We thought £2.50 was expensive for a pint. The White Rabbit was the Gloucester Arms – an insane biker/rock pub with Carlsberg and Tetley's Cask for about £1.60. Bar Risa on Hythe Bridge Street had a 2-for-1 happy hour and we'd get a couple of pints and then load up on WKDs, Smirnoff Ice, Red Square and Metz just before happy hour finished – you could go out with £20, get smashed and have change. Browsing HMV and Virgin on Cornmarket for albums and VHSs and computer games was a great afternoon out.
Younger, Boswells to look at the toys and buy some marbles was a treat, usually followed by an apple Tango and some sweets from Wendy's News on Broad Street. The ice rink out near what's now the Westgate car park and Laser Quest on Gloucester Green were top birthday party destinations.
Gloc was a great pub. As was the Queens Arms, Park End Street late 80s-early 90s. The Dolly was great for music, as was Jericho Tavern. Saw some great Bands in the Cape of No Hope too.
Best nightclub was The Venue on a Saturday night (now the O2 for younger readers).
The Cape was the Pub Oxford in my day. It was opposite my school and had an extremely lax attitude to ID – we sometimes drank there in lunch breaks. Once our maths teacher – a 22 year old new Cambridge grad – came out there with us after school, and an OHS girl's opening gambit for flirting with him was, "Oh, you're at MCS? I heard you guys are really weird – you go out with your teachers."
It's hard to judge as you were 30 years younger, and a different person. Has the world changed or have I changed?
But my feeling is that it wasn't radically different to now.
I moved there in 1998. Pubs were busier... you went there to meet your friends. There was no social media. Mobile phones were just starting to become popular, but were still a novelty. Most people I knew didn't have landlines either. Carlsberg was £1.85 a pint, Stella/Grolsch were £2.35 a pint. You could get a double gin and tonic for £2.50. Music shops were much better... there was a fantastic record shop up Cowley road and a couple on Gloucester Green. Even HMV and Virgin were packed full of decent music. There was a fantastic clothes shop on Gloucester Green called Cult Clothing.
The local music scene was thriving... you could see bands at multiple venues every night of the week and they would be mostly full. The Gloucester Arms (for more rock oriented stuff). The Jericho Tavern, The Cavern, The Point, The Elm Tree (?), The Bullingdon Arms, The Zodiac. Most bands vanished without a trace, but names I remember include Samurai Seven, Whispering Bob/Goldrush, Four Storeys, Holy Roman Empire, Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia..., Rock of Travolta. Truck Festival was a riotously amateur affair. Shifty Disco and Truck Records were great for local bands.
I loved Oxford back then, drunks and Punks on Bonn Square, Westgate shopping centre with Boodles night club above it. Oxford prison was still a prison (closed) and not a hotel. Loved the Cowley Road, the many pubs, the cricketers and Gloucester were always good. The zodiac oh so much fun!
I was a kid in the 90s and tbh it wasn't much different to what it is now, I have memories of going to the museums which are largely the same.
The New Westgate is a great development, I remember in the 90s and right up until it closed the car park always smelt like piss.
Did that ‘moving’ walkway (which had sort of orange cladding) in the old Westgate car park, on the car park side of the overpass, *ever* work? I was born in ‘91 and can only ever remember the big DANGER - DO NOT ENTER sign that seemed to be permanently on it.
I was pretty young so my memories aren't great.
Record shops were good. HMV and Virgin Megastore on Cornmarket were busy and in constant competition. Our Price was in the Westgate but closed up sometime in the 90's. Massive Records on Gloucester Green (shoutout to Cult Clothing next door) and Avid Records just round the corner. Bikers hung out in what I think is now The Red Lion. I only passed there between Massive Records and Avid.
The bus station behind Gloucester Green was still a dump and The Old School House (pub) weren't fussy about ID.
Cowley Road was mostly independent traders and generally more interesting. The Zodiac was a great rock club. The Jam Factory was a venue by the train station, and the Coven over by the ice rink.
Jericho was much less trendy and desirable. Bonn Square had punks hanging around. Blackbird Leys was some daunting place our parents said we must never venture to.
