Oxfordshire is rarely fast-paced, but it slows down further as the December solstice approaches. The meadows and hills stand quietly in the frost; country pubs glow with firelight; honey-stoned cottages seem to huddle a little closer in the chill. Winter suits it well. The county is a calm and handsome one, and even as the temperatures drop, it knows how to warm and cheer.
At its heart, of course, is the twinkling lodestar of Oxford itself. To stare out from the heights of Headington Hill – where the oaks and limes of South Park have dropped their leaves and clocked off until the spring – is to see the city as a storybook illustration, its spires and pinnacles rising above the rooftops. The slender turrets of Magdalen College Bell Tower occupy centre stage, as they have done for more than 500 years.
In the heart of town, the gaiety of the summer months is now replaced by something
