The Rollright Stones near Great Rollright have, for a long time, been thought to hold magical powers and ghostly secrets. For one of the very best articles on the monoliths read Four Shires' May 09 issue - soon to be available on this website!

In recent years, Oxfordshire has become almost synonymous with murder!  Fortunately for the inhabitants of the county, these murders have been fictional ones - acted out in crime dramas such as Inspector Morse, Lewis and Midsomer Murders.  Yet like any other county, historically, Oxfordshire has had its fair share of real life human tragedies far removed from the world of entertainment, with lives lost needlessly through jealousy, greed, lust, hatred and madness.
Some of the cases recounted were nationally reported, such as the 1931 murder of elderly widow Anne Kempson by Henry Seymour, a door-to-door salesman.  However, most were little known outside the county boundaries.  These include the murders of three people and subsequent suicide of their killer in Shutford, near Banbury in 1935, the killing of 3-year-old George Hyde in Tetsworth in 1869, and the still unsolved murders of two litle girls in Little Faringdon in 1893.  Some of the perpetrators were undoubtedly insane at the time of their crimes, while others, such as the killer of 84-year-old Fanny Phillips at Woodcote in 1839, knew exactly what they were doing and had no regard for the inevitable consequences of their actions. This book
•    Revisits over 25 historic murder cases from around the county of Oxfordshire.
•    Explores the shadier side of Oxfordshire’s history.
•    Captures the full revulsion and sensationalism experienced by our Oxford ancestors.
Nicola Sly has a Masters Degree in forensic and legal psychology and currently teaches criminology to adult learners. She is the author of Bristol Murders, Dorset Murders, Wiltshire Murders, Hampshire Murders, Shropshire Murders, Worcestershire Murders and West Country Murders and co-author of Cornish Murders and Somerset Murders. She lives in Cornwall.

Growing up I was always very sporty, participating in almost any activity I could get my hands on. I particularly liked kayaking writes Adderbury Chiropractic patient Zach Pillinger.
I developed my love for kayaking when I was just eight years old, after having travelled all around the country watching my older brother Luke compete in the sport of slalom kayaking.
I became almost instantly obsessed with it and immediately began to develop a passion for being on the water. After beginning my new sport from the warm depths of the Spiceball Leisure Centre in Banbury it quickly took over from all other interests in my life to become an obsession.

Whilst the snow brought chaos to the roads, it was enjoyed by many thousands of schoolchildren and adults alike. Unfortunately, speeding down snowy slopes on sledges that sometimes are no more than pieces of plastic can cause accidents. In snowy fields it is often impossible for regular ambulances to negotiate the ice - in this picture the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance attends to a sledging incident recently. The injured sledger received far speedier attention as a result.

Photographed in late December last year, The catholic church of St Thomas of Canterbury in Wroxton St Mary is the only thatched church in Oxfordshire. the church had been decorated for the feast of St Thomas of Canterbury (December 29th) with Father David Gnosill leading the service along with Deacons Henry Allen and Robert Hughes.