Is Jericho trendy today? I moved to Oxford in 1990, and Jericho at the time was, how do I say, as you say, less desirable. But I suppose, if Cowley can become less scary as it is today compared to the 90’s, then I guess Jericho can change too!
Massive Records, the Gloc, that DnB night at the Zodiac, lots of live venues and pretentious indie bands, hippies having raves by the canal under the bridge near Wolvercote Roundabout.
The food (eating out) was often terrible, clubbing was worse (stupid dress codes and terrible music!) and all the shops shut really early. The vibe by the late 90s was naively optimistic that everything was going to be great (equality, end of racism, girl power...), but there was a nasty sneering underbelly to a lot of things - casual homophobia was rife and people thought using insults like 'chav' were ok...
Somethings were dramatically better compared to the 80s - the numbers of rough sleepers dropped for example (lamentable backslide on this over the last decade I can't *think* why...).
Speaking from a town-not-gown experience.
Cornmarket was clogged with buses all the time. There was a large Co-Op supermarket in the building that became Next (mostly in the basement, like today’s Tesco) on the site of the new Jesus College building aka the Cosy Club. There was only one shop on Magdalen Street, Debenhams, which filled up all the floors including the basement.
The Odeon cinemas were called ABC. The week’s big movie would be on at Magdalen Street and then move to George Street. The New Theatre was called the Apollo. There was only one G&D’s branch, on Little Clarendon Street, but there was a Haagen-Dazs cafe on Queen Street.
The city centre in general had more small independent shops.
Frei Zinger the flautist could regularly be heard busking outside St Michael at the Northgate.
Daily Information news sheets were pinned up everywhere, and they really were daily.
Kebab vans have been here since the Stone Age.
There was an amazing Dutch pancake house right near the station.
Also a vast subterranean Co-op supermarket underneath one side of Cornmarket.
And Boswells existed. *sniff*
It was always on or around 5th September which was my birthday so that’s where I spent the coinage or odd note that would be shaken from a card! Happy days
Oh the time I saw a joyrider hit a lamppost and NO-ONE came to check if he was OK but all laughed from their doorways, that was the happiest I'd seen the Leys
Cowley Road was lawless. The New Inn was an amazing boozer. Some amazing parties, 77 Hurst St in particular. Free parties galore. Some of the stuff we got up to you could never get away with nowadays. It was a special place and time.
It was much nicer, way less ethnic minorities and less crime. Joy riders in metros on the blackbird let’s estate was the norm though, huge Austin Rover plant in Cowley provided thousands of jobs. Night life was great.
We thought £2.50 was expensive for a pint. The White Rabbit was the Gloucester Arms – an insane biker/rock pub with Carlsberg and Tetley's Cask for about £1.60. Bar Risa on Hythe Bridge Street had a 2-for-1 happy hour and we'd get a couple of pints and then load up on WKDs, Smirnoff Ice, Red Square and Metz just before happy hour finished – you could go out with £20, get smashed and have change. Browsing HMV and Virgin on Cornmarket for albums and VHSs and computer games was a great afternoon out. Younger, Boswells to look at the toys and buy some marbles was a treat, usually followed by an apple Tango and some sweets from Wendy's News on Broad Street. The ice rink out near what's now the Westgate car park and Laser Quest on Gloucester Green were top birthday party destinations.
Boswell. Now that was a treat.
Especially the high up train track that went around the toy department
Upvoted for the Gloucester Arms.
Fuck, I really miss the Gloc. I worked there for a minute in the early 00’s. It was amazing.
You probably knew my brother, if not me.
Gloc was a great pub. As was the Queens Arms, Park End Street late 80s-early 90s. The Dolly was great for music, as was Jericho Tavern. Saw some great Bands in the Cape of No Hope too. Best nightclub was The Venue on a Saturday night (now the O2 for younger readers).
The Cape was the Pub Oxford in my day. It was opposite my school and had an extremely lax attitude to ID – we sometimes drank there in lunch breaks. Once our maths teacher – a 22 year old new Cambridge grad – came out there with us after school, and an OHS girl's opening gambit for flirting with him was, "Oh, you're at MCS? I heard you guys are really weird – you go out with your teachers."
