Occupiers eye prime Castle location
Potential occupiers are queuing up to take the place of a bar and restaurant which has pulled out of the Oxford Castle development.
Jean-Pierre Morilleau, general manager of the Castle site said there had been several expressions of interest from agents acting clients interest in the site vacated by the Ha! Ha! Bar and Canteen.
The operator was the first to leave the successful development since it opened for business three years ago.
Mr Morilleau said: “We are trying to find an operator and we have had a lot of interest already as it is a prime location in the city centre.”
While the Castle development is dominated by national chains, Mr Morilleau added that he was dismissing any applications from local businesses wanting to become involved with the successful site.
“We will look at all options as long as they are commercially viable,” he added.
Mr Morilleau said the next plan for the Castle was to start a regular market, a plan which was originally schemed into the Castle blueprint but which has so far failed to materialise.
He added: “We have had to move slowly but now we ae ready to get the market up and running and we are trying to find the right traders to come in.
“We don’t want to compete with other markets such as Gloucester Green and we will run on different days with food and antiques.”
Mr Morilleau said the market should be ready to open by March.
The Ha! Ha!Bar and Canteen chain was part of the Laurel Pub Company which went into administration last May.
Spokesman Maureen Hesselman said it was taken over by the Bay Restaurant Group but it the Oxord site’s lease was not assigned to the new company and it has been forced to close.
The La Tasca tapas chain is also owned by the Bay Restaurant group but will remain open at the Castle as the lease was successfully transferred.
Three of the county's historic buildings have been singled out for praise by English Heritage for successful preservation and restoration.
At a time when English Heritage says many historic buildings are at risk, the Oxford Castle regeneration project, Witney's High Street Methodist Church and St Mary's Church in Banbury have been highlighted as examples of "positive uses" of community heritage projects.
The news has delighted staff at Oxford Castle, which prides itself on being a unique blend of old and new.
General manager Jean-Pierre Morilleau said: "We are obviously pleased to have gained this recognition from English Heritage. It is very good news. We are working hard to make sure people continue to be drawn here, to what is a unique environment. On the same site, we have some of the city's oldest and newest buildings.
"We are making the 'space' into a 'place' and feel it is a perfect environment for the wide variety of attractions we have here, from restaurants to art galleries."
From today, the castle will be home to an ice rink, which will be in place for 12 weeks and hopes to attract scores of people over the festive period.
Mr Morilleau said: "This is just one example of our efforts to encourage people to come and see what we have to offer here."
The Rev Janet Chapman, priest-in-charge of St Mary's in Banbury, said the £1.6m project to restore the stonework and transform the church into an arts centre as well as a place of worship had been hard work.
She said: "We have worked very closely with English Heritage throughout and we are very pleased to get this recognition.
"This was a very significant project, both for the building, which was in a very poor state of repair, and for Banbury."
The stonework on the front of the 19th century High Street Methodist Church in Witney was replaced two years ago in a £130,000 facelift.
Andy Brown, English Heritage's regional director for the south east, said: "History and heritage are more popular than ever before, according to new figures published recently, yet in spite of this huge popular appeal, some of our most cherished historic buildings at the very heart of our communities are under threat.
"Today there are public buildings that are redundant or face a very uncertain future. And yet these buildings still have an important value locally that goes far beyond their original uses.
"In Oxfordshire, the Oxford Castle regeneration project highlights how a sensitive new-build and effective re-use of brownfield land can work alongside the historic environment, with the ancient monuments and listed buildings on the site being restored and integrated with new buildings to create an architecturally dynamic area in the heart of the city.
"Other examples in Oxfordshire are in High Street Methodist Church in Witney and St Mary's Church in Banbury."
Pupils’ wheelie important environmental idea
PUPILS with an important environmental message wheeled out a bright idea to get across their views.
Five girls from Dr South’s Primary School in Islip won the top prize in the Wheel toOxford Castle contest, which asked pupils to create a garden in a wheelbarrow.
Maya Radford, nine, and Charlotte Venables, eight, helped to create the rainforest-themed design.
Maya said she was inspired after learning about the plight of the rainforest in school.
