Oxford Day 3

 May 16th.  An overcast day but no rain.  Coolish.

Today we made a list.  Little Sister wanted to visit the Narnia Door and Lamp Post.   Next we both wanted to visit Christ Church and then we needed to go to a Post Office.  So at 9:30 off we went.

We didn’t get lost today and easily found The Door and The Lamp Post and took photographs.   It was fun to see a mother there with her little girl, maybe 8 years old.  While the mother was excitedly telling the story, the little girl looked slightly bored.   I hope she will read the book and capture the enchantment of the story.   Oxford Tourism  makes a huge thing of the locations for Harry Potter films, the connection with J R R Tolkein and The Lord of the Rings; also Alice in Wonderland but I think they should include CSLewis Narnia series too.  Perhaps in my next life (ha ha) I can come back and open up a small shop in one of the quaint buildings and sell copies of the book and endless merchandise🤣😂

We walked down the street to Christ Church and here, an apology and edit of yesterday’s information.  Old Tom the bell which rings 101 times each night at 9:05  is not in Magdalen College but in Christ Church.  Oops.

Entry was through the Christ Church meadow.  My, what a beautiful garden.   We saw many of the flowers that Mother used to grow in her garden when we were children but neither of us have green fingers so we didn’t know any names.   

Then it was a case of follow the arrows to the Visitor Centre where we paid £2 extra as we hadn’t pre booked!  To our delight the entry fee included an audio visual guide similar to what we’d had at Windsor Castle.  We waited until 10:30 and were then allowed in and past rooms in which current students live and into a large quadrangle with the Tom Tower in front of us.   It was here I realised the error I have corrected above.   The lawns were circular but still had the manicured look and stripe effect we are so admiring.

Along the edge were ancient foundations which the commentary told us Cardinal Wolsey had laid in his grand pretensions for the development of the College.  Unfortunately he came to a dismal end when he failed to achieve an annulment for Henry VIII’s first marriage to Catherine of Aragon.  Henry was fond of “off with his head” but the Cardinal died of natural causes before reaching the block.   The foundations had been intended for cloisters but they were never built.

As the students were sitting exams we could not enter one part and had to peer over signage to view the Library building and a strange but accurate sundial on the wall.   

Back to climb the grand staircase and view the dining hall made famous in Harry Potter films.  Three walls were resplendent in stained glass and portraits.  Most notable portraits being Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII.   We were there to see the Alice in Wonderland window.   Charles Dodgson lived most of his life as a scholar and teacher at Christ College and he wrote the famous book, under his pen name Lewis Carroll, basing the characters on people he lived and worked with.   The window has at the centre a portrait of Alice Liddell and in the bottom left the character as she was illustrated in the book.

The last panel in this window is of Charles Dodgson himself and in the bottom right is the illustration of the Dodo. Charles had a stutter and often referred to himself as Do do Dodgson, hence the character of the Dodo.

The Top Table was laid out like a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.  Presumably students and tutors weren’t using it for the day!  Apparently there are two dinners served here daily, the first informal and an hour later formal dinner at which academic robes are worn.  1000 meals daily are prepared for students of this college.

The church at the centre of the college has a large wooden seat on which the Bishop sits to teach.  This seat is called a cathedra, hence the name Cathedral for the church.  This cathedral is for the diocese of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire and is one of the largest in Britain.   Steeped in history it too had many many stained glass windows. 

 One was a depiction of the Biblical story of Jonah, another the story of St Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford.   I had never heard of her, so sat in one of the seats and listened as the audiovisual narrated the story following each panel of the amazing stained glass window.

In the Lady Chapel, there were remnants of the medieval painted ceilings.  Apparently back in that time the churches would have been very colourful.   The colours have dulled over the centuries.

Beneath the dark carved wooden pulpit was a plaque commemorating John and Charles Wesley, possibly the most famous sons of the college.   Their fame however is more from their hymn writing and the fact that John founded Methodism.  Apparently Charles started a club called The Holy Club and subsequently John joined, became leader and administratively organised everything in a very methodical manner - hence the name.

And as I exited the Chapel of Remembrance  I saw this sign.  This Bible verse is the one that my father wrote in my autograph book when I was only 8 years old.

So saying goodbye to a gargoyle or two, 

some more intriguing wooden doors 

and the wonderful tower we exited, 

handed back the audiovisual and totally satisfied prepared to walk up the street. 

But Little Sister spied Alice’s Sweet Shop so we crossed the road, took a picture and opened the door.

Imagine our delight when it wasn’t sweets but Alice memorabilia in profusion.   The shop assistant, from Japan of all places, kindly took a photo.

Then back up the street to post cards in a venerable post box.

By then it was definitely cup of tea time so Westgate Shopping Centre called.  Once refreshed we wandered and guess what we found!  John Lewis is Little Sister’s new favourite shop.

Then at Benugo with yet another pot of tea we saw these two.  We couldn’t decided whether he was Jeeves the Butler or James the Chauffeur who had left the Bentley round the back.  Morning Suit was definitely not de rigeur among other patrons of this establishment.

