Checking in to a double decker bus and being driven to your hotel room in a golf buggy in advance of your Christmas meal in October? It could only be The Crazy Bear.

Since Oxford United’s return to the football league in May of last year, the club has gone from strength to strength, swiftly becoming the Second Division club to follow. In anticipation of the next season, which we all hope will bring great success for the team, Hannah Howell and Cameron Leitelmayer talked to the club’s Chairman, Kelvin Thomas, about exciting developments in the club’s hospitality sector and their continuing charity and community efforts.

Head 5 miles southeast of Oxford, and you’ll find the picturesque little village of Nuneham Courtney, former property of the likes of Cardinal Wolsey and home to a stunning arboretum, gorgeous manor house, and, more recently, the up and coming oriental restaurant, Cockadoo. Eloise Porter reports.

“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give” said Sir Winston Churchill. Mal Life gives you the very best, an affordable indulgence, a treat for the senses and best of all, is on our doorstep. By Tracey Jefferies