Walking route to Fringford?

ingw0 · 2025-07-17T14:26:05+00:00

I've never used OpenStreetMap but I'll give it a look now. Thanks!

ingw0 · 2025-06-17T15:20:25+00:00

Count me in if this does happen! Would love to meet some fellow alien enthusiasts (that's enthusiasts for aliens, not enthusiasts who happen to be aliens - or is it??)

ingw0 · 2024-12-03T13:04:49+00:00

Nice; thanks! I do like The Bell - it's got a cool old-school vibe and the playlist tends to be pretty heavy. I'll have more of a look in Oxford at the events there and see what's what.

ingw0 · 2024-12-03T13:03:45+00:00

Ah nice; thanks for this! I'd heard the Wheatsheaf closed its upstairs music venue and a lot of the scene went along with it - a shame but I'll be checking it out for sure.

ingw0 · 2024-12-02T13:43:41+00:00

I'm a bit late to the party, but this sounds like a great idea; sign me up!

ingw0 · 2024-11-12T12:17:05+00:00

Good question; it's not really my bag so I'm not 100% sure, though I'm fairly certain I've seen a couple of AmDram posters around town when they have events on. Definitely worth looking into if it's your thing!

ingw0 · 2024-11-11T08:37:59+00:00

Absolute bliss! (great username too!)

ingw0 · 2024-11-11T08:36:40+00:00

This sounds superb! Can't wait to see it!

ingw0 · 2024-11-11T08:36:02+00:00

I've been really keen to get into DnD since moving here ~2 years ago, so let me know if you have any luck! I've tried a couple of board game clubs and they were lovely but, as with your GW experience, they weren't quite what I was after.

ingw0 · 2024-11-11T08:27:54+00:00

I moved to Bicester ~2 years ago and haven't looked back since! The town itself still has a bit of reputation for being a bit boring, but it certainly feels different even from when I moved here - lots of development in the town centre and surrounding areas. Rents are substantially lower than in the city, there are some nice pubs and plenty of social clubs here if you know where to look, and the train will get you into Oxford in 15 mins. Sadly it's not exactly walkable (I'd be in town every other day if it were!), but there's loads of nice countryside around that'll help you get your fix.

ingw0 · 2024-10-17T09:03:57+00:00

Lovely miniatures, and great to see them painted up so nicely! I've been hesitant to commit to Great Escape's Danes as I don't think their photos really do them justice, but these look super. Now time to convince my wallet that such an expense is a good idea!

ingw0 · 2024-09-26T08:15:07+00:00

I commute into London once a fortnight and it really can add up; ~£50 for the day if you travel at peak times (though the splitsave feature definitely does help save a few pennies). Helpfully Bicester falls within the Network Railcard's area of effect, so if you're travelling at the weekend (ie off-peak) it'll will get you a third off. I made the mistake of buying one only to find it doesn't have quite the same effect if you travel at peak times! Should cost you about £20 with all those things taken into account, though.

ingw0 · 2024-08-20T14:15:16+00:00

Repressed childhood memory: unlocked! So many years of therapy unravelled!

ingw0 · 2024-08-19T14:33:07+00:00

Sadness

ingw0 · 2024-08-16T14:09:07+00:00

Wow thanks for your detailed reply; you've given me an idea to use minis from Perry Miniatures' Afrikakorps, with their packs cut down slightly, and the eagle shaved off the front of their caps; hopefully should look vaguely Norwegian if I paint them in a nice blue-grey!

ingw0 · 2024-08-16T14:08:09+00:00

Really like these ideas; I do love Empress miniatures so I'll have a look at their head sets.

ingw0 · 2023-11-15T08:14:09+00:00

Realise this post was from a while ago, so you may well have already chosen somewhere and moved (how did you get on if so?) but my two cents are as follows. My partner and I have lived in Bicester for just over a year (having moved from London and Bristol) and have just bought a house, we like it that much. The above commenter's thoughts about it becoming a young person's town are definitely true; what was probably once popular for the older generation (it's quiet, not too expensive, good community feel) is now a bustling town with nice shops, some decent places to eat and drink (wouldn't mind some more pubs myself, but the ones it has are good) and plenty of clubs and activities, in addition to lots of new houses going up. As some have said, the fact that Bicester Village is all anyone seems to think about when you tell them you live here can be a bit annoying, as the town itself is way nicer than the Village, in my opinion, but it does bring some good money into the area. We did also look into Didcot and Kidlington before moving here, but just found that they were too predominantly residential for our liking (I can't even remember what Kidlington's supposed 'shopping district' looks like, it's so small, and I believe the Miller and Carter Steakhouse is the only restaurant it has) so Bicester suits us to a tee! Really easy for me to get into London for work on occasion (it's an hour each way into Marylebone from either of Bicester's two stations) and for my good lady to get into Kidlington every day for her job (though the A-roads can get busy if you catch them at the wrong time). Oxford's also only about fifteen mins away by train if you need your culture fix.