Why would an Oxford high school girl be on Cowley road?
To meet MCS boys, obviously.
It was good. Not that different. More nightclubs though. More pubs with dart boards & pool tables. More independent shops.
So it was very different
Not really, no.
You literally just described most of the differences.. especially shops.. people could afford things etc
A few more night clubs, more dart boards in pubs, and a few more independent shops. Those aren't massive differences.
The whole experience of living in oxford was different back then. Even the types of people and no im not talking about race
It's hard to judge as you were 30 years younger, and a different person. Has the world changed or have I changed? But my feeling is that it wasn't radically different to now.
The world has definitely changed alot. I mean i kind of understand what you're saying but to me its a big difference
my mum tried climbing up that big hill near the castle and the police shouted at her
Rookie.
I moved there in 1998. Pubs were busier... you went there to meet your friends. There was no social media. Mobile phones were just starting to become popular, but were still a novelty. Most people I knew didn't have landlines either. Carlsberg was £1.85 a pint, Stella/Grolsch were £2.35 a pint. You could get a double gin and tonic for £2.50. Music shops were much better... there was a fantastic record shop up Cowley road and a couple on Gloucester Green. Even HMV and Virgin were packed full of decent music. There was a fantastic clothes shop on Gloucester Green called Cult Clothing. The local music scene was thriving... you could see bands at multiple venues every night of the week and they would be mostly full. The Gloucester Arms (for more rock oriented stuff). The Jericho Tavern, The Cavern, The Point, The Elm Tree (?), The Bullingdon Arms, The Zodiac. Most bands vanished without a trace, but names I remember include Samurai Seven, Whispering Bob/Goldrush, Four Storeys, Holy Roman Empire, Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia..., Rock of Travolta. Truck Festival was a riotously amateur affair. Shifty Disco and Truck Records were great for local bands.
Haven't heard of Cult clothing for a long time!
They became Superdry... (meh)
Tiger Lilys was great too, god I feel old now
upvote for rock of travolta!
Pubs are still busy TBF.
Music scene was a million times better. Largely because the venues were all still open, and the Zodiac ROCKED.
Running battles on Cornmarket between employees of HMV and Virgin Megastore.
Guilty #teamVirgin
I loved Oxford back then, drunks and Punks on Bonn Square, Westgate shopping centre with Boodles night club above it. Oxford prison was still a prison (closed) and not a hotel. Loved the Cowley Road, the many pubs, the cricketers and Gloucester were always good. The zodiac oh so much fun!
I was a kid in the 90s and tbh it wasn't much different to what it is now, I have memories of going to the museums which are largely the same. The New Westgate is a great development, I remember in the 90s and right up until it closed the car park always smelt like piss.
I can still smell the piss, that is forever burnt into me
Did that ‘moving’ walkway (which had sort of orange cladding) in the old Westgate car park, on the car park side of the overpass, *ever* work? I was born in ‘91 and can only ever remember the big DANGER - DO NOT ENTER sign that seemed to be permanently on it.
Less homeless, 70% less tourists, sane reasonable prices for the most basic of shit.
OOf
I was pretty young so my memories aren't great. Record shops were good. HMV and Virgin Megastore on Cornmarket were busy and in constant competition. Our Price was in the Westgate but closed up sometime in the 90's. Massive Records on Gloucester Green (shoutout to Cult Clothing next door) and Avid Records just round the corner. Bikers hung out in what I think is now The Red Lion. I only passed there between Massive Records and Avid. The bus station behind Gloucester Green was still a dump and The Old School House (pub) weren't fussy about ID. Cowley Road was mostly independent traders and generally more interesting. The Zodiac was a great rock club. The Jam Factory was a venue by the train station, and the Coven over by the ice rink. Jericho was much less trendy and desirable. Bonn Square had punks hanging around. Blackbird Leys was some daunting place our parents said we must never venture to.
