National (as their name suggests) are a nationwide car rental company. A massive advantage of their…read moremultiple stores is that you can pick a car up in Oxford and drop it off nearly anywhere else in the country! Their depot in Oxford is located quite close to the city centre, you can get to it with only a short bus ride and a few minutes walk from the city centre (take the 13 or X13 bus). Their rates are quite competitive and they have a variety of card and even vans for you to choose.

Ya know, renting a car is renting a car... it's all pretty cut-and-dry. The only thing that can…read moremake a difference is how nice the people are that you come in contact with. Don't ALL businesses know that yet? Anyway, the guys at the counter (wish I had his name) and the guy that brought the car around... so nice. Not "official Avis nice"... the kind of nice that takes more than a plastered on smile and reciting "avis script". Maybe corporate tells the guys to show a bit of interest but these two were genuinely competing with each other to try to tell my wife and I where the best places were to drive in the Cotswolds. Of course, you get the same game that you get at ALL rent-a-car places... the insurance price that they give you on the phone is what they have unless you want the "complete" insurance... and then maybe you want the "totally complete" insurance. All these levels of insurance that, if you knew about them from the beginning, you might go elsewhere, so they give you they teaser rate on the phone then tell you just before you are about to drive away in a car that has the steering wheel on the opposite side to go drive on a road where you drive on the opposite side (and it's raining out) that you might want the other insurance packages "just to be sure"... oh well, the guys were still really nice.

This Avis location in Oxford is adjacent to the train station, so it's extremely useful if you are…read morearriving by train. The range of cars available is typical of any other branch and you do have the option of dropping the car off at any of their other branches. However, driving in Oxford can be a bit difficult as parking is very difficult and where available, quite expensive.

Hotsons is the main minibus hire company used by local university clubs and societies. It's got a…read moregood range of decent quality minibuses from 7 seats to giant 17 seaters. You can also get vans, trucks and cars, which could be a worthwhile alternative to bringing a car to Oxford, considering the parking difficulties in the city centre. The club I'm in always hires the 17-seaters and they're all front-facing seats and good quality. They come clean and in good condition. You can also drop them off any time at night, which removes all time pressure from the hiring process. However, I've got quite a few gripes with Hotsons' service: Not very polite telephone service - customer service doesn't seem to be a strong point. Very difficult to change/cancel bookings - they seem to change their mind about how far in advance you need to do this. Location - they're outside the ring road, which is a pain if you're cycling to get there. I recommend the number 10 bus from Queen Street, which stops on Horspath Road. Minibuses - not all of them have a CD player, which seems rather tight these days, and is a pain on long journeys. One last word of warning: we once got a flat tyre and the spare was the wrong size, meaning we had to wait hours in the middle of the night for the AA to come out and rescue us. In conclusion then, they're worth using and there's not much competition in the area, but it doesn't feel like a great experience.

Hired a van on a Sunday two weeks in a row. On both times staff were really friendly on the phone…read moreand in person. Hire price was very reasonable and being able to drop the van back at anytime day or night is a great feature. I would use them again for sure.

This is a good alternative to Europcar, if the former doesn't have what you want and you need a…read morelast-minute rental. I think it's slightly more expensive for some cars, but it's only a matter of a few pounds. I normally stick with Europcar simply because I've used it abroad and know how it works, but this is very similar. They rank their cars: Economy (eg: Renault Clio) Compact (eg: Ford Fiesta) Intermediate (eg: Ford Focus) Standard (eg: Vauxhall Vectra) Full size (eg: Ford Mondeo) At first, this seems a bit confusing, as it makes all the cars expect the biggest sound like they're not proper sized cars, but Renault Clios are fine even for 4 people going away for a weekend. One word of warning: they're shut on Sundays, so it can be difficult if that's the first day of hire. Other companies in the area are often more flexible about this (try Eurodrive/Hotsons, for example).

We just returned from a short visit to Oxford where we rented a car at the Thrifty Car and Van…read moreRental Oxford on Ferry Hinksey Road. Although we had a poor experience with Avis, we would definitely return to Thrifty if for no other reason because of the assistance we received from Abi. She was kind, helpful, professional, and took the time to respond to all of our questions and concerns. Thrifty understands the importance of customer service. Thank you, Thrifty (and Abi)!

Horsley's Green School, known as Stokenchurch was near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. It was…read moreowned and run by Lancashire Education Committee as a boy's boarding school. The girls bosrding school was nearer to home at Whiteacre near Whalley in Lancashire. The school now closed is used by the Christian organisation Wycliffe on a trecent nostalgic visit we found it to be little changed from our time at the school. The Old Boy's Association website is listed sbove. There is also a nostalgic book compiled by old boys containing many photographs available from on line publisher Lulu http://www.lulu.com/content/671456

I was a pupil St. Christopher's C of E secondary school in Accrington when I spent a term Horsley's…read moreGreen school in the depth of a terrible winter 1962/63 (I think). Snow up to my waist, bitterly cold most days, but wonderful days spent at a fantastic school and in the beautiful countryside which surrounded the area. Sunday mornings and the trudge through the snow to a local church - I cannot remember which at either Stokenchurch or Beacons Bottom (not sure which). Afternoons off but, classes in the early evening, how strange was that? The best cross country route that I ever ran on, a great experience all round. Everyone associated with the place, premises and catering staff, teaching staff etc. all so helpful and accommodating. It must have been great to have attended in the better weather during a Spring or Summer term. Happy days, sorry to find out that it is now closed.