She said: “We learned that every year an area the size of Scotland is cut down from the forest.
“We wanted to make our wheelbarrow so we could ask grown-ups to help us protect the rainforest.”
The team were named as the winners by Oxford Castle general manager Jean-Pierre Morilleau. Their prize is a trip to the Cotswold Wildlife Park at Burford for up to 20 children.
Images will have visitors flying in
STUNNING new aerial images of Oxford and the surrounding countryside are expected to give bars and restaurants at Oxford Castle a boost.
The footpath zig-zagging up Oxford’s Castle Mound
In the winter of 2008, when a free exhibition of international photos called Earth from the Air was staged at the site off New Road, there were 250,000 visitors in the first fortnight.
Now the Oxford Castle is hosting a similar show called Britain from the Air, showing 106 UK locations, including 11 in Oxfordshire.
Jean-Pierre Morilleau, the manager of the Oxford Castle, said: “Over a fortnight we might get up to 25,000 visitors coming through.
“During the first fortnight of Earth from the Air, footfall increased tenfold and there was a large boost in takings during that time.
The River Thames and Swinford toll bridge
“We hope there will a corresponding boost in visitor numbers and takings this time round as well.”
On Thursday, Nicholas Crane, presenter of the BBC TV series Coast and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, visited the castle for the launch. He said: “I lived in Marlborough Road in Oxford in the early 1980s, so I was particularly fascinated to see the aerial photo of the Folly Bridge area.
“When you look at the aerial photos of Oxford you can see how the Normans built a Motte and Bailey and slapped it down on the edge of the Saxon town.
“This exhibition will appeal to schoolchildren, visitors and tourists and, most especially, to local people.
“This is not like looking at Google Earth – these images have been selected from 2,000 pictures of the highest quality and each one is framed and angled to create a geographical story.
“These are views of Britain that have never been seen before and you can also learn a lot from the captions.”
Debbie Dance, of Oxford Preservation Trust, who wrote the captions for the Oxfordshire photos, said familiar landmarks were combined with views many people may never have encountered.
She added: “Alongside the national pictures, the local pictures will add a regional interest to one of the most beautiful collections of pictures of our country to be seen in one place.”
The 11 aerial images of local scenes feature eight overviews of the city, including the dreaming spires, Port Meadow and the BMW plant.
The other three local photos show Swinford Bridge, Blenheim Palace, and the White Horse at Uffington, near Wantage.
The exhibition was created by the Royal Geographical Society in collaboration with Wecommunic8 Ltd.
Exhibition director Chris Bridge said the show, which runs until Sunday, September 4, cost £250,000 to produce and £60,000 to stage.
Sponsors include the Osborne Group, which owns Oxford Castle, and the Oxford Preservation Trust.
Castle staff set to conquer night trek
OXFORD Castle staff will don their walking boots for charity this month.
Castle staff set to conquer night trek
The castle announced Maggie’s Centre as its official charity partner for 2011 and will kickstart fundraising with a sponsored night hike.
A new Maggie’s Centre, which cares for people with cancer, is currently under development at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford.
Maggie’s Oxford currently operates from a temporary building at the Churchill in Headington, but wants to raise £3m for single-storey timber ‘tree house’ for up to 40 visitors a day.
The hikers aim to raise £5,000 by walking the 20 miles from Henley to Oxford, setting off at 10pm on Saturday, May 28. They will walk overnight and be welcomed back to the castle with a breakfast at the Malmaison hotel.
Pictured from left are events and marketing manager Sarah Mayhew, head chef Russell Heeley, general manager Jean-Pierre Morilleau, senior sous chef Michael Hamley, deputy general manager Giles Hammond, office manager Sophie Egleton and project director Andrew Ryan.
Mr Morilleau said: “Training is going really well.
“The team is getting excited and we have our fingers crossed for good weather to make the hike a bit easier.”
Oxford Castle marks five stylish years
IT WAS once the last place on earth anyone in Oxfordshire would want to spend the evening.
Jean-Pierre Morilleau at the castle
But five years since its multi-million pound transformation, Oxford Castle, formerly the city’s jail, has become a top tourist destination and stylish night spot.
