Features
A sad 'goodbye' to The Ocelot magazine in print and a big 'hello' to its new online incarnation

The Ocelot on a visit to Oxford

By Ocelot Editor Jamie Hill

The tale of an Ocelot

When I look out the window everything seems normal. Birds are singing, there’s a dog doing its business across the road chancing the wrath of my neighbour Vera if spotted, and the bin lorry has just been by. It all seems normal but for me personally the world has changed inexorably.

For in my mind, it should be a wasteland as it is a final goodbye to the print version of The Ocelot. A magazine that has been an obsessive part of my psyche for 14 years. But it is also bittersweet as today is the day we start probably its greatest adventure having spent the last few months working feverishly on its new website.

When I held the first Ocelot magazine in my hands in July 2006, the world was a different place. Tony Blair was still in power, there had been no ‘credit crunch’, the word ‘Brexit’ had not been invented and no-one had heard of Jedward.

For me it was one of the most important days of my life after my wedding day and the birth of my children. I had left a job as chief reporter at the Swindon Advertiser to dive into the unknown of The Ocelot on what was going to be one of the most exciting adventures of my life.

The magazine, which was distributed via pubs, theatres and cafes, throughout Swindon and North Wiltshire, was a beast that was impossible to pigeon-hole. It championed pubs, the music and culture scenes of every town it was in, but always did it in a tongue in cheek manner. We had a lot of fun running articles like the ‘Spot the Vole’ competition, Traffic Warden of the Year, and its satirical newspaper The Bassett Rivers Echo. We also had the ever popular Agony Boys and Girls, which saw my son at the age of four answering the world’s questions (he’s now 18), followed by my two daughters.

We interviewed everyone from Johnny Rotten to Kylie Minogue (although my personal favourite will always be Tinie Tempah!), and eventually made forays into Oxford and Reading where it was welcomed with open arms.

During this time we had a whole army who worked on the magazine directly or as contributors. Special mention should go to Dave Andrew, Dave Stewart, Daniel Cavendar, Rosy Presley, Claire Dukes, Mike Barham, Ben Fitzgerald, Ben Honisett, Tim Martin, Ed Dyer, Michael Bosley, Dave Franklin, Mark Pitt, Gina Akers, Luke Coleman, Mark Muggeridge and Brewery Bird, to name but a few.

We also had a loyal customer base who put their faith in this weird magazine month in month out, from the theatres like The Wyvern, The Newbury Corn Exchange and Oxford Playhouse to music venues and festivals like The Oxford O2 Academy, The Vic, The Swindon Shuffle, Cornbury Festival and Riffs Bar to pubs and breweries like Ramsbury Brewery, Wychwood Brewery and The Tuppenny..

But in the last few years we always knew that the end was nigh. Social media had taken a firm grip on people’s reading habits and a magazine that people picked up in pubs just seemed a bit old hat. And then came the pandemic which in one swift move knocked all of our customers flat. 

A difficult decision about The Ocelot’s future had to be made and it is with the deepest regret that we made the decision to not continue with its print edition.

Thank you to everyone that made The Ocelot happen. It’s been a ride.

Resurrection of an Ocelot

Contrary to what you’ve read above The Ocelot is not dead. In fact it is very much alive but it has now taken on a non-corpereal form (like a ghost). 

That’s right. Rather than sitting there and just watching the print publication die we thought we would do something useful with our time. And once we finished doing whatever that useful thing was (it involved trying to complete Netflix), we decided to invest money, blood, sweat and tears into making the best website in the world and, by jeeves, we did it.

So lo and behold, welcome to the new, shiny and cool new Ocelot website which we think looks rather spiffing. It’s made up of four distinct easy to navigate sections - Arts & Culture; Brews & Eats; Features: and The News Elephant.

Arts & Culture - At The Ocelot we’ve always championed the music and theatre scenes and we will continue to do so on the website. This is your one stop shop for everything cultural from the latest punk outfit skunking up the airwaves to the latest things that that Shakespeare bloke is up to.

Brews & Eats - We love food at The Ocelot and we also love drink so putting them both together you get Brews & Eats - celebrating everything from kumquats & kimchi to gin & real ale.

Features - This is our section where you’ll find articles galore from travelling to the latest scientific breakthroughs as well as all of our array of interesting columnists. Articles to make you think.

The News Elephant - In the print publication we had our satirical news section called The Bassett Rivers Echo but in this latest online incarnation it’s been rebranded The News Elephant - taking a stampede all over the news.

To have a gander at the new website visit theocelot.co.uk

  • A sad 'goodbye' to The Ocelot magazine in print and a big 'hello' to its new online incarnation

    Ocelot editor Jamie Hill at Reading Festival back in the far distant time of 2011

  • A sad 'goodbye' to The Ocelot magazine in print and a big 'hello' to its new online incarnation
  • A sad 'goodbye' to The Ocelot magazine in print and a big 'hello' to its new online incarnation
  • A sad 'goodbye' to The Ocelot magazine in print and a big 'hello' to its new online incarnation