Then it was “home James and don’t spare the horses” bringing our last day in Oxford to a glorious close.

I’m so very pleased I came here.

 

Oxford Day 2

 May 15th. Fine warm day around 19 degrees.

Beds and pillows are very comfortable at this Premier Inn and we both slept in until late.   A leisurely breakfast of cereal, fruit ( contained red currants evoking memories of Dad’s currant bushes), yogurt and milk.   Then a toasted crumpet with strawberry jam and a delicious cup of PG Tips tea.

Little sister opted to rest and knit while I prepared to go on a Literary Walk.   She assured me I couldn’t get lost as it was only a small place and everything was central.  How wrong could she be.   Even with Google maps I got thoroughly bamboozled and saw the same corner three times before I eventually decided to follow my nose and instinct  and nearly 7000 steps later finally got to 1 Brewer Street, which is in fact only 3 minutes walk from our hotel if you know the way!   

So, who lives at 1 Brewer Street?   I don’t know, but it is where Dorothy L Sayers was born and the little blue plaque says so.   I walked along 

until I found Balliol College which the fictional Lord Peter Wimsey supposedly attended. 

Also Brasenose Lane.   And realising I was close to the Radcliffe Camera I wandered the quadrangle.  

My oh my, cobble  stones are hard to walk on.   

But I did find the lampost and door that are said to have inspired C S Lewis.  I was standing quietly remembering  Mother reading us this book as children when a hijab clad young woman came up to ask in splendid British English if this was “the door”   I shared what little I knew and she excitedly told me “I was brought up on the Narnia books”.  

I also found The Randolph Hotel and The Morse Bar of Inspector Morse fame.

An excellent morning  Then it was back to the hotel and a refreshing cup of tea, before Little Sister and I ventured out for a sushi lunch at Itsu and then on to the Hop On Hop Off bus.   What excellent value for money!   Two tickets, two headphones and up to the top of the double decker bus for a hugely enjoyable tour around major landmarks and 20 stops.   We didn’t hop off at all the first round.

Our first stop was the remains of Oxford Castle and prison.   Little really remains and what does is used for other purposes by the council.   The huge Westgate Shopping Centre is built where the original gate was and as the commentary said “is not of pleasing architectural interest” .  Then on to Speedwell Street alongside the River Thames where currently river cruises depart.  

Past the little red shop where Alice, of Wonderland fame, used to buy her barley sugars.  Directly opposite was the Deanery where Alice’s father presided 1855-1891.  Apparently Queen Victoria so enjoyed the Alice in Wonderland books that she asked that his next book be dedicated to her and she be sent a copy.  So, as he was a mathematician he dedicated An Elementary Treatise on Determinants to her.

The next landmark was Christ Church Cathedral, recently made famous as a location for Harry Potter films but of more ancient significance as  having a bell tower housing Old Tom the bell which rings 101 times at 9:05 each night signifying the end of student curfew.   Also stained glass windows of Alice and The Cheshire Cat.  Little Sister and I intend to make a visit and see for ourselves tomorrow.

This building, so the commentary told us , is the most feared building in Oxford.   All university exams are held here.  Students attend exams in full academic regalia, suit, white shirt, white bow tie, mortar board and academic gown.  Apparently known as subfusc   I’m becoming daily more convinced that Latin is a living language in historic England!

Past Magdalen College of which C S Lewis was a fellow, and over the bridge where punting is still a popular pastime.  On our second cycle around we stopped off here and took photos.

Then back towards the centre, past the Martyrs Memorial  (to Ridley, Latimer and Cranmer),

the Sheldonian Theatre where  Oxford University graduations are held.   

Further along the street is the theatre where Richard Burton first made his acting debut when an undergraduate.  Also the famous Blackwells Bookshop.  Initially a tiny shop into which only three people could fit, it is said that if a fourth person wanted to enter a staff member had to go out!

Along Banbury Road which is lined both sides with gorgeous Victorian houses.  Originally Dons of the Colleges had to live in College and remain celibate.  This was revoked in 1870 when they then built these large detached houses.  The tour commentary said “big houses in preparation for the large families their new lifestyle would allow.”

The Eagle and Child, the famous pub where J R R Tolkein, C S Lewis and Charles Williams, known as The Inklings met to discuss what they were currently writing.   This pub has been bought by the Ellison Institute of Technology who have plans to develop the site.

This little red post box was placed here outside the home of Sir James Murray, the first editor from 1879 of the Oxford English Dictionary. Apparently letters merely addressed James Murray, Oxford would reach him.

After nearly two and a half circles of the route we stopped off to purchase postcards and find a place for a cup of tea.  We found Cafe W, on the second floor of Waterstones Bookshop. Today’s treat was a Rhubarb Custard Cake and  a Battenburg Slice.  Yum to both.   We shared a table with a young woman from Saudi Arabia.  A qualified lawyer there she is in Oxford studying English so she can do her Masters of Law at a London University.  

And so home to the hotel.