sexual assault is a shameful topic, and for a man to profess that he’s a victim could expose him to a large degree of unwanted attention and possible harassment. The onus falls on Jordanian men to educate each other on what is respectful behaviour to women and other men. If sex outside of marriage and same-sex relations were not both so deeply stigmatised in Jordanian society, solicitations for sex would likely not come in the form of harassment quite so often. These are not issues that are easy to undo.”

Steven Woolfe MEP spotted in Bridge

Felix Pope
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Steven Woolfe MEP spotted in Bridge

Former Ukip party leadership contender and MEP Steven Woolfe was spotted in Oxford’s Bridge nightclub on Thursday night.

After arguing for the proposition ‘This House Believes Liberalism has Become Elitist’ at the Oxford Union, Woolfe and journalist Dan Hodges were recommended that they carry on the night at Bridge.

Arthur Wotton, a first-year student at New College, said: “He was there in black tie after the union debate and I saw him on the dance floor – it seemed like he was lost and was looking for whoever he came with.”

He added that Woolfe “actually seemed fairly pleasant”.

One student who attended Bridge that night told Cherwell he wasn’t aware how long Woolfe stayed but “[the] last time I saw him was at 1 when he was getting a drink from the bar with Dan Hodges.

“He seemed to be laughing though so presumably had a fun time.”

Woolfe became a Ukip MEP in 2014, following a career as a barrister and stints as the party’s migration and economics spokesman.

In 2016 he announced his bid to replace Nigel Farage as Ukip leader, but was however disqualified from running as he had allowed his party membership to lapse for over a year.

In October, he made headlines after being hospitalised after a row with fellow Ukip MEP Mike Hookem. Woolfe claimed that Hookem punched him, an accusation that Hookem denies. Following the incident Woolfe quit Ukip, characterising it as “ungovernable”. 

Dan Hodges is a Blairite blogger and journalist who writes a weekly column for the Mail on Sunday.

Bridge was hosting the launch party for Pembroke’s ‘Studio 54’ themed ball. Woolfe and Hodge’s respective positions on the mid 70s American disco scene are currently unclear.

Steven Woolfe has been contacted for comment.

Review: Lubaina Himid’s ‘Invisible Strategies’

Ewan Davis
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Review: Lubaina Himid’s ‘Invisible Strategies’

Lubaina Himid claims “she is not a painter”. Instead she gives herself the title of ‘political strategist’. And whilst she does frequently use paint, it is hard to disagree with her. Her exhibit, Invisible Strategies exists across the boundaries of medium, combining painting and sculpture, simplicity and complexity. It also exists in two spaces politically, at once being accusatory and healing. There are multiple journeys here: the journey home, the journey of slavery, and in many respects, due to the constant awareness of the past, the journey of time. One of the recurring themes is the sense of appropriation or theft of art and culture: in one room, ‘In Mr Salts Collection’, depicts four crudely painted pots clearly of African origin, each with a number beside them. The painted pots, suggested to be works of art in themselves, have been consumed by a ‘white man’s’ ownership, removing any history or context, emphasised by them being given ambiguous numbers. In another room Himid seems to fight back, with a vast display of European ceramics that she has painted on with images of black men and women, and particularly uncomfortable slave-trade related imagery.

The sculptural ‘Bone in the China: Success to the Africa Trade’ sees a European classical-column transmuted into a bleached white bone. Around it are phrases mourning the lack of narrative given to black heritage in art institutions. The column perhaps meant to represent these museums, which Himid once called “charnel houses full of stolen goods, where the treasures of Black heritage and creativity are hoarded”. Surrounding ‘Bone in the China’ are large works, depicting an equally large variety of black characters in often bizarre scenes: Himid’s training as a theatrical set designer showing through the use of medium and size. The diptych ‘Le Roduer’ takes its name from a slave ship, on which occurred mass murder—yet the images are of reflective spaces, therapist coaches and open windows. ‘Freedom and Change’ appropriates Picasso’s 1922 ‘Two Women Running on the Beach’, with black women subverting the white tradition. These women are booed by white men in the bottom corner of the installation.

