Didcot
About Didcot
Welcome to the Didcot edition of The Oxford Magazine.
Didcot grew up as a gritty railway town that coalesced around Brunel’s Great Western Railway in the mid-1800s. For decades, its railway heritage and the cooling towers of the Didcot Power Station have been a landmark identifiable from miles around.
Alas, with hi-tech industries and research centres moving in and the decommissioning of the power station, Didcot is now all about innovation. It’s the gateway town to the Science Vale: three large science and technology centres in the surrounding villages of Milton (Milton Park), Culham (Culham Science Centre) and Harwell (Harwell Science and Innovation Campus).
And for tourists, the Didcot Railway Centre is just the ticket if you’d like to relive the halcyon days of steam locomotives. The attraction revolves around a massive engine shed, with more than 30 locomotives, four of which are operational on the museum’s a heritage line.
Local news & stories
Two new church bells at All Saints first in country with the royal cyphers
Two new church bells at All Saints, North Moreton, have been cast as the first in the country with the royal cyphers of their Majesties, King Charles and Queen Camilla and were rung for the first time on the coronation on 06 May.
Plans submitted for 179 new homes at first housing phase at Valley Park, Didcot
Valley Park is a consortium-led site on land to the west of Great Western Park, which was granted outline planning permission for 4,254 dwellings and other supporting infrastructure in February 2022.
Didcot’s newest independent plumbing supplies store opens its bathroom showroom
County Plumbing Supplies in Didcot has opened a bathroom showroom, building on the success and growth it has experienced in the first 10 months of trading.
UKRI invests £27.6m from Faraday Battery Challenge in future of battery technology
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced a further investment of £27.6m from the Faraday Battery Challenge to support collaborative R&D projects.
Didcot Powerhouse 2022 Impact Report launch
Didcot Powerhouse Fund donors, grant recipients and team are meeting on 02 February to share the successful impact and progress made by grant recipients of the Fund in its first year of operation.
Planning decisions on HIF projects due “in the next couple of months”
The two major road projects, designed to support more than 30,000 new homes in Oxfordshire, have divided opinion and proved challenging to deliver amid budgetary concerns.
Car parking fees in South Oxfordshire set to increase this spring
Parking fees in car parks run by South Oxfordshire District Council, in Didcot, Goring, Henley, Thame, and Wallingford will increase from 01 April.
Local actors get stuck into rehearsals of ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Cornerstone Didcot.
The successful auditionees have been split into two teams for the production, which starts on 17 December. The teams, aptly named ‘Team Marley’ and ‘Team Scrooge’, will take turns performing throughout the run.
Talented young people from Didcot to star in A Christmas Carol at Cornerstone
In a reinvention of a classic story with world-class puppetry from the award-winning visual theatre company, Smoking Apples, the audience is invited to join Mr Scrooge as he travels through time to learn the true meaning of Christmas.
No more extra funds to see through Didcot’s HIF1 project
Measures will be taken to manage costs rather than find extra money if inflation further affects the major new roads project in Didcot.