The castle complex was reopened after a £36m revamp in May 2006 by the Queen and celebrated its fifth birthday yesterday.
In that time the 1,000-year-old site, originally a Norman fortress, has become home to seven restaurants, flats, a high end boutique hotel, art galleries, and a popular ghost tour.
The rejuvenation of the historic site was down to a partnership between Oxfordshire County Council, the Oxford Preservation Trust and the Trevor Osborne Property Group.
Mr Osborne said: “We’re incredibly proud of what we have achieved here over the past five years.
“From our initial project to secure a long term, sustainable future for these important buildings and monuments, we have created a new vibrant cultural centre for Oxford, comprising restaurants, a luxury hotel, a major visitor attraction and a year round calendar of events.
“This has been achieved while keeping the historical legacy of the Oxford Castle site very much alive and accessible to anyone who visits.”
In the past five years a number of restaurants have come and gone from the site, including the Ha! Ha! Bar, and Carluccio’s, with the recession being blamed for a decline in the number of people eating out.
But the addition of a Wetherspoon pub, the Swan and Castle, has proved a hit with drinkers, and a host of well attended events such as the Christmas Markets, Summer Night Tribute concerts, and, more recently, the May Day festivities, have kept footfall high.
General manager Jean-Pierre Morilleau said his team was proud of the achievements made over the past five years and looking forward to the future, which could see a high-end Indian restaurant added to the complex.
Mr Morilleau said it was now up to the developers of the Westgate to make the changes to the rest of the area.
He said: “The Westgate project was supposed to have been opened this year.
“But it is back on the cards again and this will be a big part of it.”
He added: “We are changing the whole area, and we couldn’t be happier.
“This was once a part of the city that people did not want to come to, the back end of Oxford.
“People saw it as a dangerous part of town.
“But now it is very much the place to be.”
Castle to open a market
A new market that would open four days a week at Oxford Castle could be up and running in eight weeks’ time.
Jean-Pierre Morilleau
Operators of the hotel and restaurant complex have been planning to create a major city centre market at the historic site for three years.
And they are now hoping to provide a market made up of about 20 up-market stalls selling food, antiques and artwork by early spring.
General manager Jean-Pierre Morilleau said it was likely that the market would be open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 4pm.
The days were chosen to avoid clashing with the Wednesday and Thursday open air markets in Gloucester Green.
The aim is to ensure that it is well established for the summer tourist trade.
Mr Morilleau said he believed the market would provide a boost to the bars and restaurants on the castle site. A market had been part of the planning blueprint since the opening of the £40m redevelopment of the former Oxford Prison site.
Mr Morilleau said: “We have had to move slowly but now we are ready to get up and running.
“We are trying to find the right traders to come in.
“Now that all other aspects of the castle redevelopment have been completed, we want to go ahead with what would be the last phase. Planning permission already exists.”
The original idea had been to operate a market six days a week, with products sold on stalls changing day by day.
But the approach was found to be “logistically impossible” and it will now be essentially a farmers’ market, with antiques and art. Most of the stalls will be in the site’s main square.
Mr Morilleau said Covered Market traders would be invited to join. “We do not want to compete with either Gloucester Green or the Covered Market. The market here will be different,” he said.
Richard Alden, chairman of the Covered Market Tenants’ Association, said: “They will have to go some way to establish a successful new market three or four days a week in the current economic climate.
“I cannot see many traders from the Covered Market wanting to spread their wings – it is a time for battening down the hatches.
“In the summer there may be interest. We will just have to wait and see.”
Oxford Castle to host floral bonanza
gardeners are being urged to visit the Oxford Castle Flower and Gardening Festival this weekend.
Helen Statham, Alastair Mallick, Alicia Tennant of Daisies Flower Shop, Cristina Riveiros, Jean-Pierre Morilleau, Sophie Eggleton at Oxford Castle
The event will bring together markets, talks, demonstrations and workshops in a celebration of all things green.
There will also be the chance to try flower-infused fudge, discover a secret cinema and see rare breed animals.