Perhaps the largest series in the exhibit is ‘Negative Positives’, a collection of 20 or so Guardian newspaper pages that feature stories depicting people of colour. On each page these articles are left untouched, still very much readable. The rest of the page, which has not been dedicate to such articles, is painted over in blocks of colour and pattern. Himid claims it is an attempt “to reclaim the portrait of the person [and] restore the balance”—presumably the person featured in the articles. The intended effect, being political, is obvious but I question how far it achieves its aims. The eye is immediately drawn to the colourful edited sections, instead of the articles and ‘portraits’ Himid is attempting to elevate. Even when illegible, the ‘white’ stories and advertisements still dominate the pages that are presented to us. The theory behind the practice is flawed also: a questionable endeavour to show, in an exhibit highlighting the erasure of people, depictions of them being presented in the mass media. The news stories and celebrities shown are all ones most will immediately recognise. All she seems to be doing is highlighting an already existing representation.

There is success however, with covers of the Guardian’s ‘Weekend’ magazine being opened out so the back page (in this case always an advertisement) is next to a full page portrait of women of colour who have featured on the covers. The juxtaposition of the two makes the commercialised adverts appear comically tasteless in view of the beauty of the women featured on the opposite leaf. I can’t help but feel sorry for the innocent advertisers and journalists whose work, having been displayed in these ways or painted over, has been made unfairly (and perhaps accidentally) into symbols of white colonialist oppression.

In a room by itself is the diptych ‘ZanzibarSea: Wave Goodbye Say Hello’. It comes as a result of Himid returning to her Zanzibar birthplace, after growing up in the UK. It is aesthetically vastly different to the rest of the exhibit. It does not seem to have a clear agenda either, being intensely personal. It is peaceful. Paint bleeds naturally underneath geometrical patterns, which themselves are drawn by hand, without ruler. There is a ubiquitous lack of form and edge, even though it is occasionally suggested. This creates the sense of ocean, of freedom. The isolation of this painting in its own room seems to be a purposeful creation of a healing space, as well as using the space to amplify the distance and separation that exists between Himid and her birthplace. There is much to see in this exhibit, a complex collection of varied subtly, emotion and medium, which in itself is a testament to the creativity and complexity of the black voices Himid seeks to un-erase.

Invisible Strategies continues until 30 April at Modern Art Oxford.

Protests against Trump continue in Oxford

Ethan Croft
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Protests against Trump continue in Oxford

A third protest against Donald Trump took place in Oxford today, in conjunction with protests held outside the US Embassy in London.

Demonstrators gathered around Carfax Tower this afternoon where speeches from notable local figures were punctuated by chants of “When racists attack, stand up, fight back” and “Theresa May, hear us shout, Muslims in, racists out”.

With around 50 people in attendance, the protests was smaller than Monday’s, which saw approximately 2,500 Oxford residents march from Cornmarket Street to Magdalen Bridge. There were also fewer students. The main banners displayed were those of the local Labour and Green parties.

Oxford University languages tutor Dr. Edmund Griffiths spoke at the protest against “British appeasement of Trump.”

Speaking to Cherwell, he said: “Any hope that Trump’s far-right policies were merely campaign rhetoric has now evaporated. His immigration ban—directed to a great extent against refugees fleeing countries the US has itself invaded and bombed—is an outrage; and his administration’s threats of war against Iran, China, and other countries are a danger to all of us.

“By rushing to Washington to hold Trump’s hand, the Prime Minister has shown that she is badly out of step with democratic opinion in Britain and around the world.”

There were speeches from a number of Oxford councillors, one of whom prophesised: “[Trump] will not complete his tenure as President. He is going to destroy the peace of the world.”

One student protester, who wished be known only as ‘Colden’, told Cherwell: “the message I’m trying to get across is that America and Israel have a ‘cordiale entente’. As a gesture against racism and white nationalism, a good statement, Israel should open up their borders and show solidarity with the persecuted.”