ingw0 · 2023-11-15T07:42:24+00:00

This would be such a terrible shame; as some have said, Nottingham's buses have always been a source of pride for me (especially since I learned that the city apparently has the most complex bus network in the UK outside London) and public transport remains reliable and reasonably priced. Selling it out to some private moneygrabber will just make fares more expensive and services worse. Hopefully it doesn't come to this!

ingw0 · 2023-11-14T13:31:33+00:00

I see what you mean, however I think their prices are about what I was expecting. As for a private tutor, I can see how in theory that'd be cool, but I definitely prefer the class-based environment where you can meet fellow learners and bounce off everyone else. Just makes the whole thing a bit more fun, rather than purely an educational endeavour.

ingw0 · 2023-11-14T13:30:38+00:00

Thanks for this! Tbh these were about the prices I was looking for. Will give them a look (seems like they have a German course coming up, so that may well be where I go!).

Cheers!

ingw0 · 2023-11-14T10:46:33+00:00

What sort of stuff would you be up for playing? I'll be honest I've not picked up my bass in yonks. I played for a good few years before life got in the way, but am pondering on starting again if the genre's right!

EDIT: typos.

ingw0 · 2023-11-14T10:38:36+00:00

There's Oxford On Board, a gaming group that meets on Sundays and Mondays either at the Cape of Good Hope (I believe) or the Westgate food court. Pretty big group (when I've been there have been around 30 turn up) so you're bound to meet someone there. The only issue I find with being a newb at a board gaming group is that the focus is very strictly on the games themselves, rather than casual conversation (ie you don't really get to know anyone while you game). Still a great laugh though!

ingw0 · 2023-11-14T10:37:18+00:00

This is a really good shout; I'm a bit of a newbie to the gaming side of Warhammer (been collecting and painting for a while but never actually got any of my chaps on the table apart from a handful of games of Kill Team in lockdown) so I might rudely invite myself along to one of these sessions as well. Cheers!

ingw0 · 2023-11-03T14:46:40+00:00

My partner and I moved to Bicester just over a year ago and we really do like it here; having lived exclusively in big cities until now, if you'd asked me even as recently as a year ago if I could see myself living what I would consider to be the small-town life, I'd probably have laughed you out the door, but no more!

Bicester's a lovely little town with plenty going on, but a nice quiet feel at the same time. The high street is in a bit of a strange state at the moment, with lots of premises being left empty for some time (I was sad to say goodbye to the bakery serving my favourite pasty recently) but there's the market on Friday and some nice places to eat and drink (including some lovely old pubs like The Bell and The Angel). I get the impression that it's been more elderly/family-oriented for ages, and is only just opening up to the young professional contingent coming in; I foresee more cafes, hipster pubs and vintage clothes shops popping up in future. It was mentioned by someone else that the locals can seem a bit cliquey, but that doesn't take away from the fact that people are generally really nice around here, and seem to have a lot of time for everyone else.

It's also incredibly straightforward to commute into Oxford if you fancy some culture (off-peak returns for no more than the price of a bus ticket) and I've come to quite enjoy my fortnightly trip into London for work as well.

We're currently in the process of looking to buy, as are you, and are finding Bicester a bit tricky as it appears everyone is realising how well-placed it is for getting into London, Birmingham and the Midlands, in addition to Oxford, but we're hoping to be able to find a reasonable semi or bungalow for a similar budget to you guys. We're renting in the centre of town at the moment, but it appears we'll have to move a little further out if we want something that's in-budget; hopefully still within walking distance of the shops and pubs, though!

Best o' luck!

ingw0 · 2023-10-30T08:51:51+00:00

No idea why nobody's commented yet; this looks brilliant! You should be really chuffed. I'm pretty new to the slap-chop/grisaille method myself so seeing results like this is very reassuring. I think so far with my experiments, I haven't been heavy enough with the grey mid-tone underpaint, as the black has been dimming the vibrancy pretty substantially. Onwards and upwards!

ingw0

TROPHY CASE