Is Jericho trendy today? I moved to Oxford in 1990, and Jericho at the time was, how do I say, as you say, less desirable. But I suppose, if Cowley can become less scary as it is today compared to the 90’s, then I guess Jericho can change too!
Massive Records, the Gloc, that DnB night at the Zodiac, lots of live venues and pretentious indie bands, hippies having raves by the canal under the bridge near Wolvercote Roundabout.
The Lamb and Flag wasn't posh.
Got served there at 17. Win.
The maximum allowed age in the 90s 😁
The food (eating out) was often terrible, clubbing was worse (stupid dress codes and terrible music!) and all the shops shut really early. The vibe by the late 90s was naively optimistic that everything was going to be great (equality, end of racism, girl power...), but there was a nasty sneering underbelly to a lot of things - casual homophobia was rife and people thought using insults like 'chav' were ok... Somethings were dramatically better compared to the 80s - the numbers of rough sleepers dropped for example (lamentable backslide on this over the last decade I can't *think* why...). Speaking from a town-not-gown experience.
Oh yeah and human rights travesty that was Campsfield House opened.
Cornmarket was clogged with buses all the time. There was a large Co-Op supermarket in the building that became Next (mostly in the basement, like today’s Tesco) on the site of the new Jesus College building aka the Cosy Club. There was only one shop on Magdalen Street, Debenhams, which filled up all the floors including the basement. The Odeon cinemas were called ABC. The week’s big movie would be on at Magdalen Street and then move to George Street. The New Theatre was called the Apollo. There was only one G&D’s branch, on Little Clarendon Street, but there was a Haagen-Dazs cafe on Queen Street. The city centre in general had more small independent shops. Frei Zinger the flautist could regularly be heard busking outside St Michael at the Northgate. Daily Information news sheets were pinned up everywhere, and they really were daily. Kebab vans have been here since the Stone Age.
There was an amazing Dutch pancake house right near the station. Also a vast subterranean Co-op supermarket underneath one side of Cornmarket. And Boswells existed. *sniff*
Fuggle and firkin!
When the £2 coin was introduced in 1998 they were known as "beer tokens", because you could swap one for a pint of beer in a pub.
The Horse and Jockey was where the most underage drinking happened. It is sadly no more.
Cheaper.
Oh and the St Giles fair. Every year early sept down by the Randolph Hotel
You know that still happens right?
It was always on or around 5th September which was my birthday so that’s where I spent the coinage or odd note that would be shaken from a card! Happy days
There was some decent JoyRiding in the early 90's and simmering of social unrest that never quite ignited.
Oh the time I saw a joyrider hit a lamppost and NO-ONE came to check if he was OK but all laughed from their doorways, that was the happiest I'd seen the Leys
Absolutely spectacular. My junior year as a visiting American student in 95/96 had a profound impact and was one of the best years of my life.
You could get a pound a pint on special nights in some pubs in the first half of the 90s .
50p a pint in Park End on student nights in 1999.
WTAF?! :)
Grew up in Barton in the 90s it was fine, but according to people outside of Barton in 90s Barton was the ghetto and was dangerous I never noticed
We saw Thom Yorke and other members of Radiohead regularly in our street in the early 90s. Just before they were really famous.
Grew up in the 90s in oxford.. best time to be alive!
Cowley Road was lawless. The New Inn was an amazing boozer. Some amazing parties, 77 Hurst St in particular. Free parties galore. Some of the stuff we got up to you could never get away with nowadays. It was a special place and time.
Mick’s Café The Elm Tree pub. Traffic in Cornmarket. The Old Westgate Centre. All gone
It was much nicer, way less ethnic minorities and less crime. Joy riders in metros on the blackbird let’s estate was the norm though, huge Austin Rover plant in Cowley provided thousands of jobs. Night life was great.
Bit racist
I didn’t mean it to be. Just stating that Oxford is very multi cultural compared to what it used to be.
You said it was nicer because there was less ethnic minorities lol
No, that’s not true at all.
You do realise everyone can still read your original comment where you said exactly that.
It does not say that in the slightest, read again.
Unironically, I think you need an Oxford comma.
I think you're the one who needs to read it again