Sheikh Ramzy, Oxford Brookes’ Muslim chaplain said: “we should ban [Trump] here. This country is a democracy. President Trump should resign.”

The protest today follows a week of action in Oxford against President Trump, whose executive order restricting the movement of refugees and citizens of seven Muslim majority countries provoked a wave of protests across the UK on Monday.

MPs outraged as Labour takes no further action against alleged OULC anti-Semitism

Ethan Croft
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MPs outraged as Labour takes no further action against alleged OULC anti-Semitism

A group of Labour MPs have criticised the party’s decision to take no further action against Oxford University Labour Club students accused of anti-Semitism.

At a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday, John Mann, Ruth Smeeth, and Ian Austin all raised concerns about the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) ruling to suspend any further action towards the pair of OULC members implicated in anti-Semitism by Labour peer Baroness Janet Royall’s investigation last year.

Baroness Royall’s eleven month inquiry, summarised in a report last May, was triggered by the resignation of OULC co-chair Alex Chalmers in February 2016 after the club voted to endorse the controversial Israel Apartheid Week (IAW). He claimed some members of the club “have some kind of problem with Jews.”

Speaking about the NEC’s decision not to take further action, Chalmers told Cherwell: “This latest move by the party leadership is disappointing but unsurprising considering its track record on the subject.”

In response to the NEC’s decision not to take further action, Baroness Royall said: “I am deeply disappointed by the outcome and fear it will further harm relations between the Jewish community and our party by confirming a widely held view that we do not take anti-Semitism seriously.”

John Mann, one of the Labour MPs who railed against the NEC’s decision and chair of the All-party parliamentary group against anti-Semitism, told Cherwell: “Having spoken at Oxford Labour club and to Jewish students, I well understand what has been happening at Oxford. I am extremely disappointed that no action has been taken and that communication with Jewish students throughout the process has been so dismal. Simply put this is not good enough. If our party is to be taken seriously as an antiracist institution, we must act. I will continue to call out inaction and reassure Jewish students and others that apathy to anti-Semitism will not be tolerated by me or many other Labour MPs.”

Oxford’s Jewish Society stated: “The Labour NEC Disputes panel decision to clear two individuals of from OULC of anti-Semitism is utterly shameful and demonstrates yet again that the Labour Party is unwilling to confront the anti-Semitism in its ranks. This decision is bitterly disappointing and will only continue the trend of Labour spaces becoming increasingly frightening and alienating for Jewish students. It is hard to believe that following Baroness Royall finding that the incidents in the OULC took place, that the NEC decided to drop the case.”

An anonymous source told Cherwell: “The total dropping of this investigation seems like the final straw, undermining the very serious allegations made by both myself and my peers.

“Whilst the party and indeed Oxford Labour club may not be, as has been concluded in the past, institutionally anti-Semitic, it certainly has endemic problems that need to be tackled and the only way I truly believe these problems can be solved is if there is full awareness of the facts on the ground and an honest relationship between the party and its Jewish members. What I experienced in OULC was extremely humiliating, demoralising and profoundly unpleasant and I am utterly appalled that justice will never be served.”

 Ian Austin and the OULC were contacted for comment. Ruth Smeeth declined to comment.

Magdalen JCR backs Fairtrade

Romy Catmull
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Magdalen JCR backs Fairtrade

Magdalen College JCR passed a motion on Tuesday applying for Fairtrade accreditation of the college and endorsing the University-wide campaign that aims for every college in the university to be Fairtrade certified.

The motion, proposed by Magdalen’s outgoing Environment and Ethics trustee Matthew Steggles, supports Just Love, a Christian social justice organisation, who are working in collaboration with OUSU Environment and Ethics representatives in colleges. Together the groups are encouraging people to source more ethical goods in their day to day lives.

The proposal states that the JCR “have obligation as global citizens to respect those who provide our food and clothing”, adding, “Fairtrade certification provides a clear, sustainable and effective framework through which to fulfil this obligation.”

