Philip Pullman is right: Oxford is a ‘frustrating and irritating’ place

The vast acclaim that Sir Philip Pullman’s latest novel, The Rose Field, has received has cemented his status as one of Britain’s most successful writers. Such authors are listened to, whatever their concerns, and so it has been both unsurprising and depressing that Sir Philip has been bothered not about literary matters, but about his hometown of Oxford: in particular, the apparently never-ending roadworks that have been blighting the western approach to the city for years, and which show no signs of being resolved.

‘Those of us who live to the west of Oxford are more or less cut off from our own city,’ said Pullman

In a recent interview with the BBC, Pullman – probably the best known current resident of Oxford, along with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and the broadcaster and comedian Alexan