MOX Vox

After the Second World War, Britain’s population of Caribbean descendants boomed: with this came a kaleidoscope of cultures.

While Caribbean music took over the national and global airways, Caribbean food stayed out of the spotlight. Much has been studied of the music and its spaces for political means, but less discussion has centred on the vibrant and integral culture of Caribbean food in the UK.

In this lunchtime talk, we took an in-depth look at the UK’s Caribbean food culture from the 20th century to the present day. The talk illustrated how, throughout the 20th Century and onward in Britain, at every turn Caribbean food in the UK was, and has remained political.

Food in the Caribbean is more than just a meal: it is part of one’s identity.

In this fourth and final episode, we finally get into the water – but safety first! We kick off by talking about safety precautions, as well as a bit of history of the dangers of the rivers. Then we hear about learning to swim, river snorkelling, and swimming with ponies. We check in with nature enthusiast Nick Boyd and sift through what the Thame Magnet Fishers dredge up from the bed of a decommissioned bathing place. And finally, bringing the series to a close, we head over to Hinksey Lake to meet Liz Rothschild, organiser of Kicking the Bucket Festival, and Cat White, creator of a new film about grief, recovery and swimming outdoors.

Trigger Warning: this episode mentions swimming accidents, accidental death, and drowning.

Oh I do like to be beside the riverside… Sit back and enjoy the sun-drenched grass of the river’s edge in this third episode. Listen in on tales of Lockdown summers, a 1920s heatwave, and a naked picnic by the Cherwell. We try on historical swimwear with sisters Caroline and Elizabeth, fashion illustrator Niki Groom, and knitter extraordinaire Cameron Calk. And we wax lyrical by the water with the Friends of Longbridges, environmentalist Izzy Mcleod, and a very nosey gaggle of geese.

Oxford’s bathing places are amazingly wild and idyllic given their proximity to the city centre. But if you travelled back to the 1880s – or even the 1980s – you’d discover a very different setup. In this episode we check out the lost (and leftover) infrastructure of river bathing. We chat with Dr Tom Crook about Victorian sanitation and the rise of the changing cubicle. We take imaginative tours of Long Bridges in the 1930s and 1970s. And we hear about the contested future of these sites – from the Tumbling Bay Preservation Society, Co-op Development Worker Alice Hemming, and architect Chris Romer-Lee.

Dive In! is a limited series exploring the history of outdoor bathing in Oxford, based on a temporary exhibition on display at MOX in 2023.

In the first episode, Marta & George explore the beginnings and endings of Oxford's historic bathing places, in time and space. We hear from Sir John Floyer, an early modern advocate of cold water bathing. Littlemore resident Pat Hanks recalls gender segregation at Longbridges in the 1930s. And we take a deep-dive into the history of Parson's Pleasure, meeting up with Danny Rees and Luca Hirst to discuss memories and present-day queer resonances of this historic men's bathing place.