Cropredy is a beautiful, tiny village near Banbury on the banks of the Cherwell. It is an old…read morevillage, dating from before the English civil war, and it looks it (in the quaint, lovely way, rather than the rundown way!) It has a thriving community, including a school, a church, pubs, a doctor's surgery, general store and other small business appropriate to an English village and a rather spiffing website (http://www.cropredyvillage.info/index.htm) . The website will tell you all about the history of the village (including the civil war battle fought here in 1644 and its mention in the Domesday Book), the age of the properties (from really quite old to not really very old at all), the amenities, and its location (the Cherwell valley, three miles north of Banbury and Junction 11 of the M40 Motorway). Do visit the website for loads of useful information. However, I'd like to give you my impressions. It is one of the friendliest places I have ever been. The local residents are of all ages, and welcome visitors with open arms (and, once a year, they get a rather large influx of visitors, but more on that in a minute). The church warden will gladly show visitors around, and discuss the new bells installed a couple of years ago. The residents will recount the age and history of their homes. There is a cricket club, which is quintessentially English. There are moorings on the river and canal for boats. This is a beautiful village, but you might well ask how I, an ex-pat American living in London has found herself there not once but three times. You might also wonder what I am talking about when I mention the annual influx of visitors. Each year, Cropredy plays host to Fairport Conventions annual...well....convention. This is a fabulous folk festival over a weekend in August. There are many, many things that make this different from other festivals - there is only one stage, for a start, the age range tends to be older, it's folk...but what makes this festival unique is that the village positively welcomes the up-to-30,000 visitors the village plays host to. The boy scouts are on litter duty. Local lads sell programmes. The pubs open for breakfast. The cricket club opens for showers. The residents mind the inconvenience (traffic, parking restrictions, smelly festival goers) not a whit. Fairport Convention allocate a ticket to each of the 750 residents to do with as they please. Everyone is happy. An idyllic English village indeed - and one well worth visiting even if you're not a folk music fan...

For two days in early September, after the summer tourists have gone home and before the students…read moreget back, the people of Oxford celebrate. I'm not quite sure what we celebrate but it is great fun. I no longer go on rides that swing you high in the air or turn you upside down but if you are young enough to enjoy that sort of thing then there is something special about catching glimpses of secret court-yards, quadrangles and lawns behind the yellow walls of the colleges just before you are flung upside down again or hurled towards the ground. For the more sedentary of us there are more traditional rides such as the wonderful merry-go-round and helter skelter. Or you can just wander around enjoying the sights, sounds (and it can be very noisy), smells and tastes (sugar cane as well as candy floss last year) Rumour has it that the rides are longer in the afternoon before it gets busy. If you aren't going to the fair then be warned that all the buses that normally go along St Giles are diverted for 2 days and the road is closed to traffic.

Evolved from a 17th-century parish wake, St Giles fair is a yearly spectacle in the centre of…read moreOxford. Every September excitement grows as bigger and better rides are added to the substantial collection of fairground attractions. Our Oxford teams love this annual event.

I regularly use Eldene post office as it is my office's nearest post office. They are located…read moreinside the martin's newsagent. Staff are friendly and helpful. Opening hours are the standard for post offices apart from they close on a Wednesday afternoon (post office tradition).

Small but friendly and well stocked, they do local milk and honey, are good value and Post Office…read moreis very efficient.

Let me get my caveat in at the start: I have a real hatred of post offices, mainly due to years…read morespent queuing in a small town one full of sceaming babies and old men falling asleep in the queue. On this front, the Oxford post office is a relief. It's a bit more peaceful and there's more sense of urgency: the staff here seem to get it that people are there to get a chore done, not for a friendly chat. That said, they're still wonderfully polite and patient. Definitely not a job I would want. Things I like: - The building - nineteenth century arches, coat of arms, typical Oxford grandeur. - The post box outside - okay, so it's not the traditional red pillar, but it takes you back a century or two. - The Post Office currency exchange rate - one of the best you can get. - The stamp machine outside Things I don't like: - The queues - yes, most people go at lunchtime, so why not put more staff on the tills then? - The generality - same queue whether you want to post one envelope or twenty parcels; pick up a pension or become a millionaire in some obscure currency. Conclusion: A necessary evil that could be far worse.

Worst post office. Staff have no customer service skills, are extremely rude and the place is very…read morepoorly organised. After being there a while and there being no signs on the counter I asked if there quick drop counter was open or not, I got blanked by the staff member, totally, I asked a few times, I then asked if I was invisible, still not even eye contact. I went up to him and said, can you please not act like I am invisible to you and just answer me, he started having a go at me that he could not as was serving a customer. All I needed was a yes or no, he could find the time to have a go at me but not answer my question. Clearly no customer training and people are treated like they are not human beings.

This post office has been opened in conjunction with a pharmacy, though both seem to run…read moreindependantly of one another. The pharmacy does have some envelopes, boxes etc for your posting needs. The staff at the post office itself are helpful, especially regarding queries about sending items abroad (as I found myself!). It's an ideal alternative to the St Aldate's post office if you are on the North side of town, as it's usually far less busy.

This is our closest Post Office, since all the others in the area were closed over the summer. If…read morewe had had any choice in the matter, this is not the one that would have been saved - the service is nowhere near as good as it could be. Now that they are the only PO in the area, it's even worse - more customers, novice staff and long queues. If we could avoid it, we would.

Very quick service. Professional service and based in local budgens so can do shop as well as…read moresending parcels. Great customer service.

Quite a small friendly post office 2 tills ..If you avoid peak times like lunch hour or first thing…read moreon a monday Queues are avoidable.. The post office is in a newsagent so convenient to pick up other items at the same time

I like newsagents. They are dangerous though as I am a fan of sweets and to have them all thrust in…read moremy face is sometimes too much of a temptation. Martins does what you expect a newsagent should do. I have found the staff very friendly and got a bumper box of sweets at a good price though a roll of parcel tape was £2.49 whereas I could get one for £1 at the pound shop (funnily enough) or Haynes of Challow.