Having passed with 42 votes in favour, and only 1 against, the successful motion mandates Magdalen’s Environment and Ethics representative to liaise with the college’s home bursar and senior staff in order to make the college Fairtrade.

The motion also outlines proposals to create an annual Fairtrade subcommittee of the JCR.

This step follows in the wake of 97 other universities, including Oxford Brookes and Cambridge, all of which have become Fairtrade certified, along with Lady Margaret Hall, Linacre and Christ Church colleges.

Mr. Steggles, who tabled Magdalen’s motion, told Cherwell: “Ideally I’d like to see Oxford as a university be more proactive in supporting worthy causes than I feel they are at the moment. Fairtrade measurably improves the lives of people in some of the most impoverished areas and to be able to take a step towards that through Oxford is definitely worthwhile.”

However, there has been some controversy surrounding the campaign. One student speaking to Cherwell, questioned: “Why Fairtrade? I support the Rainforest Alliance. All I care about is having a world for us to live in.”

Other students felt they would prefer to align themselves with a charity more efficient than Fairtrade.

This comes after last year’s contentious news that Cadbury was abandoning its Fairtrade certification in favour of its parent company’s in-house fair trade scheme, Cocoa Life.

Speaking in Oxford Town Hall last month however, Chief Executive of the Fairtrade Foundation, Michael Gidney, offered support for Cadbury’s Cocoa Life Scheme, and concentrated on the wider vision he held for Fairtrade’s future, especially the role played by Fairtrade colleges, schools and communities.

OUSU, in its 2016/2017 policy, committed to supporting Fairtrade, said: “The Vice President for Charities and Communities will campaign for increased Fairtrade consumption within the university departments and colleges.”

OUSU also hopes to convince the University to assign a Fairtrade officer to oversee Fairtrade at Oxford.

The Fairtrade Foundation claims that it helps over 1.65 million farmers and workers across 74 countries. This includes giving the cooperatives a premium to invest back into the community through such means as education and improved technology.

Review: STOP

Amaris Proctor
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Review: STOP

In a production which spoke loudest in its low key moments, I was struck by something quite rare in student drama—a lack of pretension. The thought of watching a  piece of new student writing—a musical, no less—that presents a chronologically disordered narrative exploring mental illness left me rather frightened that I would have to sit through an overly inventive piece, or one that mimicked an overwrought Hollywood incarnation of depression.

There is nothing more irksome than a depiction of suicidal thinking in the tone of Effy from Skins, all romantic melodrama and no reality. This piece, in complete opposition, was crafted by Annabel Mutale Reed and Leo Munby to have an admirable everyday humanity and frankness to it, as its four mentally ill characters find themselves stuck in the most mundane location: a London bus stop.

The characterisation in the first half is the musical’s fiercest aspect, with delightfully idiosyncratic and detailed performances by Kathy Peacock, Annabel Mutale Reed, Jack Trzcinski, and Eoghan McNelis. They managed to catch hold of some of the embarrassment, awkwardness, and the outright sorrow of mental illness which is not grand, but mundane, snivelling and raw. Reed gives a particularly excellent performance, with her brisk, ‘I’ve got my shit together’ verbal patterns perfectly toned.

The set and score maintain simplicity which allows storytelling to take centre stage. The Burton Taylor studio is used well: the conventionality of the seating imposing some sense of order, pleasantly resisting the amateur urge to go a bit madly experimental. The bus stop, only lightly touched by the hand of musical theatre, remains unobtrusive and familiar to any Londoner.

The map of bus routes in the background provides a subtle nod to the motif of connections, both human and neurological, without being too heavy handed. Even the inflammatory name ‘TRUMP’, scratched into the plastic post, fades easily into the distance, just another anxiety in a story thick with them.