General manager Jean-Pierre Morilleau said: “There will be lots to see and do for all the family, the gardening enthusiast and for people simply looking for inspiration.
“We have a programme of free talks, demonstrations on lots of topics – from planting seedlings, to professional landscape design.”
Amongst those taking part will be 25 schools and community groups, who have been busy designing wheelbarrows for the Wheel-to-the-Castle competition.
Oxford Castle head gardener Alastair Mallick said: “Everything is simply exploding into bloom right now. It’s a wonderful time to see the gardens at their best. We have lots of new planting around the site that is taking shape beautifully. It makes a nice backdrop for the festival.”
The O3 Gallery is hosting an art exhibition called Horti-CULTURE. This examines relationships between humans and nature.
Visitors can enjoy a human-sized nest sculpture and living garden installation.
There will also be opera in the open, facepainting and a chance to see the Wicker Man, due to be burned in South Park this November.
Visitors should keep their eyes peeled for Newton, the Wild-in- Art rhino, designed by children at John Blandy Primary School, Southmoor. It will be hiding in the Castle Gardens, Oxford florist Alicia Tennant said: “This is a fantastic time of year for English cut flowers, as we move from late spring to early summer.
“Our stall will be a celebration of the season, with flowers from all over the UK, including Cornwall, the Scilly Isles and East Anglia.”
Oxford Lord Mayor Elise Benjamin will officially open the festival at 11am tomorrow. It will run from 11am until 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.
School gardens get mobile
SCHOOLCHILDREN are competing to see who can create the best garden in a wheelbarrow.
Oxford Castle manager Jean-Pierre Morilleau, pictured left with children from St Christopher’s and teachers Sian Croucher and Fiona Clayton
Youngsters from St Christopher’s CofE Primary School in Cowley are among those taking part in the Wheel to Oxford Castle contest.
The castle has teamed up with the Oxford Garden Centre, on the A34 at South Hinksey, to see who can create the best ‘garden on wheels’ using a wheelbarrow, donated by the garden centre.
The children will be wheeling their entries along to the castle’s Flower and Gardening Festival on June 11 and 12. The winning school will get a trip to the Cotswold Wildlife Park, Burford, for up to 20 children.
Oxford Castle manager Jean-Pierre Morilleau said: “This is a lovely way for children to learn about gardening, and to discover that you can create a garden out of almost anything.”
Veg service brings taste of country to Oxford Castle
AN organic grocery collection service has launched in Oxford to help people with busy lives get hold of quality produce.
Oxford Organic Grocery Collection lets people order fruit, vegetables and bread on the phone, and then pick them up in their lunch break from Oxford Castle.
Produce comes from Riverford Organic and Oxford Bread Group and organisers promise the service will bring “a little bit of country life into the heart of the city.”
Cristina Riveiros, from Oxford Castle, said: “We realised we wanted somewhere to pick up this type of produce, so it seemed like a great scheme to offer people in the city.”
For more information and to sign up, visit oxfordcastle.com Pictured, from left, are Jake Swinhoe from Riverford Organic, Jean-Pierre Morilleau and Cristina Riveiros from Oxford Castle, and Sally Lane from the Oxford Bread Group.
Castle to put film classics out in the open
MOVIE-lovers can enjoy some silver screen magic under the stars next month.
Jean-Pierre Morilleau
For five nights only, the garden at Oxford Castle will be transformed into an open-air cinema.
Screen classics on the bill include The Sound of Music, Grease and Saturday Night Fever – and cinema goers are encouraged to dress up, dance and sing along.
The run kicks off on Wednesday September 22 with a free screening of Home, a cinematic portrait of the planet by French journalist environmentalist and Earth From The Air photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
Then the mood lightens for four nights of singing nuns, pink ladies and dirty disco dancing, complete with a quartet of classic movie soundtracks.
And if watching your film favourites under an open sky were not enough, organisers want audiences to add to the atmosphere.
Castle manager Jean-Pierre Morilleau said: “Last year cinema events saw people laughing, crying, dancing in the aisle and even a conga line.
He added: “We’ve got some of my favourite films and I’m really looking forward to seeing them on the big screen again.”
