NEWS FROM THE WYCHWOODS The Wychwood Magazine

Welcome to The Wychwood magazine; serving the West Oxfordshire communities of Ascott under Wychwood, Fifield, Idbury, Leafield, Milton under Wychwood and Shipton under Wychwood with news, stories and information.

Would you like The Wychwood delivered to your door?

With an annual subscription, delivery is free.

Click here to subscribe

Contact

Do you have any questions, views, suggestions or feedback?

We want to hear from you. Please send us your feedback on the magazine, website and facebook pages

SUBMIT AN ARTICLE

Do you have a story to tell?

We are always looking for interesting articles and features.

Please check our submit an article page for editorial guidance and submission form

Read Now: august september 2026

A note from the editors

When Lisa applied for her first job as a newspaper reporter after graduating from university, the editor of the paper gave her a simple task: Go find me a story and don’t come back without one. So, she hit the streets with a pad and pencil and came back with her first story and a job.

The essence of any good journalism is finding a story, and, of course, reporting it. As our careers progressed, we became much more ‘management’ than journalists, and those trips ‘to the field’ became less and less. But at The Wychwood, we have been able to rekindle the greatest pleasure in journalism – following your nose to find a story.

You may have noticed in our recent issues, our new segment, Working in the Wychwoods. To report this for the past edition, we simply drove into Ascott, parked the car and began walking to see who we could find and what stories they had to tell. It was old-school, shoe leather journalism, and it brought back great memories of what reporting on the ground was really all about.

In this issue, we have done the same thing in Shipton. In future issues, we will ‘report from Leafield, Lyneham and everywhere in between’. The Wychwoods are filled with people with great stories to tell.

In this issue as well, you’ll read all about The War on Box by Joe Hames, who, among other things, writes for the FT. Now he also writes for us! As well, a story by Roderick Hay, a long-time Shipton resident and a former Dean of the University of Belfast Medical School, about opening a hospital in Africa. A story about local architecture by local architect Matthew Colledge, and we’re also introducing a new feature, a Letter to the Editor, in this case from Colin Warwick, so we are opening the door to anyone who cares to pen us a note. Colin’s letter (on page 49) is a thought-provoking take on the proliferation of weeds around our villages. We wish you all happy weeding… or not!

Lisa and Michael Rosenblum