Ultimately, it’s refreshing to see a production so immune to gimmicks. It’s almost as if it realises that it is conceptually strong enough in manifesting mental illness as a physical space, as something tangible and immobilising, when so often we hear it’s all in people’s heads, that it doesn’t have to work too hard. Tonal shifts are left to lighting, conveying both warmth and distress. The music, too, doesn’t try to be too avant-garde. Although occasionally abruptly silenced by a percussion instrument, for the most part it complements rather than overshadows the exposition of the plot.

If I had one critique of the piece, it would be that the latter half could occasionally feel weighed down by the emphasis on its message, which lessened the authentic emotional punch. However, conceptually, it’s very good. It offers up a spool of various threads that get tugged at throughout the piece in a fascinating and satisfying way.

Food diary: in search of pasteis de nata

Pauline Chatelan
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Food diary: in search of pasteis de nata

Portugal became the hot travel destination this past year. Naturally, with that, its popularity has translated into a new food trend in England. Nando’s hasn’t become Instagram worthy yet, but some of London’s top foodies (i.e: @clerkenwellboyec1) are contributing to the recent hype around Portugal’s iconic custard tarts, also known as ‘pasteis de nata’ (singular: pastel).

It is no surprise that people are turning to these bite-size and golden pastries as an alternative source of joy, especially this time of year when our lack of vitamin D makes us crave anything which looks remotely like the sun. Pasteis de nata fulfil criteria number one when it comes to delicious food: they’re simple. Composed of creamy and smooth custard, perfectly balanced by crispy puff pastry and caramelised on the top, they’re a daily treat in Portugal, and usually accompanied by an espresso.

Their simplicity doesn’t make them any less precious—the recipe to make them is as secret as the Coca Cola recipe, says Jose Cardoso, owner of Tuga Pastries. He told us that pasteis are sold in almost every coffee shop or bakery in Portugal, and that a competition awards the best pastel de nata every year. In that spirit, we’ve explored Oxford’s food scene to save you the flight to Portugal and to present you with a ranking of the pasteis de nata which can be found and enjoyed right here in your city!

#4 Taylor’s, 1 Woodstock road

They were the most expensive we found and yet they lacked crispiness in addition to being overfilled and under-caramelised. £1.70 will buy you imbalanced and heavy pastel. Our advice: stick to their sandwiches.

#3 Green’s café, 50 St Giles

A little bit cheaper (£1.50), Green’s pasteis hit all the right spots of a good pastel. Open everyday, and rather central, this café is the easiest access you’ll have to a fine pastel de nata.

#2 Akiport café, 192 Abingdon road

No, you did not read the address wrong. Akiport is definitely far out on the Oxford distance scale. This yellow-ish little Brazilian and Portuguese café definitely hasn’t caught up to the Instagram coffee shop vibe but it’s where you’ll find delicious and authentic pasteis, and for only £1.20. So, which of you will be the most dedicated of foodies and walk or cycle all the way down there?

#1 Tuga pastries, Gloucester Green Market (Saturday), one day a week.

That’s your window if you want to taste what we consider to be the best pasteis de nata in Oxford. Last summer, Jose saw an opportunity in the still unknown traditional pastry of his home country and has been selling them since. What makes them so special, apart from the reasonable price of £1.30? A hint of cinnamon, which adds another depth of flavour to this sweet treat, and makes us come back for more every week.

@thecroissantpostcards

Readers’ Photo Competition

Cherwell Visuals
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Readers’ Photo Competition

Calling all photographers, ‘grammers and anyone who has ever seen a pretty face!

Cherwell Visuals launches its second competition. The theme this time is portrait photography, and we’re accepting submissions of all types and levels, whether touched up or the original thing, a high-quality selfie or a group photo, whether your subject is formal or just buddies stumbling out a bop. Play around, discover some exciting light settings, choose between focusing on mise en scene or effects, find an old favourite: think about conventional portrait photography, about modern developments and everything that has to do with the creation of a person’s image, and send it all over with a two-line explanation to [email protected] !

The Visuals team will select the 5 best photos to publish in Cherwell‘s week 6 issue.

Submissions until fifth week, Wednesday 15 February.

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