Song sheets will be given out at The Sound of Music screening on the Thursday, and dressing-up is encouraged for Grease and Saturday Night Fever, on Friday and Saturday respectively.
And the audience will be expected to join Johnny and Baby for the last dance of the summer when the 1987 classic Dirty Dancing brings the season to a close on Sunday September 26.
The open-air cinema comes after a summer season of outdoor concerts at Oxford Castle, and organisers will be hoping for an Indian summer to bring in the crowds. Moviegoers can bring their own food, seating will be provided on a first come, first served basis, and a licensed bar will be open.
Tickets are £8.50 from wegottickets.com/oxfordcastle, SEE tickets 08448 718804 or the 03 Gallery.
The Malmaison is offering a pre-screening menu – quote the “3 Tenners” offer when making a reservation.
Movie schedule
Wednesday Sept 22: Home, a cinematic portrait of the planet by French journalist environmentalist, and Earth From The Air photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand (admission free).
Thursday Sept 23: The Sound of Music, the singalong favourite complete with nuns and Nazis.
Friday Sept 24: Grease, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John take the lead in the original high school musical.
Saturday Sept 25: Saturday Night Fever, Travolta stars again, this time in the 1970s disco classic.
Sunday Sept 26: Dirty Dancing, stay, just a little bit longer, and catch Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey merengue their way through a turbulent summer.
Screenings start at 8pm.
Rare breeds attract visitors
Visitors to the Oxford Castle Flower and Gardening Festival were treated to a glimpse of some rather unusual animals.
Owner John Osbourne with a Mangalitza pig
Rare breed Mangalitza pigs, which have curly coats, were among the attractions at the festival over the weekend.
Two pygmy goats, a Shetland pony, hand-reared lambs and a flock of heritage barnyard fowl also appeared on Friday.
Throughout the weekend, more than 30 floral and horticultural exhibitors showed off their wares.
Oxford Castle general manager Jean-Pierre Morilleau said: “The festival has been tremendously busy.
“We had well over a couple of thousand people coming to visit on Friday.
“All the traders have been very pleased with how well it’s turned out.”
Skating rink adds to festive fun
A GARDEN at Oxford Castle has been transformed into a winter wonderland with a cool new attraction.
Cutting edge: Sam Bourgein at the Oxford Castle ice rink
Christmas came early for ice steward Sam Bourgein, who showed off some skating tricks on the outdoor ice rink at Oxford Castle.
The rink is one of a host of attractions organised as part of the city council's first festive programme, called the Magic of Christmas, and supported by our sister paper the Oxford Mail.
Jean-Pierre Morilleau, Oxford Castle general manager, said he had already received a flurry of bookings from people wanting to try out the rink.
He said: "The whole idea is to create a winter wonderland.
"You have got the castle behind you, Christmas music and skaters can take a break and have a coffee or a drink from the bar, which is being run by Malmaison."
He said the rink was disabled-friendly and made of real ice.
Entrance to the attraction, which is open until February 13 from 11am to 8pm, is through the Unlocked museum.
Tickets, which can be pre-booked from the website www.oxfordcastle.com or by calling 0845 2348002, range from £8 for adults, £6 for children under 12 and £7 for students.
The city council is working with Visit Oxford, OX1, Oxford Castle, Oxford Preservation Trust, and the Westgate Centre for the Magic of Christmas.
This year the city centre Christmas lights switch-on ceremony has been replaced with a massive parade.
The lights will be turned on automatically as people pass through town.
The parade, on Saturday, will start at 3pm in Queen Street, and weave through Cornmarket Street and George Street, before ending at Oxford Castle in New Road.
Lord Mayor Jim Campbell, the Mayor of Bonn, Oxford's German twin town, and 200 musicians will join the procession, which will end with Christmas tree lights being switched on at the castle.
Also, on Friday at 5.30pm, the festive lights will be switched on in Broad Street.
There will also be a continental market, music and dancing.
Mr Campbell said: "What is special about this year is it is the first time we have had a Christmas festival.
"It will bring together a lot of seasonal activities and make Oxford a buzzing place to be."
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